The heart symbol in The Floating OperaThe heart is the dominant symbol in The Floating Opera, more important even than the showboat symbol of the novel's title. From beginning to end the book is richly populated with references to the heart on both a literal, physical and figurative, symbolic level. In the first case, literal references are made to Todd's heart condition. In the second case the heart plays two symbolic roles; not only does it serve as a symbol of Todd's emotional and non-rational side, but the fragility of Todd's heart serves as a correlative for the fragility of all human life. This article will look at several examples from The Floating Opera that demonstrate this multi-level use of the heart. Hearts make their first appearance in the text, in the very first chapter, when Todd describes his heart condition; a "kind of subacute bacteriological endocarditis"1. This condition predisposes Todd to myocardial infarction (heart attack), and as a result Todd writes: "This means that any day now I could die rapidly, without warning, perhaps before I complete this sentence, perhaps in twenty years" . this may seem like a purely literal device, Barth is using Todd's heightened awareness of the delicacy of his own life as an exaggerated symbol of the vulnerability of all human life. This initial focus on the heart continues because of its centrality to the novel's plot. of Todd's decision to kill himself and his subsequent "change of mind". At the heart of this suicide decision is Todd's realization that his life has been ruled by his heart (his emotions), despite his best efforts to live by will, reason, and intellect: "The my heart was master... middle of paper ...when Froebel had Parnassus in his pan?"8 This quote is demonstrative of both reason's inability to overcome emotion - the same problem Todd grappled with for much of his life, and which occupies a central place in The Floating Opera – and also of Todd's acute awareness of that inability. This, like many of the "facts" of the narrative, has both symbolic and literal meaning, and shows the extent to which the heart and what it represents permeates the fabric of the entire novel. Bibliography Barth, John, The Floating Opera and the End of the Street, Anchor Books, New York, 1988. Note1 Barth, John, The Floating Opera and the End of the Street, Anchor Books, New York, 1988, p. 5. (All subsequent page numbers refer to this book.)2 p. 5.3 pages 226.4 pages. 49.5 Ibid.6 Ibid.7 p. 124.8 pages. 94-5