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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
Book 6
Explanation and Analysis—Ruler as Ship-Steerer:
In Book 6, Plato uses an allegory to describe the various considerations a good ruler must have by comparing a ruler to a pilot of a ship, or a "ship-steerer." Although Socrates describes the story as a "parable" according to some translations, it is more accurately described as an allegory or an extended metaphor, although the line between a parable and an allegory is sometimes blurry.
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Book 7
Explanation and Analysis—Allegory of the Cave:
In Book 7, Plato uses allegory to discuss knowledge in one of the most well-known allegories in literature, the allegory of the cave. Socrates details a hypothetical world in which prisoners are chained in place inside of a cave. There is a low wall behind which unseen people carry objects, and a fire projects shadows onto an outer wall that the prisoners can see. These unseen people also make sounds, which sound to the chained prisoners as if they are coming from the shadows.
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