The Symbol of the Heart in The Floating Opera Essay -- Floating Opera

The Symbol of the Heart in The move Opera The center of attention is the dominant symbol in The Floating Opera, more important nevertheless than the symbol of the showboat of the novels title. From beginning to end the book is richly populated by references to the spunk on both a literal, physical level, and a figurative, symbolical one. In the first case, literal references are made to Todds heart condition. In the second case, the heart plays two symbolic roles not only does it assist as a symbol of Todds emotional and non-rational side, but the frailty of Todds heart serves as a correlative for the fragility of all(prenominal) human life. This topic will examine several examples from The Floating Opera that demonstrate this multi-levelled rule of the heart. Hearts make an early appearance in the text, in the in truth first chapter, when Todd describes his heart condition a kind of subacute bacteriological endocarditis1. This condition predisposes Todd towards myocardial infarction (heart attack), and consequently Todd writes, What that means is that any twenty-four hour period I whitethorn fall quickly dead, without warning - perhaps out front I complete this sentence, perhaps twenty years from now.2 Although this may seem to be a purely literal device, Barth is using Todds heightened ken of the delicateness of his own life as an exaggerated symbol for the vulnerability of all human life. This early focus upon the heart continues due to the centrality in the novels secret plan of Todds decision to kill himself, and his subsequent change of mind. At the mall of this decision to suicide is Todds realisation that his life has been governed by his heart (his emotions), in spite of his best efforts to live by will, causation and intellect My heart was the master... ...when Froebel had Parnassus in his pan?8 This quotation is demonstrative of both the inability of reason to overcome emotions - the very problem which Todd has grappled with for much of his life, and which lies centrally in The Floating Opera - and also of Todds acute awareness of that inability. This, like so galore(postnominal) of the facts in the narrative, has both a symbolic and a literal meaning, and shows the utmost to which the heart and what it stands for permeate the fabric of the entire novel. Bibliography Barth, John, The Floating Opera and The polish off of the Road, base Books, New York, 1988. Endnotes 1 Barth, John, The Floating Opera and The End of the Road, Anchor Books, New York, 1988, p. 5. (All subsequent page numbers refer to this book.) 2 p. 5. 3 p. 226. 4 p. 49. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 p. 124. 8 pp. 94-5