Examples Of Allegory In The Walking Dead

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Stories of the twenty first century revolve around central themes or morals. For example, The Walking Dead is a narrative of how people in post apocalyptic societies prioritize close ones rather than strangers. A way novels address morals is through the structure of an allegory. Allegories depict for readers exactly what the author intends to convey through his writing. Each part of an allegory demonstrates a different part of the author’s message. Concepts existing outside of the novel, perhaps philosophical or metaphorical, are addressed through the novel in order to explain an indefinite idea or to shed light on a lesson the author teaches (Literary Devices 1). One example of an allegory is the work Lord of the Flies. William Golding’s …show more content…
Golding had served in World War II before beginning his novel. Elements from the war such as destruction are found in the novel almost everywhere. Using that inspiration, Golding allows readers to infer the connection between societies and total loss. Not only a few weeks in, the boys on the island see “[flames]...[creeping]...the branch grew a brief foliage of fire…[beneath] the capering boys a quarter of a mile square of forest was savage with smoke and flame...The separate noises of the fire merged into a drum roll that seemed to shake the mountain” (44). The fire symbolizes destruction in the literal sense; the island the children are standing upon is obliterated in the fire. Forests and green burn to nonexistence. The society is the island. It literally failed to exist: it is burned at the children’s own hands. The kids have failed to bring about the prosperity of their own island only a few chapters into the book. It proves Golding’s point: all civilizations flounder. Similarly, failure is found in the novel when the boys, led by Jack, hunt a pig early on the book. Jack guides his ensemble into the forest and “...[draws] his knife again with a flourish...He raised his arm in the air…Then the piglet tore loose...and scurried into the undergrowth” (31). …show more content…
Ralph’s lack of powerful leadership skills is present in the novel when Jack points out that “[Ralph] says things like piggy. He isn’t a proper chief..He’s a coward himself.” (126). Ralph never definitely displays in the novel a sense of passion in leading. He claims to lead, but of course it is only after consulting Piggy on what to say. Without a ardent, enthusiastic commander, humankind errs in starting up. Moreover, Jack presents the tribe with the fact that “[Ralph] just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing” (126). In civilizations, leaders earn their standing and they care for all the people. Ralph demonstrates caring, but he only ever makes decisions about the fire throughout the novel. An abuse of power first appears when Jack loses it and turns his following into savages in a tribe. The wrong way to lead is shown in that fact that the boys tell Ralph that “[Jack’s] going to take us hunting’...[Jack] got angry and made us tie Wilfred up..for hours… I never heard [Jack explain why he needed to tie up Wilfred]” (159). Jack has disregarded the ideas of power that are in human societies. He charges forward and separates himself from Ralph and on top of that he becomes a cruel leader, tying up a random boy on the island for a reason he doesn’t even tell his
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