In "Second Best," D.H. Lawrence uses the symbol of the mole as the basis for three separate metaphors for dilemmas in his characters' lives. Each character displays differences in attitude and action towards the creatures, and these differences represent the psychological disparities between them that result in their difficulties understanding and interacting with each other. Thus, the story shows us how the deeper roots of problems in our literal interactions can manifest themselves in the symbolic worlds we inhabit. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the case of the character Anne, her clumsy attempt to catch a mole symbolizes her difficulty with men at a time in her life when she is making an unsteady leap into femininity. Adolescence left her struggling with the uncertainty of whether to consider men as parasites or objects of desire. His changing attitudes towards the mole mirror his fluctuating views of men. She oscillates between a new fascination with the mole that first leads her to cradle her, frustration with her desire to escape, anger with the "annoying" creature once it bites her and, finally, the tragic attraction for her "beautiful skin " once he bit her. he killed him. These developments parallel the past, present, and future of her relationship with Tom, which previously began with curious fascination, has progressed to frustration and anger now that he has rejected her, and will continue to end with heartache and longing when she finally finds him. out of reach and she herself was stuck playing "second best" with her sister. Frances, who still sees Anne as an innocent little girl, does not recognize her sister's new emotions and is consequently confused by their symbolic displays. He has an automatic expectation that Anne will take the symbolic action of killing the mole, because he has yet to understand his developing concept of attraction. He expects his sister to see only the mole's annoyingness, just as she previously saw only the negative qualities in men that made them seem "like big dogs." When she continues to reject her admiration for the dead mole, she symbolically shows that she is unable to take her desire for Tom seriously, and that when she continues to pursue him she will do so without realizing the pain and disappointment it will inevitably cause. his sister. Despite her lack of understanding of her sister's feelings towards men, Frances is keenly aware of her own, hence the narrator's comment that she "(suffers) greatly" as a result of her romantic life. His hesitation in killing the moles is the result of a highly conscious type of symbolism he created to deal with his own emotional problems. For her, killing a mole means letting go of the love she once had for Jimmy. He knows that if he takes this symbolic action, he will enter a path to emotional numbness that could lead to cold manipulation of other men as a negative reaction. She is aware of her power over men, as demonstrated by the fact that she teases Tom and forces him to speak more cleanly. She is also aware of how easily she could fall into exploiting her charm in the name of contempt towards men. Thus, when she describes the irreverence in her voice in commenting on the first mole's death as "hateful to her," she is actually reacting to her growing discomfort at the idea of ​​killing a mole herself, and the implications of such a symbolic gesture . action. He tries to overcome his growing desensitization to the idea of,.