Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

"He still did not want outside light. He pulled out his igniter, felt the salamander etched on its silver disc, gave it a flick... Thomas Bulfinch, from Mythology, explains that "...the authority of numerous sage philosophers, at the head of whom are Aristotle and Pliny, affirms this power of the salamander. According to them, the animal not only resists fire, but extinguishes it, and when he sees the flame charges it as an enemy which he well knows how to vanquish." (Source: The Environmental Literacy Council) It is ironic that Bradbury purposefully chose a salamander as a symbol for the (second definition of) fireman. Considering that the firemen of that definition are required to start fires, Montag becomes like a mythical salamander when he summons the courage to rebel.
Two moonstones looked up at him in the light of his small hand-held fire; two pale moonstones buried in a creek of clear water over which the life of the world ran, not touching them. It is, again, ironic how Bradbury uses nature as an extended metaphor here, even though the people in Montag's world are so disconnected from the natural world. Like these citizens, Mildred is cut off from the world, as she sees it from her television parlor, as Bradbury cynically says, a true 'living room.' She is, in fact, a symbol of Montag's world, which he must let go of at the end of the book."Mildred!" Her face was like a snow-covered island upon which rain might fall, but it felt no rain; over which clouds might pass their moving shadows; but she felt no shadow. There was only the singing of the thimble-wasps in her tamped-shut ears...." Thimble-wasps (something like an earplug?) are also a large symbol throughout the book. They are representative of communication and connection between human beings.

Jane Eyre: Guardian Irony

Why could I never please? Why was it useless to try and win any one's favour? Eliza, who was headstrong and selfish, was respected. Georgiana, who had a spoiled temper, a very acrid spite, a captious and insolent carriage, was universally indulged. Her beauty, her pink cheeks, and golden curls, seemed to give delight to all who looked at her, and to purchase indemnity for every fault.  Georgiana gets away with "every fault," because she is attractive. This reminds me of a study I once read where more attractive women were more likely to be hired in interviews. Depressing, but true. John no one thwarted, much less punished, though he twisted the necks of the pigeons, killed the little pea-chicks, 
set the dogs at the sheep, stripped the hothouse vines of their fruit, and broke the buds off the choicest plants in the conservatory: he called his mother 'old girl', too; sometimes reviled her for her dark skin, similar to his own, (It's interesting how Bronte uses racial allusion here.) bluntly disregarded her wishes; not infrequently tore and spoiled her silk attire, and he was still 'her own darling'. I dared commit no fault, I strove to fulfil every duty, and I was termed naughty and tiresome, sullen and sneaking, note the alliteration! from morning to noon, and from noon til night. Like Nick from The Great Gatsby, I can't help but wonder if things aren't exactly as Jane says- maybe she's exaggerating a little? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't believe her, but her passionate complaints are almost unbelievable- or aren't they?

The Help

"Mister Raleigh Leefolt still at home this morning, which is rare. Whenever he here, he look like he just counting the minutes till he get to go back to his accounting job. Even on Saturday. But today he carrying on bout something. "This is my damn house and I pay for what goddamn goes in it!"Mister Leefolt yell. Miss Leefolt trying to keep up behind him with that smile that mean she ain't happy. I hide out in the washroom. It's been two days since the bathroom talk come up and I was hoping it was over. Mister Leefolt opens the back door to look at the truck setting there, slam it back closed again. "I put up with the new clothes, all the damn trips to New Orleans with your sorority sisters, but this takes the goddamn cake." "But it'll increase the value of the house. Hilly said so!" I'm still in the washroom, but I can almost hear Miss Leefolt trying to keep that smile on her face. "We can't afford it! And we do not take orders from the Holbrooks!" Everthing get real quite for a minute. Then I hear the pap-pap of little feetum pajamas. "Da-dee?" I come out the washroom and into the kitchen then cause Mae Mobley's my business. Mister Leefolt's already kneeling down to her. He's wearing a smile look like it's made out a rubber. "Guess what, honey?" She smile back. She waiting for a good surprise. "You're not going to college so your mama's friends don't have to use the same bathroom as the maid." He stomp off and slam the door so hard it make Baby Girl blink."

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

Aibileen, the narrator in this paragraph, quietly observes a scene between her two white employers and their daughter, Mae Mobley. The author bitterly emphasizes Mae Mobley's parents' social insecurity and how Mr. and Ms. Leefolt raise Mae Mobley is heartbreakingly indifferent- Aibileen sadly notes that Ms. Leefolt is often too concerned about her friends and social image that she rarely takes time to spend with her daughter, something that Aibileen tries to make up for by giving Mae Mobley her own positive influence. Later in the book, when her parents discover Mae Mobley teaching her brother how to play "Back-O-The-Bus" and "Drugstore Counter" (games that Aibileen have invented that cleverly instill antiracist beliefs), Mae Mobley shows the character that "Aibee" has taught her.