Challenge 139

Signs and Symbols

I. We salute Jeff Brown’s “A Wave from a Chimney” with a farewell Challenge:

The classic distinction between sign and symbol is that a symbol is an abstraction while a sign is part of the thing itself. Thus, a rain cloud is a sign of rain while certain lines on a weather map are a symbol of it.

Your answers to the following will depend on your interpretation of the story.

Is the abandoned house in “Wave from a Chimney” a sign, a symbol or both? In any case, what is the house a sign or symbol of?
Is the ghost who waves to Jack from the chimney a sign or a symbol?
How do Jack’s method and difficulty in penetrating the abandoned house parallel his previous mental and emotional history?

II. The conclusion of R D Larson’s “A Benign and Archaic Afterthought” tempts the reader to interpret the story as a modern allegory; that is, a template that can be fitted onto events or conditions in society at large.

What might the witches symbolize? Do they seem to have or use any magical powers? A comparison with the dark forces in Battle Seer may be in order.
Why might the author have chosen an “angel” as the protagonist rather than, say, an infantry platoon of religious sisters, as in Beverly Forehand’s “The Price of Light” (in issue 136)?
What purpose does the angel’s name, “Jack,” serve? Might the protagonist have been better left nameless?
What new plan might free the Infant from the shackles of the past?
What is the irony in the title?