Symbolism in The Spire
The most evident symbol in the novel is the spire itself, all 400 feet of it,
representing (a)a diagram of prayer (the hands on the body
of which the transepts form the arms)or (b)a Freudian expression of the repressed
sexual drives in Jocelin's subconscious. It may also be (c) a pointer to heaven,
as the medieval Gothic arches seem to be
The novel suggests that what begins in the 'cellarage' can actually rise above
it, as - physically - the spire does. The pit works as a symbol of this for
both the building and for the subconscious. A glorious spire can rise above the
stagnant waters, as a glorious vision can emerge from torturing suppressed
erotic drives, as can spirituality itself from the earthiness, even paganism
of the world (the superstitious workmen who use Pangall as a talisman, Jocelin
as a token of luck and who observe the solstice rituals, nevertheless build the
Christian statement of the spire.
The reader must also consider:
the symbolism of the mistletoe berries
the symbolism of the hammer
the symbolism of the Hanging Stones (the spire 'fight[s] eye to eye with the fires
of the Devil', ch 8)
the symbolism of violence and death for the 'cost'
the symbolism of Goody's death in childbirth (suggests sacrifice and death
for creativity)
the symbolism of the bird (yes, at one level the references are simply to
suggest Jocelin's increasingly arching back and hawk-like appearance, but think too
of the kingfisher, moving between earth and heaven in the sky; in any case, the arching
back makes him unable to look up to heaven/the spire any more)
the symbolism of the appletree (garden of Eden, the price of knowledge)
whether the whole book is a symbolic lesson in the consequences of pride
so that Jocelin's consumption of the spine is his fall
Roger's failed suicide
the symbolism of the storm
the symbolism of Pangall's death
the symbolism of Jocelin held prisoner in his own deanery and, when escaping,
ending up in the gutter
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