Hidden Symbolism

John Steinbeck was a master of symbolism in his novels.  In Grapes of Wrath he uses a turtle trying to cross a road as one, being hit by a vehicle, yet surviving and actually getting tossed closer to its goal of the other side of the road to symbolize the struggles that the Joad family faced, ultimately overcoming them.  I'm often intrigued by such meanings that are in plain sight, yet aren't explicitly spelled out.  Like this one:

You'd probably just say that it was the Fed-Ex logo.  But what if you looked at this picture: 

You'd probably say that it was a white circle with a right-facing arrow.  Yet they're both the same picture.  Then here's an interesting one:

 

It's a relatively large building with NO windows.  It happens to be a Jehovah's Witnesses house, but what is the hidden symbolism when no light can come in from outside?  Does that mean that the members can't observe what happens outside and make their own decisions, instead believing only what their leaders tell them?

I've often thought that a good symbol in a movie for someone in a lifelong struggle might be repeatedly showing the wind opposing the particular person's movements.  It could be a flag blowing or trees swaying, or dust being kicked up, but always going against the main character.   If the producer wanted to make such a movie, today would have been a good day for it.  It seemed like no matter which way we went, the wind was blowing against us.  Here's what the flags were looking like as we pulled into Glendive, MT. 

 

So, as you can see, we have been facing overwhelming odds.  Hopefully we'll stay strong and persevere.