Allegory

1. Allegory More Than Meets the Eye

2. What is an Allegory? • An allegory is the presentation of an abstract idea through more concrete means. • If something is “abstract,” it cannot be physically touched; it has no physical or concrete existence. • For example, “love,” “religion,” and “anger” are all abstract concepts. They exist, but they do not exist in physical form.

3. What is an Allegory? • In other words, it is a story that has two levels of meaning. • The first is the surface level meaning (i.e., what happens in the story, who did what to whom and when)

4. What is an Allegory? • Authors also expect the audience to recognize the existence of a second and deeper level of meaning. • This second level of meaning may be moral, political, philosophical, or religious. • Some allegories are thinly veiled; some require a little more analysis. • There are two major types of allegories…

5. Two Types of Allegories • 1. The political and historical allegory • The figures, setting, or actions correspond directly with historical personages, places, and events • EX: Animal Farm • 2. The allegory of abstract themes • Characters stand for ideas or abstract qualities • EX: In an allegory warning of laziness, the main character might encounter figures such as Sloth and Perseverance.

6. Example: Allegory of Abstract Themes Once upon a time, there were four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.