An allegory is a story told by a symbol's POV, or a highly symbollic story. An example is the character named Mercy in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Not surprisingly, that character acts in ways which exemplify the symbolic name.
Symbol is less obvious, but is another means of representing an idea through another means. Gatsby's flashing green light has been described as symbollic of his flashy lifestyle and of his affluence...yet it can be described as symbolic of Gatsby's envy as well (as in the phrase "green with envy").
To contrast examples, Gatsby's symbolic green light adds subtle clues to our understanding of Gatsby's character; but, Bunyan's character, Mercy, is symbollically named (since mercy is not a name but does have obvious meaning) and acts out her part in the allegorical novel accordingly. We can discuss and disagree with the symbolism of Gatsby's green light, whereas we would have nothing left to say about the allegorical character, Mercy, whose name says it all.
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