An Allegory is used to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative meanings.
Chlorine is counted among this group along with hydrogen (H 2), iodine (I 2), bromine (Br 2), oxygen (O 2), nitrogen (N 2) and fluorine (Fl 2). With seven electrons in its outermost orbit--one electron short of a stable eight-- the element chlorine exists in nature as a diatomic molecule. This arrangement allows two chlorine atoms to share their outermost orbit electrons, achieving stability, compared to the single atom.
Negative ions are bigger than the atoms they come from. Chlorine is 2,8,7; Cl- is 2,8,8. Although the electrons are still all in the 3-level, the extra repulsion produced by the incoming electron causes the atom to expand. There are still only 17 protons, but they are now having to hold 18 electrons.