The first symbol that is so very obvious in the play is the knife. The mother hates it so much because she hates death. Two of her family members are dead, so that makes a lot of sense. The knife creates tension between the groom and his mother, because the groom seems to want to avoid the subject of death all together while the mother won't quit talking about it. I think that both these characters' views towards death have something to do with the characters themselves being symbolic of things. They could embody different ideals, stereotypical whatevertheyare's, or something that I haven't figured out yet because I'm really not sure. The knife can be symbolic of death in two ways, I think. The more obvious hidden meaning behind the knife is death, but we also have that idea of separation that we discussed in class today. Death, brought about by the knife, severs the mother's family before the play with the father and brother and then at the end of the play when the groom dies, leaving the mother alone.
Another symbol I noticed was the machine that the neighbor lady talks about. At first, I didn't pay it much mind, but looking at it closer I saw that it must have some importance because it is THE machine, rather than a machine. Then again, Spanish translates so that there is a "the" in front of practically every noun that is talked about in a general sense. I looked back through the preceding pages and didn't really see this abnormality except for "the knife", which is also a symbol. Ergo, the machine is a symbol. Boom. I thought that the machine was a symbol (this may be a bit of a stretch) for logic. I know that Lorca disliked realism and logic, and at times the logical, mathematical human brain is compared to a machine. I saw the contrast between logic and surrealism when the neighbor says, "I think your son and I are better off where they are, asleep, resting, and not in danger of being left useless"(12). The machine, representing logic which Lorca deems useless, is the very thing that made the neighbor's son a poor little stub with no arms or legs. The fact that Lorca would bring up sleep is interesting because sleep and dreams are part of surrealism. I think Lorca is using the machine to show his preference for surrealism over realism and logic.
I like how you mentioned how the translation from Spanish to English may create false understandings from our point of view. This is probably true in other aspects of the play besides the machine. The songs, for example, may rhyme for all we know, or have other tricks which are only evident when sung in the original language.
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