Binary Opposition Land-Water in the Fairy Tale “Cocobolo” by R. Riggs

Abstract

The article deals with the symbolism of the manifestation of two antagonistic elements (water and land) in the fairy tale “Cocobolo” by R. Riggs, which are the key concepts of the work. The writer not only uses general symbolic meanings, but also complements them with additional authorial connotations. In R. Riggs' tale, land symbolizes order, pragmatism, rationality, and water symbolizes spontaneity, danger, and irrationality. The dichotomy of water and land contains a clear archetypal component, so the author justifiably turns to psychoanalysis which provides additional opportunities to decode the implicit meanings of the tale. So, the sea represents the unconscious leaving the shore symbolizes a break with the family the island embodies consciousness and will, and so on. Thus, the details of the chronotope (the main character Zheng lives at the seaside) gradually acquire richer associative connections and symbolic meanings. The fairy tale is also full of other symbols that are on the border of the elements of water and land (shore, island, sand, algae). The sand is one of the dominant images of the work. It symbolizes not only time and plurality (conventional symbolism), but also destruction and elimination. Zheng's reluctance to accept his true nature, his attempts to escape from himself are metaphorically realized by the author as metamorphoses that occur with the body of the hero and deprive him of human form ‒ sand began to pour from Zheng’s skin. The plot of the tale is based on the fact that Zheng must find his own father and fulfill the oath he once gave him. Last words of his father turn out to be symbolic: “Don’t let grass grow under your feet!” They become polysemantic in the context of the fairy tale. They can be interpreted in three ways. The first literal meaning implies not to stay in the same place, to travel, to look for something. The second meaning which results from that is to use your possibilities, not to postpone. Finally, the third meaning is the author’s one: a person turns into a monster staying at the same place, not accepting oneself. To find himself, Zheng must leave the land and go into the sea. The hero of the fairy tale Zheng must choose between these two elements, which becomes a stage of initiation and an existential choice for him. The final choice is to find and accept his true nature. Only after completely losing his human shape and turning into an island does he find inner peace. Having become an island, he turns into a land that can only exist in water. This is the harmony of the two elements. Only by reconciling water and land does peace come to Zheng's own soul.