What does the rooster and its distant crowing symbolize for the narrator, and does the rooster’s symbolic meaning ever change in the story?

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

For this fifth discussion post of 250-300 words, review “Symbolism” and “Motif” in A Short Guide to Reading Novels and Short Stories and then answer one of the two prompts below.

1. SYMBOLISM: If a symbol develops a meaningful equation between an object and an idea/value, what do you think the rooster itself symbolizes in the story, and how does it help us to understand Melville’s meditation on American exceptionalism, which celebrates capitalist enterprise and minimizes the sometimes harsh realities of class difference? OPTIONAL TWIST: What does the rooster and its distant crowing symbolize for the narrator, and does the rooster’s symbolic meaning ever change in the story?