Symbols // Marli D.

          There are numerous symbols that could be found in Memoirs of a Geisha. A lot of the symbolism used in this story are resembled by water, because of Sayuri's blue-gray eyes that showed the water in her personality.

• One example of a symbol found in the story is when Chiyo, which was Sayuri's childhood name, was thinking of running away from the okiya she was living in. The symbol in this segment of the novel was the thoughts Chiyo was having of water running, which inspired her to think about the idea of running away.
• Another example of symbolism that is seen in this book is the transformation from an apprentice to a geisha. This is resembled by a beautiful butterfly coming out of a crysilis after a long time.
• Whenever Sayuri hit obstacles in her life, she would find a way around it. The symbolization of this was how water would hit rocks, but water can find its way around anything. A symbolization such as this was used from Sayuri's personality to her life that has a lot of water in it to the experiences in her life.
• A rice cake in a red box symbolized a geisha's virginity. It's given to men from a geisha, and they would bid money for her mizuage (virginity).
• Sayuri herself was symbolized through water. A strong force water is, yet its soothing and beautiful. Sayuri is seen to be a powerful and beautiful woman in this story. The comparison between the two is frequent because of the constant metaphors of water in the book.

          Symbolism is an intriguing writing style, and is great for imagery. Arthur Golden used symbolism very beautifully in Memoirs of a Geisha. Symbols were used quite frequently in this novel- especially when water was described because Sayuri's personality flows the same way as water does.