Symbols and Signs

The story Symbols and Signs by Vladimir Nabokov felt like a complicated mystery novel with the last chapter cut out. The whole story seemed to be pointing to some big idea or message but I felt like I missed what exactly it was. If I were to guess I would say that the last phone call at the end of the story isn't a wrong number but someone calling to tell them their son had successfully committed suicide. In class Professor Sexson talked about how things come in threes in fairy tales (which are essentially myths). He said the first time its chance, the second coincidence, but the third is always design. Someone could have accidentally called the same wrong number twice but a third time is too much. The only other reason someone would call at such a late hour is to give them terrible news; that their son is dead. Also in the story the husband has a horrible dream that makes him want to take his son out of the asylum. He says "We must get him out of there quick. Otherwise, we’ll be responsible.... Responsible!” as if something terrible was going to happen to the boy if they did not act quickly.

If my mythic guessing above is actually right I am at a bit of a loss as to what all of the other little "trifles" (the little details that are so specific that they seem important) are pointing to. The jelly jars bug me the most. The story ends with the husband listing the kinds of jelly that are in the jars and he ends with crab apple. Why crab apple? My guess was that crab apples are sour and unpleasant like the news he is presumably getting with the third and final phone call.

So why did we read this sad story for a mythologies class? I think it was to train us in the ways of being a mythic detective. Detectives look for clues to solve a great mystery and this story was full of clues without a lot of answers. This story seemed to have the message that paying attention to details and coincidences is very important.