Burke's parlor metaphor

"Where does the drama get its materials? From the “unending conversation” that is going on at the point in history when we are born. Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally’s assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress."

RESPONSE!
According to Burke, intellectual discussion is unending. It has been started before our time and will continue on after our time. He uses the metaphor of a heated discussion to bring some visual effect into mind; and we are just a momentary addition to the never-ending discussion. We come into the discussion as if entering a river along the side bank, not at the source or mouth. The main emphasize of Burke’s commentary is on the timelessness of intellectual conception. In the second sentence he already uses the phrase “unending conversation.” Right off the bat Burke is setting the notion you are not beginning or ending the discussion. A parallel metaphor is to imagine becoming a student at Oxford University. The university was there before you attended and will continue to exist after you have graduated. You, the student, are merely a contribution to the great learning that goes on.
The metaphor Burke uses values the discussion in order to attain a deeper level of learning and intellectual growth. It is not possible to have an intelligent conversation where there is no presentation of opposing ideas to make people think deeper into why they believe what they believe. Simply stating an option does not necessarily mean someone has intelligence.
Burke’s metaphor does, however, skims over the growth that does happen during an intellectual discussion. Each new point made brings out new ideas and concepts that might not have been thought of before. The more thoughtful and challenging the question or statement, the more discoveries are made. It’s a two lane street not a one way road.