I am knee-deep in a term paper with daughter Rachael on allegory in Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown and Poe’s Ligeia. Dear Lord have mercy. I am ready for this quarter to END. I can’t say that I’m not being challenged intellectually by my students. I am. I am stretching and growing and learning a lot. I am just ready for a little-bitty break.
Allegory is where you can read a story on a literal level and on a deeper level, and the deeper level has a moral or political message. For example, in C.S. Lewis’s book, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the story looks as if it’s just about three kids who go into another world via a wardrobe, but it’s really a story about good and evil and the power of Christ in the name of the lion, Aslan, who is willing to die for the sins of the animals of Narnia.
Now, who knows about the allegory in YGB and Ligeia? If you do, then feel free to tell me about it between now and 5 am when Rachael and I will begin writing up this 6 – 8 page paper. I have read a fair amount of what people say about these two works today, but I’m open to more information.
Come on now. Jump in. Don’t feel uncomfortable. I’d be happy to hear your interpretation.
Okay, I’m not thinking I’m going to get a lot (or any) response to this, but you never know. Let’s just say I’ll be so glad when this paper gets put to bed, which will be at the latest tomorrow night. After all, we’re leaving at 4 am Friday for Salt Lake City for my sister’s memorial service.
On that note, I’ll bid you all good night.
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