The “left” choice is a metaphor for looking back, expressing a connection to the place he came from.Īnother major way in which Snowpiercer communicates allegory is through its production design. What can we infer from the way Joon-ho frames the choices Curtis has to make? Well as the video explains, the “right” choice is a metaphor for moving forward, moving up the social caste. This next video shows us how the setting of the train was set-up in Snowpiercer, spoilers beware: The setting quite literally separates people into wealth-based sections which results in varying standards of living and rampant discrimination. So it’s fair to say that the train itself is a metaphor for a social caste. The train is divided into sections based on class Curtis is in the impoverished section all the way in the back. Snowpiercer follows the story of Curtis Everret (Chris Evans) and the revolt he leads aboard the train of the same name. Let’s take a look at Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer to see how another masterclass filmmaker pulls it off. If Rosebud is a metaphor for forlorn desire, then the burning of Rosebud is an allegory for the loss of forlorn desire. Allegories on the other hand serve to symbolize things in a grander sense. For example (spoilers beware for the 1941 classic Citizen Kane): Rosebud is a metaphor for forlorn desire. In a visual sense, metaphors serve to symbolize things on a 1-to-1 basis. If aliens came to our planet, they probably wouldn’t connote that symbolic meaning. For example: a gravestone symbolizes death – but we only know that because of social learning. What is non-literalism? Non-literalism (or figuratism) is anytime we are meant to derive meaning from something other than what an object appears to be. Well, we start with what makes them the same: allegories and metaphors are both symbolic techniques, which is a fancy way to say they both use non-literalism. It can be a little tricky differentiating metaphors from allegories because the latter term directly involves the former. Allegory Examples in Literature and Movies Allegory vs. Over the past 2,400 years, the term allegory has changed slightly in meaning, but Plato’s supposition of its importance has not. This next video does a great job of touching on the word’s etymology and the cave theory’s pervading impact on philosophy and culture:Ĭheck out more on Plato’s famous theory in our article on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. The word allegory was popularized in the Ancient Greek world by the philosopher Plato, who used the term to propose his famous Allegory of the Cave. What is an Allegory and Where did it Originate? A Quick History of the Term Allegory The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – a religious allegory for the betrayal of Christ.Lord of the Flies allegory for social structure and how humans conceal their savage ways.The Crucible – an allegory for persecution and how groups with power seek to disarm groups without power.The Trial – an allegory for bureaucracy and how “the system” keeps “the man” down.The Lorax – a fable/allegory for deforestation or the destruction of ecology for financial profit.Animal Farm – a fable/allegory for revolution and how the pursuit of power is often feigned for idealism.That being said, the actionable difference in the allegory novel definition is minute so we’re going to include the Animal Farm allegory and other examples here. Note: some of the most famous “allegory in literature” examples are technically fables because they include anthropomorphized animals. Fight Club – an allegory for consumerism and how social expectations corrupt our sense of self.The Seventh Seal – an allegory for religious judgement and the eternal battle between life and death.La Strada – an allegory for the road of life and how in the end, we’re all swept back to the seashore.The Truman Show– an allegory for reality TV obsession and how real people are dehumanized by consumer audiences.Metropolis – an allegory for class warfare and the worsening divide created by industrialism.
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