In "Second Best", DH Lawrence uses the symbol of the mole as the basis for three distinct metaphors for the dilemmas in his characters' lives. Each character exhibits differences in attitude and action toward 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 in the symbolic worlds in which we live. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay In the case of the character Anne, her clumsy attempt to capture a mole symbolizes her difficulties with men at one point in her life where she makes an unsteady leap into womanhood. Adolescence left her struggling with uncertainty about whether to view men as pests or as objects of desire. His changing attitudes towards the mole reflect his fluctuating view of men. She oscillates between an unprecedented fascination with the mole which first leads her to cradle it, frustration with her desire to escape, anger at the "pesky" creature once it bites her, and finally, a tragic attraction to her "beautiful skin" once she bit her. I killed him. These developments parallel the past, present, and future of her relationship with Tom, which previously began with a curious fascination, has evolved into frustration and anger now that he has rejected her, and will end with sorrow and longing when she finally finds him. out of reach and found herself stuck playing the role of “last resort” in front of her sister. Frances, who still views Anne as an innocent tomboyish girl, does not recognize her sister's new emotions and, as a result, is confused by their symbolic manifestations. She automatically expects Anne to take the symbolic action of killing the mole, because she has not yet understood her developing concept of attraction. She expects her sister to only see the mole's annoying nature, just as she once only saw the negative qualities of men that made them appear "like big dogs" to her. When she continues to reject her admiration for the dead mole, it symbolically shows that she is incapable of taking her desire for Tom seriously, and that when she continues to pursue him, it will be without realizing the pain and of the disappointment that this will inevitably cause. his sister. Despite her lack of insight into her sister's feelings toward men, Frances is acutely aware of her own, hence the narrator's comment that she "(suffers) greatly" because of her love life. Her hesitance to kill moles is the result of a very conscious symbolism that she created in order to solve her own emotional problems. For her, killing a mole represents an abandonment of the love she once had for Jimmy. She knows that if she takes this symbolic action, she will be heading down a path of emotional numbness that could lead to cold manipulation of other men as a negative reaction. She is aware of her power over men, as shown by her teasing Tom and her compulsion to adopt cleaner speech. She is also aware of how easily she could exploit her attractiveness in the name of malice toward men. Thus, when she describes the casualness of her voice when commenting on the death of the first mole as being "hateful to her", she is actually reacting to his,.