Symbolism and Allegory
Layers of Meaning
What Symbols Stand For
• A symbol is often an ordinary
object, event, person, or animal to
which we have attached
extraordinary meaning and
significance.
• We use a rectangle of dyed cloth to
symbolize a country.
• We use a picture of
a skull and
crossbones to
symbolize poison
or danger.
• We send red roses
as a symbol of
love.
Where Do Symbols Come From?
• Symbols can be inherited or invented
• The most familiar symbols have been
inherited, meaning, they have been
handed down over time
• For example: no one
really knows who first
thought of using a lion
as a symbol of power,
courage and
domination
• Once these qualities
were associated with
the animal, images of
lions appeared on
flags, banners, coats
of arms and castle
walls
• The lion became a
public symbol that
shows up in art and
literature, even today!
• Can you think of some
examples of how lions
are used as a symbol
of courage and power?
• People through out history have
endowed ordinary objects with
meanings far beyond their simple
A crown symbolizes
An olive
meaning,
Five linked
royalty
branch
symbolizes
peace
rings
symbolize
the
Olympics
Writers often take a new object,
• Symbols can also be invented.
character, or event and make it
• What is the symbol for our school? the embodiment of some human
concern.
Some invented symbols in
literature have become so widely
known that they often have
gained the status of public
symbols.
For example:
Peter Pan is a
symbol for eternal
childhood
Why Create Symbols?
You may ask why writers don’t just come right out and say
what they mean.
• Symbols allow writers to suggest layers and layers of
meaning-possibilities that a simple, literal statement
could never convey.
• A symbol is like a pebble cast into a pond: It sends out
ever widening ripples of meaning
 In the short story Marigolds, a poor
woman has no beauty in her world
except the dazzling marigolds she plants
around her ramshackle house. The
children in the story, who are as poor as
the old woman, hate the flowers and all
that they stand for, In a moment of
thoughtless hatred and violence, one girl
destroys all the bright flowers.
• While the flowers are REAL flowers in
the story, we also get the sense that
they symbolize something else,
something larger than the flowers
themselves…
What do you think the
marigolds stand for?
• Some readers might think they
symbolize hope and beauty and that the
children are so angry about their
poverty that they want to destroy
anything that expresses the beauty of
another world.
• Other readers will have different ideas
about what the marigolds stand for, but
most will agree that the marigolds work
on more than just a literal level in the
• You may not be able to articulate fully
what a certain symbol means, but you
will always find that the symbol, if it s
powerful and well chosen, will speak
forcefully to your emotions and to your
imagination.
• You may also find that you will
remember and think about the symbol
long after you have forgotten other
Allegory: Split Level Stories
• An allegory is a story in which
characters, settings and actions stand
for something beyond themselves.
• In some types of allegories, the
characters and setting represent
abstract ideas of moral qualities.
• In other types, characters and situations
stand for historical figures and events.
• An allegory can be
read on one level for
its literal or
straightforward
meaning
• And on a second level
for its symbolic, or
allegorical, meaning.
• Allegories are often
intended to teach a
moral lesson or to
make a comment
about goodness and
vice.
• Some of the most famous
allegories feature characters
and places whose names
describe what they symbolize.
• In an old English play called Everyman, the
main character is named Everyman (he
stands for exactly what his name indicates).
• One day, Everyman is summoned by Death
to give an accounting of his life
• Everyman asks his friends Fellowship,
Beauty, Strength and Good Deeds to go
with him to tell Death that he has led a good
life.
• Only Good Deeds stays with him until the
end
• The allegory in Everyman doesn’t get in the
way of a very good story
• In fact Everyman written in the 1400s, is still
revived in theaters today and it still gets
good reviews!
What Are Some More Allegories?
Here we have a picture of a
serpent (snake) and an apple.
What are some things that come
to mind when you see this
image?
Often times, a serpent or snake is used to symbolize
temptation or trouble. This allegory stems from it’s biblical
reference.
What does the apple stand for?
Symbolism vs. Allegory
• A symbol is a word, place, character, or
object that means something beyond what it
is on a literal level.
• An allegory involves using many
interconnected symbols or allegorical figures
in such as way that in nearly every element of
the narrative has a meaning beyond the literal
level, i.e., everything in the narrative is a
symbol that relates to other symbols within
the story.
Symbols and Allegory
in stories we have read
The Most Dangerous Game:
Zaroff: Allegory for ________________
Thank You M’am:
Shoes: Symbol for ________________
The Casks of Amontillado:
Fortunato: Symbol/Allegory
for____________
The Sniper:
War: Allegory for_________________
Examples of
Symbolism and Allegory
Now we will watch several video clips.
Please follow the instructions on your
worksheet.
Remember the
“Scarlet Ibis”?
What did it
symbolize in the
story?
Introduction to Symbolism
• Symbolism = an ordinary object, event,
person, or animal to which we have
attached extraordinary meaning and
significance.