In the story of "The parable of the prodigal son", how does it allegorizes the idea of forgiveness.

In the Christian Bible the parable told about the prodigal
son tells of a young man who goes forth into the world and does not follow his father's
guidance.  Yet, when his son returns home he is received by the father with open arms
and love. 

The parable is used to represent the
relationship between mankind as the son (each individual) and God as the father.  Man is
going to commit many sins in his life and will not always go forth and follow the "word"
of his father.  However, God will always open his arms to receive man, the child who is
in essence the prodigal son, with forgiveness for man's actions or
sins.

Yet, if man can be so willingly forgiven by the
father, then man must also be able to offer such divine forgiveness of one
another.