The Figure in the Carpet
It almost goes without saying that the dominant use of symbols in the story is the title. The figure in the carpet symbolizes the mysterious secret key to unlocking the meaning in the writings of an author named Vereker. It is an example of symbolism as the driving mechanism of an entire story.
Vereker is God
The very last of a great many examples of imagery that the narrator uses to describe Vereker is a recollection of first encountering the author that casts him as a symbol of something much greater than a mere novelist. In characterizing this meeting by writing “Vereker’s one descent from the cloud” he concludes the account of his obsession search to locate the figure hidden in the carpet by transforming Vereker into a godlike symbol. The image of the writer coming down from the heavens elevates him in symbolic terms into a literary deity who has deigned to pass the Word of God directly to his disciple, not unlike God delivering the Ten Commandments to Moses.
V for Vereker
More than one critic has noted that this story features an unusual number of words that include the letter V. Beginning with the name of the author at the center of the narrator’s obsession, this recurrence goes on to feature references to Vishnu, Velasquez, and Vandyke. In addition to Vereker, it shows up in another character’s name: George Corvick. The narrator directly references the cleverness of Vereker or Corvick almost a dozen times. And the final word of the story is “revenge.” This quite atypical preponderance of words requiring the letter V has been interpreted in symbolic terms. The letter V has a long tradition of symbolizing women because of the obvious anatomical connection. Therefore, this particular theory goes, the narrator already subconsciously has figured out the secret of the figure on the carpet as representing Vereker’s female muse without consciously comprehending it.
Treasure Hunt
The narrator’s obsession to locate the figure in the carpet is portrayed as pathological. His friend George Corvick’s obsession is less psychologically complex. George is noted for being a puzzle solver with an affinity for the precision of detail the narrator views as maniacal. The narrator himself is the first to describe the author’s secret key to finding meaning as a buried treasure, but it will be Corvick who actually sees the path toward discovering as a treasure hunt promising to produce tangible rewards characterized as “gold and gems.”
The Unsolved Mystery
George Corvick claims to have had a sudden epiphany while in India in which the buried treasure that was Vereker’s secret key to unlocking meaning was revealed to him. He then proceeds to claim that Vereker confirmed it yet holds onto the secret as bait to entice his girlfriend into marriage. He actually goes so far as to declare that she will only come into confidence once she is his wife. Theoretically, then, Gwendolen must also be a keeper of the secret. Since George died in a car crash while the couple was on their honeymoon, however, this is never confirmed. Indeed, the story ends with both the narrator and reader left completely in the dark about what actually does literally constitute the metaphorical figure on the carpet. This lack of resolution in the story has been proposed by some critics to symbolize the idea that a reader can never really discover the meaning an author intends to make in a text. Furthermore, the ending also symbolizes the futility of attempting to do so.
