and
Symbol:
An object, a setting, an animal, or a person that represents itself and
something more than itself.
Allegory:
A work of literature where characters and places stand for abstract
qualities, for example: Mr.
Mean, Sea of Troubles.
An Allegory is basically a story where EVERYTHING in the story is
symbolic of something.
Fable is an allegory where animal characters symbolize good and bad
qualities and personification is often used. Eg. The Rabbit and the
Tortoise,
Parable is an allegory that is a brief story, set in every day world, that
teaches lessons about ethics or morality.
Cultural or
Universal Symbols
A cultural or
universal symbol is
one recognized and
shared as a result
of common social
and cultural
heritage. One
example is the flag,
a national symbol.
Another example,
and one that exists
across cultures, is
water. What might
water signify?
Life, rebirth,
strength,
cleansing of
soul and body
Animals often
function as
universal or
cultural symbols.
Allegory
Most fables have two levels of meaning. On the
surface, the fable is about animals. But on a second
level, the animals stand for types of people or ideas.
The way the animals interact and the way the plot
unfolds says something about the nature of people or
the value of ideas. Any type of fiction that has multiple
levels of meaning in this way is called an allegory.
Animal Farm is strongly allegorical, but it presents a
very nice balance between levels of meaning. On the
first level, the story about the animals is very moving.
You can be upset when Boxer is taken away by the
horse slaughterer without being too aware of what he
stands for. But at the same time, each of the animals
does serve as a symbol. The story's second level
involves the careful critique Orwell constructed to
comment on Soviet Russia.
1.
2.
4.
9.
3.
7.
10.
5.
8.
Time for a quiz! What
do these symbols
represent?
6.
Allegory or symbolism? Or both?
The Allegory of the Cave
In the allegory, Plato likens uneducated people to prisoners chained in a cave,
unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind
them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a ledge, along
which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners,
hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are
unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What
the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they
do not see.
Such prisoners would mistake appearance for reality. They would think the things
they see on the wall (the shadows) were real; they would know nothing of the
real causes of the shadows.
Color Symbolism:
Red
love, blood, fire
Blue
water, calm, tranquilty
Green
nature, jealousy, greed, good luck
Yellow
joy, happiness, hazard
Brown
earth, outdoors, earth
Black
darkness, evil, night
White
innocence, good, purity
Purple
royalty, nobility, mourning
1.
5.
2.
6.
Quiz 2:
7.
3.
Try again!
9.
4.
10.
8.
Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower
There must be some kind of way out of here said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion I can’t get no relief
Businessman they drink my wine plow men dig my earth
None will level on the line, nobody of it is worth
Hey hey
No reason to get excited the thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke but uh
But you and I we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate so let us not talk falsely now
The hours getting late
Hey, hey
All along the watchtower princes kept the view
While all the women came and went bare-foot servants to, but huh
Outside in the cold distance a wild cat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl
Hey, oh
All along the watchtower, hear you sing around the watch
Gotta beware gotta beware I will Yeah Ooh baby all along the watchtower
White Roses:
purity and
humility; happiness
Red Roses:
deepest love and
expression
Pink Roses:
thank you or
appreciation
Yellow Roses:
joy, friendship
Religions are often represented by
symbols.
In the novel Animal Farm, the entire story is a symbol for the evils of communism,
with the main animal characters representing key figures in the Russian revolution.
The novel can be read entirely as a children's story, but when you come to realize
what the various elements and characters in the story symbolize, the novel takes on
a whole new meaning. That's why this particular work has become such a classic.
This kind of story is called an allegory.
The movie series Star Wars has been described as symbolic of faith and religion in
our world overcoming evil.
The Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling could be seen as containing a lot of
symbolism, although there are as many interpretations as there are creatures in the
books! One clear example is a commonly used one; the use of a snake to represent
evil. It is no coincidence that the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent.
Plan the symbolism so that it
becomes an integral part of the
writing, instead of an obvious add-in.
For example, if you were writing a
story about how an old man suffering
from a terminal disease lives out the
last few months of his life, you might
make the setting of your story
autumn in a city, where the onset of
winter has obvious (and not very
pleasant) effects on the
surroundings. The cold winds,
shortening days, and lowering
temperatures all could symbolize the
drawing to a close of the man's life.