We follow the guide and Dante through adventures so amazing that only the wildest imagination can conceive of the predicament. Is this allegory or symbols? Most readers are anxious to have a one-to-one correlation between a thing and its symbolic equivalent: That is, a red rose equals love, and a white rose equals chastity. Thus, what do the beasts symbolize? There are so many different interpretations of their symbolic significance that each reader can assign a specific meaning, but basically suffice it to say that together they represent obstacles to Dante's discovering the true light on the mountain.
As an allegory, it is both simpler and more complicated than the symbolic meanings. This is a man's spirit on a journey through life and all of the pitfalls that could prevent him from attaining ultimate salvation and a union with the Godhead, the source of all light. Those who failed during life are seen, in the Inferno, suffering from their sins in life, and Dante is thusly warned to avoid each and every sin to achieve salvation.
