Essay on Use of Allegory to Convey a Morality Message

Introduction

Authors of short stories use symbolism, imagery, and allegory to convey moral messages to the audience. Literature reviews uncover the hidden messages in stories through interpretation of symbolic figures. This paper shows comparison and contrast of how authors use allegory to convey right signals through the use of symbolic figures. The stories used in this paper are Hunger artist and a rose for Emily; both stories are written by different authors. Each author has used allegory to derive a specific point home on social morality. This paper will discuss various symbolic figures that have been used in both stories by the writers to show social morality.

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Symbolic Figures in "A Rose for Emily"

The author of the story uses various symbols to convey a particular message to its readers. The story is about Emily who is considered an outcast in her town. The story begins with her funeral, as the story continues the author deviated from the current events to tell a story of Emily and her life. She lives in a house that was left to her by her father. She was a single lady the whole of her life mainly because her father used to chase away any potential suitors. She is described to live a desperate life in which she is detached from the general society. It turns out Emily lives with the corpse of her lover for a long time in her house before she dies. There are various symbolic figures that the author has used in the story to show the theme of change in the society. Emily has been used as a character that rejects evolution, but as it is evident in the story change inevitable and should be embraced (Kong, 23).

Emily's House: Shifting Power and Change in Society

The writer uses Emily's house to symbolize the shifting of power in the society. The house at its old construction stood out as the best house in Jefferson town. The antiques of its structure was extraordinary. However when Emily is left alone by her father the house turns to be one of the worst in the town. This shows the change experienced in the society. The former glory of the house has turned to a long dead way of life. Emily lived in the house alone. She never got married to anyone. The society expects one to become a daughter, wife and a mother. However, this was not the case for Emily. She does not follow the way of the society. This house symbolizes the changes that one has to go through, it is not necessarily what the community expects, but change will eventually come. It also shows that the former power has shifted from the old to the young generation, something Emily does not understand.

Pocket Watch, Stationery, and Hair: Struggle between Past and Future

The author of this story also uses a pocket watch, stationery and hair to show the struggle that exists between the past and the future. The struggle results in uncertainty on the present happenings. Miss Emily remains stuck as time goes by, she is not ready to change as things change for her. She keeps her mind stuck in the past without any effort of changing. Every tick her clock opens her mind that her change of happiness will never come. She has remained in her father's house for a long time. She is not likely to change despite the changing things in the society. As the writer says, people in Jefferson town use the color of Emily's hair to account for time changes. When she does not come out of the house anymore, they use lobe's hair to track time. The author's use of these symbolic figures shows the bigger picture on his story. The story is not about Emily but the more significant perception of change by the society.

Symbolic Figures in "Hunger Artist"

Hunger artist is an actor that travels through Europe to perform his shows. He is portrayed as a famous artist who is loved by his audience. He decides to starve himself for forty days as part of the performance. He then loses his fame and eventually sucks his manager. He seeks a job in a circus show where he performs as side actor. He stays in his cage with his straw of water, but the love his audience had does not exist anymore. He then loses him, and a panther is put in his cage. The audience loves the panther and celebrates for its lively show (Ghosh, 30).

The Hungry Artist: Sacrifice and Society's Ignorance

Frank Kafka uses the hungry as symbolism in the society. The hungry artist is willing to sacrifice himself for fame. He renounces his bodily pleasures so that he can become more famous. He turns skinny, starves and puts his life at risk for fame. It is a show of members of the social work hard to gain a living despite putting their lives in danger. However, the hungry artist is a slave to his acts. He loses his life for the sake of impressing other people. He dies a miserable life and does not live a legacy behind. He became a slave to his acts and could not redeem himself whatsoever. The hungry artist is a representation of the society does not realize people's effort to impress others until they lose their life. The author has used symbolism to convey the message of society immorality of selfishness.

The Panther: False Freedom and Embracing Change

Panther in the hungry artist tale has been used by the author to symbolize fake society freedom. Panther is shown as a lively animal that excites the circus crowd. People seem to celebrate life more than the withering of life. When the hungry artist is replaced by the panther the audience becomes excited and celebrates its existence. However, it is a controlled animal that shows a lot of freedom. It shows false freedom since it is still caged. The audience has taken change seriously, by the look of things they are bound by chains of falsehood. They embrace change that they have imported and forgot their way of life. The panther does not care where it is in a cage or not as long as the audience is happy with its performance.

Conclusion

Authors use allegory to convey moral messages through symbolism figures. as discussed above both the authors of A Rose for Emily, and hungry artist have used symbolism figures to drive the message of morality in the society. There are differences and similarities in the way they use allegory and imagery to convey their message to the readers. The use imagery in both stories is a confirmation that each story has a deep meaning that society can relate to. Frank Kafka and William Faulkner have concentrated on ensuring they bring a message home to the readers through the use of allegory. The stories of reference show the comparison and contrast on how the authors have used symbolism to convey the message of ethics in society.

Works Cited

Ghosh, Ranjan. "In and Out of Time: The Hungry Artist." Aesthetics, Politics, Pedagogy and Tagore, 2017, pp. 1-40.

Kong, Fanting. "The Absence of the Rose The Symbolic Meaning of "Rose" in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily." Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities, 2016.