James Hurst's Use of Symbols to Create a Mood James Hurst effectively uses symbolism in the first paragraphs of his short stories to create a mood filled with despair, gloominess, life, To create a gloomy feeling, James Hurst used the changing of seasons. In "The Scarlet Ibis," he wrote that summer was now dead, but autumn had not yet been born. Also, in "The Summer of Two Figs," James Hurst created the statement: a summer born of fulsome promise faded into falling leaves unfulfilled. A feeling of desolation was presented here when Hurst implied that summer was born with great pro