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What does light symbolize in Stargirl?

Every reader will give a different answer to this question, and many of them will be perfectly valid. In Stargirl, you can think of light as a symbol of joy, friendship and love, truth and knowledge, honesty, a beneficial connection with nature, and more.

The important thing about analyzing the potential symbolism of light in this novel (or in any novel) is to find passages where light is mentioned, consider what they literally mean, and then consider carefully what they could figuratively mean. Let's check out some examples:


1. "And each night in bed I thought of [Stargirl] as the moon came through my window... I liked the feeling the moonlight gave me, as if it wasn't the opposite of day, but its underside, its private side..."


For Leo, we see that he enjoys the light of the moon while he thinks about his strange new classmate. So perhaps for him, the muted, less intense light of the moon (compared to the sun’s light) symbolizes life’s mysteries to be explored. We’ve already seen that Leo is somewhat obsessed with fitting in with his peers at school, but this experience of pondering in the moonlight is something he does privately—so perhaps the moonlight for him also symbolizes solitude or individuality. This would make sense, as he connects moonlight with Stargirl: so far a figure of complete social isolation and uniqueness.


A bit later, after he’s completely taken with Stargirl, Leo describes her as "bendable light” that shines “around every corner of [Leo’s] day."


You can find even further evidence of these interpretations farther along in the novel, when Leo shuts his shade against the moonlight as he decides not to be with Stargirl anymore.


2. Consider how Stargirl picks a name for herself related to natural light, how she looks into the sky to find answers, and how she likes to dress in bright colors, with bright accessories (like her bag with the “gaudy sunflower” on it—a SUNflower, not just any yellow flower). Like the moonlight discussed above, the character Stargirl herself, then, is eligible for consideration as a symbol related to light.


Her name and the way she dresses, as well as the fact that she “dazzles” people, may be taken as evidence for light’s symbolic representation of joy, uniqueness, individuality, and/or expressing a true version of one’s own personality. And her reliance on the light of the moon, stars, and sun to provide answers and solutions reveals her connection with nature.


3. Think of how knowledge and light are tied together throughout the novel. Most notably, when Leo learns the full truth about Stargirl, he says he’s being lead “out into the dazzling light.” For this reason, you can see light as a fairly simple symbol of knowledge, truth, understanding, insight, etc.


To reiterate, we can’t give a precise, correct explanation of what something like light symbolizes in a novel like this one. We can only explore the idea and how it’s represented in the story, how it functions, what it all might mean. Even if the author himself were to publish a statement saying “I intended light to symbolize _____ in this book,” then readers’ divergent interpretations might still be valid!

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