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alt title(s): Everybody Is Jesus In Purgatory
Now they're trying to come up with meanings for Beatles songs. I never understood what any of them were about, myself...
Ringo Starr

Memories of that overzealous English teacher who forced you to accept that every character, every scene, and every action had a deep inner meaning have led to widespread fear on the part of readers and viewers everywhere that every tale secretly contains some other story being told in subtext.

The end result of this is a state of mind that, for example, interprets every plot as an allegory for the rebuilding of one's soul, every setting as a manifestation of purgatory, and every protagonist as a stand-in for the Christ: Everyone Is Jesus In Purgatory!

Rampant paranoia results from this state; one cannot look at anything without being suspicious that this is some kind of allegory brainwashing you into learning An Aesop against your will. Is that box of Corntos one character is handing another a mere confection, or is it a blessing from On High, manna sent from a merciful God? Or wait... it could be a Deal With The Devil; short-term pleasure resulting in permanent bodily ruination! What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic?

The concept of "the Death Of The Author" hasn't particularly helped this state of affairs, either, as it allows everyone to insist that their pet theories are entirely valid (with or without justification), regardless of how many times the author of the text states his or her intentions in writing the work, or, as in many cases, that the pet theory absolutely isn't the state of affairs at all.

The Mind Screw series loves this state of mind. It cultivates it intentionally, and takes advantage every chance it gets.

Ursula K Le Guin's famous "gerbil" rant was about this: "In many college English courses the words myth and symbol are given a tremendous charge of significance. You just ain't no good unless you can see a symbol hiding, like a scared gerbil, under every page. And in many creative writing courses the little beasts multiply, the place swarms with them. What does this Mean? What does that Symbolize? What is the Underlying Mythos? Kids come lurching out of such courses with a brain full of gerbils. And they sit down and write a lot of empty pomposity, under the impression that that's how Melville did it."

See Freud Was Right, What Do You Mean Its Not Political, and Wild Mass Guessing if you really want to blow your mind. Compare Messianic Archetype for characters with more obvious parallels to a Christ figure. Not to be confused with Everyone Is Satan In Hell.

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And now my brain hurts...
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