ABSTRACT
Fantasy of its nature a form of multivalent writing, naturally makes considerable use of allegory and symbolism. In fantasy the symbolic element is in general closely related to the elements of the marvellous, and is used to provide that wider frame of reference which has been illustrated as characteristic of the genre. Many writers of fantasy draw on traditional symbolism, from mythology, folk-tale and Christian religion, or on the nature symbolism of the Romantics. The double-layered nature of the fantasy is explicit from the start: ‘Two devils lived in Mr. Fast: envy and loneliness. The conception is very powerful, and the central symbolism is realized through the marvellous element of the fantasy. For Serpentina it leads to nothingness, a blank denial of all meaning, infinity as featureless as the mud into which he sinks.
