Symbolism In Tobias Wolff's Say Yes
Pretentious Title
The short story "Say Yes" by Tobias Wolff, questions whether or not interracial marriage should be accepted through the dispute between a man and his wife. While the wife seems to use emotional appeals to cause a reaction in her husband, he sees through her and only uses logical responses and fails to see the point she is trying to make despite the racial undertone causing her to feel insecure. Wolff uses many different elements to help convey the meaning of the story such as characters, symbolism, setting, and, diction selection. Wolff uses these literary devices to express a message to his readers. Although the story is very short is takes place in a key point in the two's relationship where they can share their true feelings. One of the literary elements used in this short story is character. Through the use of characters the author portrays the contradictory feelings by using speech, emotions, and appearances to show his feelings as well. The husband in this story is used to show the logical appeals while the wife often uses emotional appeals. A major part of the story is the argument that the husband and wife …show more content…
The husband's diction pointed out how he thought of black people and his racism. There are quite a few examples of the husband's choice of words when he spoke of black people, for example, while arguing with his wife on the topic of interracial marriage he says that “ Listen to them sometime—they even have their own language” but tries to justify his words by claiming that he actually likes to hear them talk, that he finds it to be quite amusing apparently.He also refers to interracial marriages as “those marriages” confirming his racism. He even goes as far as to admit that the only black person he had ever known, all of this proving how he truly feels towards black people despite his rants claiming he is not
The short story "Say Yes" by Tobias Wolff, questions whether or not interracial marriage should be accepted through the dispute between a man and his wife. While the wife seems to use emotional appeals to cause a reaction in her husband, he sees through her and only uses logical responses and fails to see the point she is trying to make despite the racial undertone causing her to feel insecure. Wolff uses many different elements to help convey the meaning of the story such as characters, symbolism, setting, and, diction selection. Wolff uses these literary devices to express a message to his readers. Although the story is very short is takes place in a key point in the two's relationship where they can share their true feelings. One of the literary elements used in this short story is character. Through the use of characters the author portrays the contradictory feelings by using speech, emotions, and appearances to show his feelings as well. The husband in this story is used to show the logical appeals while the wife often uses emotional appeals. A major part of the story is the argument that the husband and wife …show more content…
The husband's diction pointed out how he thought of black people and his racism. There are quite a few examples of the husband's choice of words when he spoke of black people, for example, while arguing with his wife on the topic of interracial marriage he says that “ Listen to them sometime—they even have their own language” but tries to justify his words by claiming that he actually likes to hear them talk, that he finds it to be quite amusing apparently.He also refers to interracial marriages as “those marriages” confirming his racism. He even goes as far as to admit that the only black person he had ever known, all of this proving how he truly feels towards black people despite his rants claiming he is not