In literature, as in life, details always signify. An author will use an object or event to represent deep emotions and values; in other words, a thing in any story is more than it appears. A thing is symbolic. Although the authors of Fences, “Sweat,” and “Fiesta 1980” differ, each has written about characters striving for an American ideal in an America that is unwelcoming and difficult. One common symbol in each of these tales is a vehicle, a machine designed for self-propulsion. These vehicles represent so much beyond their practical meaning.
In an MLA formatted double-spaced 1000-word essay with clearly developed academic paragraphs and in-text direct quote citations, write an essay that explores the deeper meaning of the vehicles in each of the stories. Using direct quotes from each of the stories define and discuss how the significance of the vehicle to the characters in each story. What ideal does the vehicle symbolize, and how do each of the stories communicate a deeper meaning about an American ideal? What is the author communicating through the symbol of the vehicle?