Animal FarmGeorge Orwell
The farm, the windmill, the seven commandments.
The Russian Revolution and its aftermath, mapped step by step. The fable form is what lets the book be read by children and understood by adults.
← The devices guide
Allegory
A story whose surface events stand for something else consistently, at the level of the whole work rather than a single image. Allegory is an argument wearing a costume, and it usually wants to be understood.
How to spot it
If the characters are named for qualities, or the plot maps onto a political or moral structure, you are in allegory — and you should ask who benefits from the disguise.
Why writers use it
To say something dangerous in a form that can be denied, or to make an abstract idea walk and speak.
In the texts
The Pilgrim's ProgressJohn Bunyan
A man called Christian leaves the City of Destruction.
Every name is a label, every obstacle a doctrine. Bunyan's genius is making the journey feel physical anyway.
The Masque of the Red DeathEdgar Allan Poe
Seven coloured rooms, and a guest nobody invited.
A plague allegory about the rich believing architecture can hold off mortality.
Common misread
Allegory is not the same as symbolism. If one image carries meaning, that is symbolism; if the whole structure does, that is allegory.