Apart from getting a reader hooked on your work, one of the things you should consider during writing your work is the aspect of educating your readers. This is commonly known as the moral lesson of your work or story. Most writers find coming up with a moral lesson an easy thing to do, but this is just until they realize that their moral lesson may be "too true” for their audience. "Too true" in the sense that there is a lot of truth in their story and now it sounds more critical or offensive than educative. But with an allegory, writers don’t have to trouble their heads any more about this. What do you know about an allegory?

The definition of an allegory

An allegory is a literary device in which characters, actions, objects, events, events, or settings represent a specific idea. This can be in the form of a narrative or artistic form. An allegory is from the Latin word allegoria which means veiled or figurative language. Writers use allegory to communicate or convey a hidden message to their audience. This helps a lot in addressing sensitive matters in our society without sounding offensive or critical.

Examples of types allegory

There are four main types of allegory, they are:

Classical allegory (these are allegories in Greek times about animals and other things to teach people lessons about human existence)

Biblical allegory (this type of allegory entails the use of biblical stories to teach lessons or convey a message)

Medieval allegory (this type presents stories such as the unity of Christianity)

Modern allegory (this type of allegory entails stories of animals to address modern themes)

The difference between an allegory and symbolism

Since allegory is a literary device that uses representation in its work, a writer may find it hard to differentiate between allegory and symbolism.

Symbolism refers to the use of symbols which may be words, characters, or ideas to represent something beyond their literal meaning. An allegory on the other hand uses symbolism to offer the reader a moral lesson through a narrative (with a deeper meaning).

Here are examples of the use of allegory in narratives:

Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Goodman Brown, being the protagonist, the story is about his journey to the devil to talk to him. He meets different people on his journey who open his eyes and he starts seeing virtue differently; as something that actually exists and not as he has been seeing it. (The word "eyes" in this case has a deeper meaning and not the literal one)

Animal Farm by George Orwell: This is an allegory about the Russian Revolution in the early twentieth century. The allegory gives a depiction of the different social classes in the society (in Russia) using animal characters. The animals intend to overthrow the farm owner Mr. Jones (who is human). Mr. Jones represents the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II. The pigs represent the Bolsheviks and the other main farm animals represent the key players (prominent or important figures) in the revolution.

The importance of allegory

Allegory allows writers to address sensitive or controversial topics comfortably. It is easy to offend your audience if you attack or address such topics directly.

Allegory enhances the reader's understanding. Some topics may be hard for readers to grasp. An allegorical narrative may help the reader to understand it better.

Sources

englishliterature.net/literary-devices/allegory

https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/allegory

https://www.thoughtco.com/allegory-definition-169238

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/allegory-examples.html
https://literarydevices.net/allegory