An old wooden house, gray and antique is where once a poem radiated and brought life to a man that wanted to be somebody in life. Everyone in the world wants to become a respected and honored person throughout his or her lifetime, to the narrator a poem was a guideline for him to change his life and live in a way that he would be a perfect man. Symbolically the poem was his life, printed on gold paper ready to be framed and hung up on the front entrance of the house. In the story "Kipling and I" by Jesus Colon it starts off as a young boy, very naive to the world, only seventeen years old with a dream to become a perfect man by living accordingly to the poem. However as the narrator grows up he realizes that life is never what you expect it to be and his mentality changed as he grows up. In the story "Kipling and I" the poem and his surroundings provide symbolism and imagery that are significant to the meaning of the story which is dreams don't always come true in life no matter how hard you believe.
Symbolism in this story plays a big role in the meaning of the story by portraying emotions and the struggles of life to be presented in the story. In "Kipling and I" the main symbol that provided the meaning to the story is a poem that a seventeen year old boy has bought and uses it as a guideline to become a perfect man. " all I had to do was live accordingly to the counsel of the poem and follow its instructions and I would become a perfect man."(pg.156). This is a perfect example of symbolism because the poem is symbolizing hope. The narrator does not have a great life. He has to cover the holes on his shoes with a piece of cardboard. Struggling to put food on the table and clothes on his back he is willing to find hope anywhere so things will change for the better. The narrator eventually finds hope from a poem that he has bought at a store. The narrator feels fortunate of finding that poem because to him they are guidelines to becoming a successful and perfect man.