I'm pretty much the same way. Most allegories that show up in my work just happen. I never sit down and ponder what I should write between the lines. If I see something appearing there I think that's great, but I know it would come out atrociously pretentious if I actively tried to do it.
As much as I like Narnia, Aslan is a lousy allegory of Jesus. Jesus was a lamb, not a lion. Don't know how Christians have been missing that for over 2000 years. A lion makes a better allegory of God, but even that is not perfect, since man is supposed to be made in God's image, not the lion. Aslan is probably a better allegory of King Arthur or King Richard. He has more to do with ancient British mythology than he does with The Bible.
But, if Aslan was supposed to be an allegory of how the British were supposed to believe God was manifest in their kings, that would be a perfect allegory. Which suggests that sometimes an allegory is more an illustration of how the author is screwed up in the head than the point he was trying to make. Or, in the case of Aslan, maybe the allegory is to show how the reader is screwed up in the head, if the reader insists on seeing Aslan as Jesus, when there is no comparison.
I'm pretty much the same way. Most allegories that show up in my work just happen. I never sit down and ponder what I should write between the lines. If I see something appearing there I think that's great, but I know it would come out atrociously pretentious if I actively tried to do it.
As much as I like Narnia, Aslan is a lousy allegory of Jesus. Jesus was a lamb, not a lion. Don't know how Christians have been missing that for over 2000 years. A lion makes a better allegory of God, but even that is not perfect, since man is supposed to be made in God's image, not the lion. Aslan is probably a better allegory of King Arthur or King Richard. He has more to do with ancient British mythology than he does with The Bible.
But, if Aslan was supposed to be an allegory of how the British were supposed to believe God was manifest in their kings, that would be a perfect allegory. Which suggests that sometimes an allegory is more an illustration of how the author is screwed up in the head than the point he was trying to make. Or, in the case of Aslan, maybe the allegory is to show how the reader is screwed up in the head, if the reader insists on seeing Aslan as Jesus, when there is no comparison.