IB Junior English Journal Response 28 (Lorca Journal 3)

1)  Choose any two symbols from your list and discuss their significance.

2)  Examine Lorca's use of the horse.  I don't expect brilliant answers, but I do expect a good hypothesis with reasoning and possibly a couple of questions attached.

3)  Respond to at least two student's blogs.

Journal 3 of Lorca (Symbolism, Horse, & Blog Replies)

1) One of the symbols I listed in my previous blog post was the repeating image of knives in the first scene.  The Bridegroom only regards the knife for its practical use with foods, as in the quote, “I’ll eat some grapes…Give me the knife.” (5). The Mother, however, despise the very invention of knives giving the connotation that the object will cause dread and death to a family.  She quotes, “Anything can cut into a mom’s body…and that man does not return…why [do] I allow this serpent inside the cupboard!” (6). She relates knives to mythological creatures in Greek times that can compare to this connotation of destruction.  Another symbol I noted was the image of water as it was described at the beginning and ending of Act 1 Scene 2.  here, water is characterized by its “deep and black” (17) appearance and also quotes, “Who can say, my child/ What the water holds/ - With its flowing tail/ Along its verdant hall…The Horse does not want water” (17).  From this, one can say that water could be a symbol for fate because of the concept of water’s free-flowing mysteriousness.

2) Lorca uses the horse to symbolize work and exhaustion as well as resistance of something.  In the poem in Act 1 Scene 2, the horse is shown as an animal with, “wounded hooves...frozen mane…and in his eyes a silver dagger...does not want water” (17).  This can refer to a person who does not want to accept his fate because of the physical or mental damage he has gone through.  Later in this scene, MOTHER comments on the horses appearance saying, “He’s stretched out there, with his eyes rolling around as if he’d come from the ends of the Earth” (22).  This could symbolize daily toil and torment a person can go through.  Could this symbol have other meaning such as persistency of character?  Why is the horse associated with some other symbols?  What is the effect of this symbol?

3) Responses to Other Blogs:

Arianna: You have an interesting analysis of the Mother.  Are there any character traits that seem to separate her from this archetype? Good analysis so far.

Adria:  Interesting analysis of the Mother.  Is there anything else that could characterize her archetype, possibly?  Good ideas.