Symbolism in Janus

4 Jonathan W unnoticeable English 1900B Ian McAdam September 29th,2012 Symbolism in Janus The trough was just a bun. (Beattie 455) In the short stage Janus writer Anne Beattie uses a simple whorl to be the central centralize of symbolism in the novel. The gutter can be interpreted to symbolise or represent many different things. The axial motion belongs to the protagonist of the story Andrea, a successful real estate constituent who is married to her economise of many years. It has been argued that the bowl symbolizes everything from the carriage that Andrea lives or the world that Andrea lives in.Though there atomic number 18 strong arguments for these arguments among many others, I believe the strongest evidence of what the bowl symbolizes is a personality or traits of a character that repeats itself throughout the story. This character is not so coincident totallyy the title of the short story Janus. In the following essay I will argue that the bowl symbolizes an anc ient divinity by the name of Janus and all of his traits powers or attributes. Beattie uses the bowl to symbolize all of the traits of the ancient divinity fudge thru the flavour of our protagonist Andrea.To begin we must run into who this god was believed to be so we can relate it to the story. Janus is the Roman god of gates and doors, beginnings and endings, and hence represented with a double-faced head, each feeling in opposite directions. He was worshipped at the beginning of the glean date, planting, spousal relationship, birth, and other types of beginnings, especially the beginnings of important events in a persons life. Janus as well represents the conversion between primitive life and civilization, between the countryside and the city, peace and war, and the growing-up of young people. (Janus) 4As mentioned above, it is no coincidence that Beattie chose this title. The two faces Janus the god has is a symbolism in itself, it symbolizes untruth as I interpret tw o-facedness as being deceitful or as Beattie writes tricked. We will learn that Andrea herself, proves to be deceitful and deceived, she is tricked herself. Andrea also is also stuck between two different lifes as we come to learn. She is stuck in the ticker of new beginnings and endings in her relationships. Andrea seems unsure or lacks he courage to specify which path she would like to take. Andreas life had many doorways she could ave opened, unfortunately for Andrea, she stays on the doorstep. on that point are two important factors of Andreas life that the bowl plays a major part in, her tender life and her professional life. Lets begin with Andreas social life. Andrea is married to her husband of several years. Though Andrea and her husband wipe out been together for a few years, they take over no children together. Andrea and her husband both have their own successful careers as Andrea is a real estate agent and her husband a stock broker. For all the financial success they enjoy, their marriage was far from perfect.Both Andrea and her husband are a lot alike yet distant from each other. They were both quiet people- reflective, slow to make honor judgments. (Beattie 455) Their relationship is where the symbolism of bowl comes into play, the bowl was a gift from a former loer of Andreas. The bowl was actually a gift from a former lover. She had first seen the bowl several years earlier, at a crafts fair she had visited half in secret, with her lover. (Beattie 456) Andrea hid the origins of the bowl from her husband which is evidence of her two-facedness, There were quantify where she wanted to talk to her usband about the bowl. (Beattie 455)The fact that Andrea has kept the origins of bowl rom her husband is an example of her deception. It also shows an involuntariness to permit go of the past. If Andrea wanted to rid herself of the memories of this former relationship, would she not rid herself of all gifts or memories from the relationshi p? Instead she grows an unhealthy attachment to the bowl over time, valuing it over her relationship with her husband. Communications issues are just the start of the 4 business with Andrea. Andrea is not without guilt, she does show an urge to talk to her husband about he bowl, however her fear and the consequences that could come from it were stronger. Doors would be opened and closed, perhaps she would have to let go of the bowl, something she seems unwilling to do. Her relationship ended with her lover because of her indecision, her unwillingness to start something new and close the door on her marriage. Her lover give tongue to that she was always too slow too fill out what she really loved.Why appease with her life the way it was? Why be two-faced, he asked her. He had do the first move toward her. When she would not decide in his favour, would not hange her life and come to him, he asked her what made her think she could have it both ways. (Bettie 456) Beattie gives us strong evidence of the symbolism of the bowl. Andreas career is the other important verbalism of her life where the bowl greatly influences her decisions and contains more strong evidence of its symbolism. As mentioned, Andrea is a successful real estate agent. (She had a very lucrative year selling real estate.Word spread, and she had more clients than she felt comfortable with. (Beattie 455) Andrea use the bowl as well as other tricks to help her in her career, or so she thought. When she thought that some prospective buyers might be dog lovers, she would drop off her dog at the same time she would place the bowl in the house that was up for sale. It can be argued that there is nothing morally wrong with these tricks that Andrea used to sell houses, I would agree. Yet the real deception comes from the bowl itself. Andrea has allowed the bowl to take acknowledgment for work she has done, allowing the bowl to deceive her.She was sure that the bowl brought her luck. (Beattie 45 5 Bids were frequently correct in on houses where she had displayed the bowl. There is no evidence at all to suggest that the bowl influences the sale of the house. There is no psyche that customers like the look of the bowl, some even inquiring on where the bowl came from. Once Andrea got a call from a woman who had not put in an offer on a house she had shown her. That bowl, she said- would it be doable to find out where the owners had bought that 4 beautiful bowl. Andrea pretended that she did not know what the woman was referring to. (Beattie 454)This is more evidence of Andreas two-facedness or deceit, ill will mean or not, Andrea is not ompletely honest with her clients. Unfortunately for Andrea, she allows the bowl to deceive her, persuade her that it is the cause she closes so many houses. How could a bowl do this, The bowl was just a bowl. (Beattie 455) I do believe Beattie shifts the meaning of the bowl throughout the story. At times the bowl represents Andreas li fe, how material things are the yet things she values, it shows a dependency on material things because of her passionless marriage. Other times the bowl represents her inability to make a decision or to let go of her past relationship.It symbolizes her fear of choosing a path, choosing a door, closing relationships and starting signal new. Andrea instead allows the bowl to dictate her decisions. As mentioned above, arguments can and have be made for many different meanings . the bowl always returns to its roots. It came from a hidden relationship, it is used to trick home buyers. The bowl is a representation of a past relationship, one she had an opportunity to start a new life with, yet she didnt. She is stuck in the middle of two doors, two paths. There is no beginning or end for Andrea because she evidently lacks the courage or .The bowl represents the two-faced nature of Andrea, her trickery her two relationships. It deceives Andrea in convincing her that it is the reason for her success. The bowl was just a bowl. (Beattie 455) All these examples directly symbolize the traits or attributes of the ancient god Janus Works Cited 1. Beattie, Ann. Janus. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Allison Booth, Kelly J. Mays. New York Norton, 2010. 453-456. 2. Janus. encyclopaedia Mythica. 2012. Encyclopedia Mythica Online. 01 Oct. 2012 www. pantheon. org/articles/j/janus. html.