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Earlier in this chapter, you saw how the scissors in the film Edward Scissorhands were used metaphorically; they are also an example of a symbol, which is a literary element that has both literal and metaphorical uses in the work. A symbol may be an object, a person, a situation, or events or actions. In Edward Scissorhands, the character literally has scissors for hands, but the scissors metaphorically represent his difficulty in connecting with other people. Our stories are filled with symbols: Cinderella’s glass slipper; the poison in Romeo and Juliet; the dawning of a new day at the end of a horror film. They all have meanings beyond their literal use in the work. In Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven,” the black bird is literally sitting in the room with the narrator but is also metaphorically representing the narrator’s feelings of loss and depression. In the movie Citizen Kane, the main character has had his childhood taken away from him, symbolized by a sled left behind. You can often recognize symbols in a piece of literature by noting their repeated use and links to ideas outside of the text.