Allegory
A narrative in which characters and events consistently stand for abstract ideas or a hidden meaning.
In an allegory, the surface story works as an extended metaphor for moral, political, or spiritual concepts. Writers use it to comment on ideas indirectly, encouraging readers to decode a second layer of meaning. Unlike a single symbol, an allegory sustains its parallel meaning throughout the work.
Example
The tale reads as an allegory of lost faith, with names and the forest journey standing for the temptation and doubt that corrode Brown’s soul.
Young Goodman Brown · Nathaniel Hawthorne
See it in action
Analyses on StoryBites that use allegory:
The Masque of the Red DeathEdgar Allan PoeYoung Goodman BrownNathaniel HawthorneA Christmas CarolCharles DickensThe Minister's Black VeilNathaniel HawthorneHop-FrogEdgar Allan PoeThe BirthmarkNathaniel HawthorneRappaccini's DaughterNathaniel HawthorneDr. Heidegger's ExperimentNathaniel HawthorneThe Man That Corrupted HadleyburgMark TwainMarkheimRobert Louis StevensonThe Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne