allegory

Shelley’s science-fiction tragedy works as an allegory for the perils of everything from artificial intelligence to biotechnology.

Instead, he draws from the writer’s letters and diaries, as well as the longer-form works like the barnyard political allegory “Animal Farm” and the dystopian novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”

Its roots lie in the medieval stonemasons' guilds, and members still meet in "lodges" to carry out secretive initiation rituals and ceremonies based on allegories such as the building of King Solomon's Temple.

The allegory is a tad thick: Humanity rots inside the gates, dignity stands tall outside.

If I wrote this in a book in 1965 … if it got published at all, it would be published as an allegory, like Animal Farm,” he said.