To see literature as a sign and a symbol simply reasserts the view of the humanities as the embodiment of the highest aspirations of human nature. Human beings are sign givers and symbol makers as they look for the sacred meaning in their lives. Through a college humanities course, some of the symbols that artists employ in fiction, poetry, drama, and film are explored to find the significance of their sacred reality. The example used in this paper to illustrate literature and symbolism is James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues." Sonny is compared to a modern biblical Isaiah, a suffering servant who finds spiritual expiation through his music. Because the story portrays a relationship between this world and another, students have a witness to a truth about human nature and the role of the humanities. A syllabus for a college humanities course entitled "The Sacred and the Profane: The Human Search for the Spiritual in Fiction, Drama, Film, Poetry, and Painting" is included. (DJC)