Nixaly Mendez

March 23, 2023

Mid-Term

In the short story “The Encounter” by Jay Smith, the main character Lambright is having

difficulties accepting his son, Robbies’, new girlfriend Lisa. As the narrator shows how

Lambright takes Lisa to the middle of no where to talk her out of dating his son, Lisa decides to

manipulate her way out of the conversation and out of the car. Smiths uses symbolism

throughout the story to helps convey the story’s theme.

The first words that starts the story off is the main characters name “Lambright” (Smith

1). With a name like this there must be meaning behind it, and there is. The author includes the

lamb in the beginning of the name, which is a small animal that is weak and is usually an easy

prey. The authors use of this symbol is to use this name to reveals a clue about the plot. For

example, Smith wants the name to reference that later, Lambright is going to be preyed upon.

Another use of a symbol referencing a future plot an important future event, is when the narrator

mentions the name of a creek, “They crossed the narrow bridge over Oso Creek” (Smith 10). The

symbol in this name is if you look at the letters in Oso, inverted the name would be SOS. This is

a reference to a future plot issue that happens between the two main characters traveling near this

creek. While Lambright and Lisa are in the car, Lisa mentions “‘Or you’ll beat me and throw me

in the the creek?’”(Smith 23). Lisa again talks about the worst possibilities of being in that car

with Lambright in the middle of the night when she says, “‘And so if I don’t dump him, you’ll,

what, rape me? Murder me? Bury me in the dunes?’” (Smith 25). As a teenage, only being 16

years old, Lisa realized that there could potentially be an opportunity for these event to occur, but

instead Lisa uses those events to scare Lambright and escape his car. These uses of symbolism
reveals clues about what happens as the readers continue to read the story and shows how it

helps demonstrate the story’s theme.

As the story continues, the author now switches how the symbols are contributing to the

story important events. In the beginning the author refers to an eagle when he says,“[H]ow bald-

eagle nests are often girded with cat collars” (Smith 8). Now, this symbol intentions are to

reference an important event that happens previously. Earlier, the narrator mentions that “Two

weeks ago, one of his wife’s necklaces disappeared” (Smith 3). The symbol intent is to compare

Lisa to the eagle using cat collars when she stole Robbies’ mothers’ necklace. Towards the end

of the story, Lambright recalls the issue that happens between Lisa and himself, and he said

“[H]er movement reminded him of a trickle of water through pebbles” (Smith 44). When the

narrator brings this up, the readers know that Lisa movement doesn’t actually remind Lambright

of water moving through the path between pebbles. Instead the movement of Lisa causes

Lambright to worry, because he knows that there is a possibility for her to say whatever she

wants about him to the police, and she could get away with it since there was no body around to

witness. Smiths includes these symbols to show the importance of certain events that have

previously taken place.

Another way that symbols are being utilized within this short story, is when the author

uses them to show other significant features about the personality traits of certain characters. For

example, in the beginning when the author is describing Lisa, he mentions “She had a reputation,

a body, and a barcode tattooed on the back of her neck” (Smith 1). With the intention of meaning

something totally different, the author mentioned the bar code tattoo, because it could be

symbolizing that fact that she could see herself or others think of her as an object. The barcode

usually refers to an object that is up for purchase in a store. So the authors intent of mentioning
this barcode, is to symbolize Lisa being the object and Robbie “purchasing” her as his girlfriend.

The author once again uses another tattoo reference to symbolize the meaning of something

completely different. When the author says, “[I]t lead the girl to confess her desire to get a fan

peacock feathers tattooed on her lower back” (Smith 2). Animals are important when it comes to

symbols, and this story mentions variety of animals. The majestic animal, the peacock, is a

symbol for power, strength, and confidence. When the Lisa mentions that she wants to get “a fan

of peacock feathers” this shows that the character is a strong person, who can carry a lot of

power. Which is what happens when Lisa runs out of the car. She gains so much power over

Lambright, that he went home worrying about what she would say to the police.

As Smith uses symbols all throughout his story, it helps convey the overall meaning of

the story. By demonstrating different meaning behind symbols, the author effectively helps the

readers by showing little hints of the importance of specific events, revealing clues about the plot

and by showing a certain meaning behind these symbols.