Symbolism of “Eleven”
The author of the story uses similes that create pictures that apply to feelings, and senses. While reading the selected sentence there is a realization that the author uses similes to describe what growing up is like.
While analysing the short paragraphs before and after the sentences, you can also see that there are emotions that would be used to make a clear picture to the reader on how the character feels. Some symbols that can be found to describe growing up would be the rings of a tree, the wooden dolls that fit into one another, and time itself.
By counting the rings of a tree you can figure out how old the tree is.
The author uses the simile to compare the rings of a tree to growing up because no matter how old something is, it doesn’t mean it’s always mature. For example, On that day Rachel was turning eleven, the incident in the classroom was proof that even though Rachel was growing up, she didn’t handle the situation in a mature way. Other examples in the text such as: “And maybe one day when you’re all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you’re three, and that’s okay.” Also show proof that no matter how old you are, you sometimes aren’t as mature as you should be.
When thinking about how the wooden dolls that could fit into one another helped symbolize the theme in a way that means, when you get older you can carry more stuff such as knowledge and wisdom. When comparing the dolls and how they fit into one another you can kind of draw a conclusion that when you turn a year older, the smaller you has some room in the older you. The dolls can also symbolize a person’s maturity no matter what age the individual is at. Rachel is an example of this wooden doll, from how she speaks about growing up she sounds mature, but the way she reacted to the situation with the red sweater also showed that she wasn’t really prepared at the time.
The author uses similes to describe two different things together so
that