The royalty motif
This is a very long book, and much of its content is rooted in cultural assumptions of the author's time. By remembering this motif, a reader will begin to see the frame for events in the narrative that seem sometimes unexplained or random. The motif is that the characters are experiencing fates that artistically depict the dynamics of life for Chinese royalty. The situations are explorations of what was called in Europe, nobles oblige, the duty of nobility. The characters are honoring their culture by behaving in a regal manner.
Architecture and essence
The author is clearly a student of architecture and design. This is clear from his vivid descriptions of architecture, his obvious appreciation of the architectural beauty of his time, and in his prose which is often situated in a manner that reflects the architecture around him. This underlines the essential symbolism of architecture; the author finds that a person's home is an external reflection of their inward nature. That means that by featuring the families with the two most elaborate and beautiful homes, the artist has shown the two most essentially powerful and manifested families.
The cultural snapshot
Through motif, the reader quickly realizes that the author has a sub-textual agenda. The ulterior motive is clearly to capture a snapshot of the detail-oriented and ornate culture of the times. Without access to photography, the artist has chosen a sort of photo-realistic prose which captures even the most minute detail of his surroundings. The point of view is wildly alert and perceptive, which slows the story down considerably, but also raises the prose to the heights of epic narrative.
Jia Baoyu as hero
Looking for a hero in the text is somewhat difficult, because the book is a network of important royal characters, all of whom have heroic qualities. Of course that is the point of their being royal. Yet there is one character who is obviously different in essential, important ways. For instance, Jia Baoyu is described as a magical heir to the Jia kingdom. In other words, he is godlike. He is also not able to marry, which is a comment on his ethereal nature. As a hero, he represents the divinizing of the human soul, a process also symbolized by the story of the stone.
The holy stone
This holy stone is watched over by a priest. That signifies the religious nature of this symbolism. The rock can speak, which is also the defining feature of humans. What separates the rock from other rocks is the very feature that separates humans from animals. The stone expresses a symbolic thirst for experience, a quest one might say for meaning in life. Throughout the quest of the priest and the stone, the stone is personified until he is literally human. This is a symbol reflecting the religious process of becoming one's self through individuation and personal growth. It is a suggested answer for life's essential question; what are we all doing down here in the first place? The stone's answer is clear: We are becoming something of a higher nature.
