Microcosm, as defined by the Encarta World English Dictionary, is a miniature copy of something, especially when it represents or stands for a larger whole. Microcosms are used in many works of literature. A prime example of this is in the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, in which a group of farm animals is used to symbolize the idea of communism. In this book the animals symbolized people and groups of people in their bid for power. A word regularly associated with microcosm is allegory which, also defined by the Encarta World English Dictionary, is a work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolically expressing a deeper, often spiritual, moral, or political meaning. Though microcosm and allegory are almost identical, microcosms are usually associated with a larger picture, for example the way a group of friends acts could...