Sometimes, though, insisting a symbol can mean one--and only one--thing is an attempt at ignoring or dismissing a reader's personal and cultural experiences. To someone who finds blue to be a calming color, the curtains could symbolize the character's desire for a semblance of peace and hope in a chaotic world. Someone who lives in hill country could interpret standing on one simply as a way to gain perspective. The meaning and the supporting evidence might be different from the symbol's more conventional interpretation, but it doesn't (or shouldn't) be no less valid for the reader.

I struggled with the textual analysis part of lit class because of this. My teachers used textbooks containing excerpted chapters from literary works as our "required" reading. Obviously, I had no idea of the context that would challenge my theories unless I checked out the full book. Sometimes, I didn't even see the symbolism in the selection at all due to my own personal experience. (Example: Fishing is a popular pastime in my area, so a book like The Old Man and the Sea is seen as a simple fishing story. For the excerpt we were required to read in class, I struggled to find any symbols of life, manhood, aging, or legacy because of my area's culture.) It took me writing my own stories to see how and when symbolism requires context to be understood as such.