Is it possible for us to understand the central theme of a story or a poem or any other piece of writing without having images and symbols? We can find them in every piece of writing in English literature. Every author uses symbolism and imagery in their writings in order to make us understand the message that he is trying to convey through words. In other words, symbolism gives us a deeper level of meaning and stronger emotions. Freedom, love, relationship, hate, violence are few central themes represented in many different stories and poems. Idea of vivid mental pictures, or images, by the skilful use of words is what we called "imagery." I discovered the use of same image in different works representing different significance to us. Some themes are expressed by using different symbols and images. Unfairness in war among the people is a common theme that can be characterized images by the means of body parts, fire, and humans.

             In the story "The Things They Carried" the author, Tim O"Brien uses the image of a human thumb to represent injustice done to the young Vietnamese boy and to the American soldiers. American soldiers were involved in a conflict in Vietnam and were experiencing sufferings without any reason. In the story, reader can discover the significance of a human thumb by the graphical description given by O"Brien. He clearly exhibited it in the following line, "The thumb was dark brown, rubbery to the touch, and weighted four ounces at most"(878). In every aspect, a thumb symbolizes the injustice done to the Vietnamese boy during the war. The physical description of Vietnamese boy given by O"Brien in the following lines, "They"d found him at the bottom of an irrigation ditch, badly burned, flies in his mouth and eyes"(878) makes us feel disheartened. Although the thumb represents a victory for a sixteen-year-old Vietnamese boy, the Americans had no other chose other than to follow the instructions, which resulted in the unnecessary deaths in the war.