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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43134
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

# All things can be a symbol...

And sometimes what you intend it to be a symbol for is not what people take it to mean.

For example, if I describe my main character's room as having blue walls or blue curtains, I may have intended it to represent his generally cool/calm/collected personality. At the same time, a reader may take it as a symbol to represent a depressed state my character suffers from due to the plurality of meanings that symbol has. If I want to offset the "depressed" meaning, I need to include things that strengthen the intended meaning. There are two main ways of doing this: _Refutation_ and _Reinforcement_.

**"Refutation"** is where you see the alternative meaning behind the symbol and introduce symbols with conflicting meanings to disrupt that impression. That could be by introducing yellow into the room via other items or even by mentioning how well-lit it is. This comes with the drawback of creating a situation where it could be further misunderstood, though. By introducing yellow undertones to the room, this could be seen as "He is happy on occasion, but is generally depressed." By introducing yellow as the main color and letting blue be the undertone, it could be seen as "He is putting on a positive outlook despite a deeper depressed nature." Finally, by using light as an illuminating detail for the room and drawing attention to the light, you give two equally powerful symbols: blue meaning "he is depressed" and light meaning "he is cheery". This creates uncertainty on which symbol is the right one and makes people look for other symbols to further reinforce or refute either message. In short, it tells your reader, "hey, if you thought blue meant he was depressed, you might want to think what else it could mean." Alternatively you could use the following...

**"Reinforcement"** is where you know that your symbol has multiple meanings, so instead of trying to force people to accept it does not mean what they think it means, you introduce additional symbols to support your intended meaning. For example, you could mix some green into the color pallet just like you would with yellow when refuting the "depression" meaning. By mixing in green, you evoke imagery of the sea which is commonly used to refer to tranquility. This can be further done by referencing a fish tank or aquarium, which is a direct reference to water and the sea.

But these are ideas for a different symbol. **_What about in regards to a banana?_**

Unfortunately, bananas have earned a place in infamy for their phallic symbolism. The purpose of using them isn't to symbolize something only a banana can be used for, so reinforcing their meaning can't be as easily done, and neither can refuting, at least not as long as it's a WHOLE banana.

Bananas have the sexual symbolism because of their shape and length. If you really want to use a banana because that is what is in-season, then you can refute the sexual symbolism by making it banana slices... but sliced bananas are also a symbol as well if used on their own. So, you need to mix in some reinforcement by including other sliced fruit as well. This allows you to build on the world a little by showing people what's in-season and reinforcing the connection to nature and the earth, while at the same time making sure the banana can't be looked at as a symbol on its own. At this point, your challenge would simply be in determining how you're going to word and write this so it doesn't feel clunky and out-of-place.

Or you could just use another fruit and not worry about the bananas at all.

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