SYMBOL ALLEGORY AND MYTH Myth According to our
SYMBOL, ALLEGORY, AND MYTH
Myth ■ According to our textbook, myth is “a story central to a culture; it embodies the values on which a culture or society is built. ” ■ One of the most common example of this is ancient Greek mythology.
Myth ■ Myths are often important to literature because often various works of literature will refer to them or even depend on them for meaning. ■ Also, myths themselves can be seen as a form of literature because they are often intended to be a reflection of the nature of humanity and its place in the world.
Symbol ■ As we’ve discussed before, a symbol is a person, object, action, or idea whose meaning transcends its literal or denotative sense. These symbols represent something else, something beyond the literal object, person, ect.
Allegory ■ According to our textbook, an “Allegory communicates a doctrine, message, or moral principle by making it into a narrative in which the characters personify ideas, concepts, qualities, or other abstractions. ” In other words, it is a symbolic story representing two levels of meaning: the surface-level meaning and one other symbolic meaning. For example, George Orwell’s story Animal Farm is an allegory since on the surface, it is a story about animals, but symbolically, it is a story about the communist revolution in Russia and its aftermath.
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