Symbolism in The Bingo Van essays

Symbolism in The Bingo Van essays Material objects are important to peoples lives, but nowadays more and more people cannot be satisfied with just comfortable living circumstances. Driving a better car, living in a better house, and having a luxurious life have become their dreams. Some of the people work hard to make their dreams come true and some are opportunists. During the pursuit they always ignore the other important factors in lives, such as the people they love and care about. What is more important to life? In the story The Bingo Van, written by Louise Erdrich, the character experiences the pursuit of material objects and love. He realizes that his girl friend Serena and love are more important than any material possession. The writer uses two major symbols in this short story; the van is a symbol of slavery to material possessions, while the running horse becomes a symbol of love and freedom. The main male character is a slave of material possessions.. Lipsha is a poor man, who works as a night watchman in a bar and earns twenty dollars per week. At the beginning of the story, he has no direction in life. He sleeps in the bar, and eats in the bar. He feels that life is promising when he sees the van in the bingo hall, because the van has got everything he wants: ...blue plush on the steering wheel, diamond side windows. And complete carpeted interior...In the back there was a small refrigerator and a carpeted platform for sleeping. It was a home... (Erdrich 103). He even thinks that he wants to be the van (Erdrich 103). Lipsha becomes obsessed with the van. As he says, I learned to be one-minded in my pursuit of a material object, and To get my van, I had to shake hands with greed (Erdrich 103). Lipsha has the power to healing, so in order to buy bingo tickets to win the van, he raises the charge of his service. The more obsessed he becomes wit...