Apologies to Disney and anyone else whom I may have offended/provoked. No trolling intended, but I'm likely guilty of having a direct/confrontational style.
However, what you have just witnessed was an originally unintented mini social experiment. The stereotypical SJ would not look for (i.e. perceive) symbolic meaning, nor did anyone in this test group (eiddy's comment is accurate and aids understanding, but is not "insightful", in that it is still only a reorganization of the words/meaning consciously provided). Of course, that doesn't mean all SJs are incapable of perceiving metaphor, and it certainly doesn't mean that any SJ is incapable of understanding or appreciating metaphor. As Disney very accurately points out, "we are all individuals, not mindless zombie robots programmed to be the same." But, little tests like this might indicate that some stereotypes often emerge from a pinch of truth. Of course this goes both ways -- in my Grade 12 yearbook I was "most likely to: always have a bad haircut." Being NP has it's disadvantages
So Lucifer in Starlight ... we're going back 10 years to Grade 11 English here. In groups of 3 we had to select and read a poem to the class, provide history and background on the author, and provide a poetic interpretation. My two SJ teammates, both friends of mine, immediately assign themselves to the concrete roles, leaving me to contemplate verse from the late 1800s (woot?).
I never was and never have been into poetry. Admittedly I spent most of my time interpreting the surface meanings, trying to think my way out of the problem. Wrong answer. I've since learned that both Freud and Jung agree that dreams are to be interpreted symbolically, through associative, picture-based thinking, as opposed to directed language-based thinking. Poetry is no different.
So eventually, minutes before presenting to the class, images started coming to me, and a feverishly began scribbling down my inspiration. Envision Lucifer taking off into the sky. Who or what could Lucifer represent? People. Mankind. We too are fallen. What takes off in a hot fit of pride? Someone's ego? Collective ego? Wait, space shuttles take off in a hot fit too. A rolling ball in cloud part screened sure sounds like a planet. The stars of heaven are the brain of the universe? It could be that man has taken off in search of enlightenment, or space flight, vying to become like God by reaching Heaven, by knowing His mind. Masters of land, sand and snow, and having become prideful with intellectual progress and the rampantly increasing mastery of Earth, man takes to the sky, daring to contest the immutable law of gravity. Man reaches a point, the middle ground, and realizes that it is all in vain: the stars are still out of reach; we can still never know the mind of God or be like him. It could also be a metaphor for growing up and dieing -- we arise in pride as teenagers,conquering the world to a point, only to reach middle age and realize that death is inevitable. Idealism ages into conservatism.
And no, that is not how it "should" be interpreted. I don't know that there is ever a "right" answer to these things (Isn't that what is so attractive about poetry, case studies and theoretical anything?
). But it would be the atypical SJ that would answer the question in such a way.
Of course, ask me to pack for a month long trip and be prepared for ever eventuality and I'm coming to your house to plead for assistance. Heck, it's hard enough remembering to wash dishes and laundry.
Sorry for hi-jacking your thread btw.
.. you're good.
