One of the literary works C. S. Lewis covers in his 1936 work The Allegory of Love is Edmund Spenser’s 1590 allegorical epic poem The Faerie Queene. His analysis aside, Lewis makes a point that I believe is germane to all platitudes, allegories, and possibly also to insights. Often what we call insight is merely a matter of reflection. As Lewis writes, “His [Spenser’s] chivalrous and allegorical poem was already a little out of date when it first appeared, as great poems not infrequently are” (359). *
Both platitudes and allegories are repositories of truths that derive from experience. Merriam-Webster defines platitude as “a banal, trite, or stale remark,” that last definition making my point about “experience.” We are always playing “catch up.” By the time we get a firm grip on the nature of who we are, we are already becoming someone else, and the same goes for society in general.
So, we have amassed a treasure chest of platitudes, such as “Nobody’s perfect,” “Not everything is what it seems to be,” and “As long as there’s life, there’s hope.” And we have amassed allegorical tales and insights, similarly—all, that is, from experience, either ours or others’. One generation passes on stories to the next generation to teach lessons. Those allegorical tales represent experiences that the preceding generation encapsulates as lessons for the ensuing generation about human affairs and human nature. But they are written too late to be of use for those motivated to write about their "insights."
Foresight might be possible at times, but our minds are often immersed in hindsight that we hope to pass on to those who follow us. What we discover is that like platitudes, allegories fail to do what their authors intend them to do: Guide or warn. Probably most people have heard that “crime doesn’t pay,” that phrase echoing in the back of even criminals' minds. But the platitude has not stopped criminals from engaging in criminal behavior. Likewise, allegories about wars, revolutions, and domestic conflicts have not prevented generations from making the same mistakes. Think George Orwell’s allegorical Animal Farm. In that work the boar represents Joseph Stalin. Has your generation learned any applicable lessons? Is, for example, Vladimir Putin a reincarnation of Stalin? Is Russia in 2022 with its invasion of Ukraine and its imprisonment of dissenting Russians different from Russia in 1939 when it invaded Finland?
We are always playing catch up. What we learn today does us little good because in learning, we have already experienced. So, we do what all writers of platitudes and allegories do. We tell our tales after the fact and hope that the next generation somehow learns from what we tell.
*Lewis, C. S. The Allegory of Love, 1936, 1958, 1968. London. Oxford University Press.
Both platitudes and allegories are repositories of truths that derive from experience. Merriam-Webster defines platitude as “a banal, trite, or stale remark,” that last definition making my point about “experience.” We are always playing “catch up.” By the time we get a firm grip on the nature of who we are, we are already becoming someone else, and the same goes for society in general.
So, we have amassed a treasure chest of platitudes, such as “Nobody’s perfect,” “Not everything is what it seems to be,” and “As long as there’s life, there’s hope.” And we have amassed allegorical tales and insights, similarly—all, that is, from experience, either ours or others’. One generation passes on stories to the next generation to teach lessons. Those allegorical tales represent experiences that the preceding generation encapsulates as lessons for the ensuing generation about human affairs and human nature. But they are written too late to be of use for those motivated to write about their "insights."
Foresight might be possible at times, but our minds are often immersed in hindsight that we hope to pass on to those who follow us. What we discover is that like platitudes, allegories fail to do what their authors intend them to do: Guide or warn. Probably most people have heard that “crime doesn’t pay,” that phrase echoing in the back of even criminals' minds. But the platitude has not stopped criminals from engaging in criminal behavior. Likewise, allegories about wars, revolutions, and domestic conflicts have not prevented generations from making the same mistakes. Think George Orwell’s allegorical Animal Farm. In that work the boar represents Joseph Stalin. Has your generation learned any applicable lessons? Is, for example, Vladimir Putin a reincarnation of Stalin? Is Russia in 2022 with its invasion of Ukraine and its imprisonment of dissenting Russians different from Russia in 1939 when it invaded Finland?
We are always playing catch up. What we learn today does us little good because in learning, we have already experienced. So, we do what all writers of platitudes and allegories do. We tell our tales after the fact and hope that the next generation somehow learns from what we tell.
*Lewis, C. S. The Allegory of Love, 1936, 1958, 1968. London. Oxford University Press.
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