Miss Jackson was my English teacher during my senior year in high school. She was a good teacher, but she had a quirk that sometimes drove me to distraction in class: Miss Jackson had a thing about symbolism in literature.
By my senior year I was already getting stories published in the school literary magazine (Yes, we had a literary magazine, but no school newspaper until I was close to graduation.) and it seemed to me that it was difficult enough to write an entertaining tale without having to lard it up with symbolism as well.
Then came the day when the class had to discuss the symbolism of 'Moby Dick'. More specifically, we had to consider the symbolism of a white whale. Why a white whale? I listened to my classmates as they suggested different possibilities, some of which were quite creative: Purity, an unattainable goal, and so on. I thought about it, and finally raised my hand. Miss Jackson looked at me and nodded. I'm sure she regretted that later.
"How else," I asked, "Is Ahab going to know he's got the right whale?"