In this paper the author quotes Widdowson's work "Significance in Conventional and Literary Discourse" (1987) where he argues that there are differences between the way meaning is achieved conventionally (in everyday language) and the way it is achieved in literature. In his analysis, the author states the existence of three different levels of signification which correspond to: a) the linguistic sign in the sentence functions as a symbol (its meaning is stable); b) the linguistic sign in the utterance functions as index (its meaning is unstable); and finally c) the language of literature represents a reality which has no counterpart in the conventional world. Interpretation must achieve not reference, but rather representation; the signs take on an iconic character