Symbolic significant in the golden notebook

Anna writes in four different notebooks, which symbolizes the way she compartmentalizes her life and tries to see different aspects of her history and personality as distinct from one another. Anna presents her time in Africa, her first novel, her political beliefs, and her relationship with Michael as if they were all entirely separate things. However, a reader can see that they are interconnected and reflect one another. The notebooks also symbolize Anna's tendency to view her experiences analytically and in an emotionally detached way. She writes about her life as if it were a story or simply an objective list of events, which prevents her from truly understanding what she is feeling.