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Literary Devices
Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Allegory
Explanation and Analysis—Man's Search for Meaning:
The whole of Moby-Dick may be read as an allegory for humans' search for meaning, with Ahab’s quest to pursue and hunt Moby Dick symbolic of man’s desire to master nature and understand life’s central mystery. The whale, after all, is repeatedly emphasized as a symbol of inscrutability and evasiveness. Scratched with “hieroglyphics,” the whale is an unreadable figure for Ishmael and Ahab, but nonetheless one that they are determined to attempt to decipher. Additionally, the whale is shown to be highly symbolic in its enigma, with its very evasiveness being the quality that enshrouds it with such significance. As Ishmael describes, the terror of the whale lies in its “dumb blankness, full of meaning”.
Related Themes:
