--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The writer's function is to prevent myths…" description: "\"The writer's function is to prevent myths turning into allegories.\" — Michel Tournier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/michel-tournier-45330_allegory_the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myth_1178410.png" --- # The writer's function is to prevent myths turning into… ![“The writer's function is to prevent myths turning into allegories.” quote by Michel Tournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/michel-tournier-45330_allegory_the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myth_1178410.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/michel-tournier-45330_allegory_the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myth_1178410.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/michel-tournier-45330_allegory_the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myth_1178410.png) > “The writer's function is to prevent myths turning into allegories.” [Michel Tournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-tournier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers must keep myths from becoming static allegories, preserving their vitality **In simple terms:** Writers keep myths alive, not rigid Key Takeaway Preserve mythic vitality in storytelling Themes literature mythology interpretation Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical creative When to use this quote - education - cultural criticism Key Concepts novel writing screenwriting cultural analysis Questions to Reflect On - How can writers refresh ancient stories? - When does allegory become limiting? A Different Perspective Myths can become overly literal, losing nuance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allegories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegories-440572/) [Allegory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Myths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myths/) [Myths Turning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myths-turning-3446195/) [Prevent Myths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevent-myths-3446197/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Turning Allegories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turning-allegories-3446196/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Why, ever since Adam, who has got to the meaning of this great allegory - the world? Then we pygmies must be content to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/why-ever-since-adam-who-has-got-to-the-meaning-of-this-great-allegory/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Because, as we know, almost anything can be read into any book if you are determined enough. This will be especially impressed on anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/because-as-we-know-almost-anything-can-be-read-into-any-book-if-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Allegories drawn to great length will always break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/allegories-drawn-to-great-length-will-always-break/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [We are used to discounting the river-gods and dryads of the Greeks as poetical fancies, and even the chief figures in the classical Pantheon-Venus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-huxley/we-are-used-to-discounting-the-river-gods-and-dryads-of-the-greeks-as/) [Julian Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-huxley/) > [Allegories, when well chosen, are like so many tracks of light in a discourse, that make everything about them clear and beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/allegories-when-well-chosen-are-like-so-many-tracks-of-light-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The fumes of the most disordered imaginations were recorded in their religious code, as special communications of the Deity; and as it could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fumes-of-the-most-disordered-imaginations-were-recorded-in-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Each has its lesson; for our dreams in sooth, come they in shape of demons, gods, or elves, are allegories with deep hearts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-timrod/each-has-its-lesson-for-our-dreams-in-sooth-come-they-in-shape-of/) [Henry Timrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-timrod/) > [“Allegories are told with a purpose whose possibility is lost Until a potato-eater appears and eats potatoes ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/allegories-are-told-with-a-purpose-whose-possibility-is-lost-until-a/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [“good writing and brilliant discourse are perpetual allegories. This”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/good-writing-and-brilliant-discourse-are-perpetual-allegories-this/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Ambivalence and contradiction energize nearly every figure Michaelangelo carved, from the adolescent Madonna of the Stairs onward...But the four allegories atop the sarcophagi raise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-scigliano/ambivalence-and-contradiction-energize-nearly-every-figure/) [Eric Scigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-scigliano/) > [I don't like allegories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/i-don-t-like-allegories/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [“They construct billboards out in the sea, painted allegories adorn their facades, hawking sex and sentiment to the opulent, the fortunate of the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-walrath/they-construct-billboards-out-in-the-sea-painted-allegories-adorn/) [Holly Walrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-walrath/) > [“I've always found allegories kind of comforting. When you encounter people named Liar and Abstinence, you might not be crazy about them, but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisa-de-los-santos/i-ve-always-found-allegories-kind-of-comforting-when-you-encounter/) [Marisa de los Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisa-de-los-santos/) > [“Moral allegories about people determined to root out wickedness in others while denying it in themselves.” “Actually,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/moral-allegories-about-people-determined-to-root-out-wickedness-in/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) ## More by Michel Tournier > [Work is against human nature. The proof is that it makes us tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/work-is-against-human-nature-the-proof-is-that-it-makes-us-tired/) [Michel Tournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-tournier/) > [Germany is a machine for producing geniuses. Its crowning product was the German Jew which in suitably dramatic style it then tried to destroy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/germany-is-a-machine-for-producing-geniuses-its-crowning-product-was/) [Michel Tournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-tournier/) > [“Cine doarme este un alienat care se crede mort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/cine-doarme-este-un-alienat-care-se-crede-mort/) [Michel Tournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-tournier/) > [“Yes, we have abolished the distance that artistic contemplation necessarily requires. So what is left? Love plus anatomy are left.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/yes-we-have-abolished-the-distance-that-artistic-contemplation/) [Michel Tournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-tournier/) [Explore all 5 Michel Tournier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-tournier/) ## More Allegory quotes > [Science fiction is a weird category, because it's the only area of fiction I can think of where the story is not of primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/science-fiction-is-a-weird-category-because-it-s-the-only-area-of/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [I think cinema is closer to allegories than to reality. It's closer to our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-think-cinema-is-closer-to-allegories-than-to-reality-it-s-closer-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [A fairytale is not an allegory. There may be allegory in it, but it is not an allegory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-fairytale-is-not-an-allegory-there-may-be-allegory-in-it-but-it-is/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“However, as a guarantee of its renewed youth, the symbolical phoenix never reappeared before the eyes of the world without having consumed solemnly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/however-as-a-guarantee-of-its-renewed-youth-the-symbolical-phoenix/) [Éliphas Lévi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The fumes of the most disordered imaginations were recorded in their religious code, as special communications of the Deity; and as it could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fumes-of-the-most-disordered-imaginations-were-recorded-in-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [By a symbol I do not mean an allegory or a sign, but an image that describes in the best possible way the dimly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/by-a-symbol-i-do-not-mean-an-allegory-or-a-sign-but-an-image-that/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Hence all original religions are allegorical, or susceptible of allegory, and, like Janus, have a double face of false and true”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hence-all-original-religions-are-allegorical-or-susceptible-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/it-is-remarkable-how-a-man-cannot-summarize-his-thoughts-in-even-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The Durhannians' countenance lifted as is the way of Hope. There was a village elder whose eyes flickered with the light of Understanding. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-green-westlake/the-durhannians-countenance-lifted-as-is-the-way-of-hope-there-was-a/) [Laurie Green Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-green-westlake/) > [“This philistinism of interpretation is more rife in literature than in any other art. For decades now, literary critics have understood it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/this-philistinism-of-interpretation-is-more-rife-in-literature-than/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“On this material plane, each living being is like a street lantern lamp with a dirty lampshade. The inside flame burns evenly and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/on-this-material-plane-each-living-being-is-like-a-street-lantern/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Not taking the Bible (or other texts based on 'revealed truths') literally leaves it up to the reader to cherry-pick elements for belief. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/not-taking-the-bible-or-other-texts-based-on-revealed-truths/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [We each create a story - a narritive, a picture, an allegory, a model - for what's going on in the universe. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-each-create-a-story-a-narritive-a-picture-an-allegory-a-model-for/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) [Browse all 150 Allegory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The writer's function is to prevent myths turning into allegories.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel Tournier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myths-turning-into-allegories/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Allegory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myths-turning-into-allegories/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/michel-tournier-45330_allegory_the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myth_1178410.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/michel-tournier-45330_allegory_the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myth_1178410.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4f/michel-tournier-45330_allegory_the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myth_1178410.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The writer's function is to prevent myths turning into allegories.” — Michel Tournier", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michel Tournier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-tournier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The writer's function is to prevent...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myths-turning-into-allegories/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-tournier/the-writer-s-function-is-to-prevent-myths-turning-into-allegories/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```