Visual symbols such as a heart or a cross, signifying love or Christianity respectively, are not the same as symbolism. That refers to a secondary meaning of a literary figure or event in a story. Roadway signs have universally recognized symbols for "pedestrian" or "merge left," but these are not symbolism. Symbolism is like a dream with a figure or an event that can be interpreted as having a second, more significant meaning to the dreamer. The symbolism in literature and dreams can be personal, cultural or universal.
Parables, fables and allegorical tales all are short stories that teach a lesson, but they have significant differences. A parable, for example, uses a well-known reference such as farming or fishing and generally employs these to illustrate a religious truth. A fable also teaches a truth, and the moral of the story refers to the lesson learned. An allegory is a literal and symbolic story. While characters are literally involved in the story line, they also symbolize a different set of characters and events.
On a literal level, "Little Red Riding Hood" is about a girl in a red cloak who talks to a wolf, and for this indiscretion the wolf devours Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. As an allegory, some call it a story about the Garden of Eden and the fall of man, the wolf being the devil or temptation with the red cloak signifying human rebelliousness. The grandmother is pale helplessness, the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. As Alan Dundes, editor of "Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook," writes, interpretations include solar mythology, myth-ritual, social-historical and several psychoanalytic readings.
In Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" "The Nun Priest's Tale" is a simple fable about a rooster, Chanticleer, who boasts of his great crowing so is snatched up by a fox. Chanticleer escapes and states the moral of the story is "don't boast or brag or harm will come to you." As Diane Krantz, professor of English at Weber State points out, some critics view this as an allegory on the fall of man. Others say it is an allegory about clergy and friars in which Chanticleer is a vain priest and the fox the friar who tricked him. Others view it as a sermon on awareness and moral obligation.