Kissing in the Rain

"It's never just rain” ~~ I think it is.

Foster talks about how rain can either mean good or bad things (symbolically) depending on how it is used. REALLY?? Something can mean both good AND bad? ……so can sunshine. Good and bad things happen regardless of the weather.

I do not mean to argue with someone who obviously has a higher level of knowledge than me and definitely knows what he is talking about, but that is exactly what I am trying to do.  I am sure that when a writer takes time to include rain for whatever reason in their work, it IS for a reason, but there are too many reasons. If someone dies in the rain, it is because rain is a bad thing. Evil! Bad! Rain=despair! Wait. Rain can mean wonderful things as well. It can be a symbol of a “new awakening” or a “rebirth”

In the interesting case of Mary Jane, rain can mean both. Her rainy situation starts off with being mugged by four men at once. I mean obviously rain is bad this time, right? Just as things are looking bad, she is saved! Hmm this whole rain thing is starting to look up! Who is her savoir? None other than the amazing Spider-Man himself! After he defeats the attackers (very quickly I might add), he goes to the Mary, while upside down of course, and they kiss. The rain is now signifying the birth of a new romance, when it was clearly about to mean death for poor little Mary Jane. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3bs_eUvf7Y)

While indisputably this iconic scene is not literature, it very clearly conveys the point I am trying to make: If rain can mean anything, why does it mean anything? It switched very quickly from death and despair to happiness and blossoming of a new romance, and all it took was a superhero! Here is a crazy idea: maybe rain can mean good or bad because it does not mean anything at all. It is a weather element that writer can use to shape their stories a certain way. I am certainly not trying to be cynical about this, but it is one of the few points in this book (How to Read Literature Like a Professor) that I disagree with. There are ways around what I am saying, such as: “the writer only includes certain weather elements for a reason” and my reply is this: you can use anything to your advantage, so why is it significant when it is when it is the weather?

Yes, rain probably will not be mentioned unless it means something, such as in the case of The Three Strangers in which foster notes it as being a "Plot Device”. I would like to say that the rain is just used as a “Plot Device” when actually mentioned in a story and that symbolically it does not really mean much, since it can mean either good or bad things at the same time (not concurrently). I’m sure Foster, assuming he would ever read this, hates me for having my own, less educated, opinion on the matter, but I couldn’t resist sharing.