Let's say that when I was a little baby, and all my bones soft and malleable, I was put in a small Episcopal cruciform box and so took my shape. Then, when I broke out of the box, the way a baby chick escapes an egg, is it strange that I had the shape of a cross? Have you ever noticed that chickens are roughly egg-shaped?
In John Steinbeck's "The Winter of Our Discontent," the narrator reflects on a metaphorical experience from infancy. He imagines being placed in a small, cruciform box, which molds his shape as a baby. This imagery symbolizes how external influences can shape one's identity and perspective from an early age. When he emerges from the box, he compares this moment to a chick breaking free from an egg, suggesting a transformation and...
