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Literary Devices
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Book 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—A Chasm:
When Cass and Richard depart the bar where they have been sitting with a group, they unknowingly leave Rufus, Jane, and Vivaldo in a tense situation. Baldwin uses an allusion referencing a line from Jailhouse Hopkins’s “Lightnin’ Blues” and a simile to illustrate this:
Everyone was gone except Jane and Rufus and Vivaldo.
I wouldn’t mind being in jail but I’ve got to stay there so long.…The seats the others had occupied were like a chasm now between Rufus and the white boy and the white girl.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Horizontal Collaborator:
As Yves shares his family history with Eric, he tells a secret about his mother and makes a historical allusion referencing “horizontal collaboration”:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She told all kinds of lies about her work in the Resistance. Quelle horreur! that whole time, it was not very pretty. Many women had their heads shaved, sometimes for nothing, you know? just because they were pretty or someone was jealous or they had refused to sleep with someone. But not my mother. Nous, nous étions tranquille avec nôtre petit officier and our beefsteak and our chocolate candy.
Related Themes:
