Oranges

     The way Gary Soto uses symbolism in his poem Oranges is genius. He does a great job of taking an object and giving it meaning. Although this meaning could have been applied in different ways, it is necessary for him to write about the orange's meaning to him. It is an interesting gift to be able to take an object that has no meaning to anyone else except oneself and reveal the significance of that object to an audience. Some examples of this in today's society can include many commercials like Brett Favre's Wrangler commercials. He takes a brand of jeans, an arbitrary object, and basically tells the audience that these jeans have been a part of his life forever. Another example could be in Gatorade's commercials of the letter "G." The meaning behind this letter includes athletes’ ability to outperform their competitors because they have the electrolytes needed for energy. Finally, symbolism is used by Jesus in a lot of parables. Jesus tells the people that he is like the groom and his followers or church is like the bride. Although this symbol easier to understand, Jesus uses this to explain his love for them and the devotion of his followers to him. Symbolism is all around us, and it is true that effective symbolism is created by an effective "turn." This turn is either done consciously or unconsciously and moves from something familiar or established to something fresh. An example of an unconsciously making of a symbol would be something that is made fresh throughout the course of time that others pick up on. We see this happen all the time in sports. A young kid grows up playing his sport and is unaware that he is a prodigy. Others may be able to see the potential of greatness in him like a coach or parent. These coaches and parents are the only ones who see the kid's unconscious efforts at becoming a franchise symbol quarter back or pitcher. On the other hand conscience "turns" at creating symbolism usually do not require as much time to develop as unconscious turns do. Anyone can place significance or fond memories on a random object and boom, there's your symbol. The trick is to convey the meaning of the symbol in an effective way. Gary Soto does this beautifully in his poem Oranges.