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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
Act 1: Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Aunt Jemimah:
In Act 1: Scene 2, Gabriel comes over but refuses an offer for breakfast, claiming that he already ate. His description of his breakfast contains an allusion and personification that work together to help demonstrate his state of mind:
Oh, I ain’t hungry. I done had breakfast with Aunt Jemimah. She come by and cooked me up a whole mess of flapjacks. Remember how we used to eat them flapjacks?
"Aunt Jemima" is the former name of the Pearl Milling Company, a brand that is best known for its maple syrup and pancake mix. The name "Aunt Jemima" came from 19th-century minstrel shows, in which performers (often White) donned exaggerated makeup and costumes to perform as stereotypical caricatures of Black people. Aunt Jemima was one of the names given to the "Mammy" caricature. During the antebellum period in the United States, enslaved Black women were routinely forced to nurse White children, cook for them, and provide childcare. Whether or not they had their own children, they became surrogate mother figures for many White children, who spent far more time with them than their own parents. In propaganda including minstrel shows, the image of the "Mammy" was dark-skinned, fat or muscular, and modestly-clothed. When she spoke, she used dialect. While any of these traits may have truly belonged to any of the Black women who raised White children, the stereotype of a "Mammy" or "Aunt Jemima" leaned into these traits in order to evoke maternal comfort while making a joke out of the idea that such a woman could ever be a sexual threat to White women.
Aunt Jemima (or Jemimah, as it is spelled in the play) became not only the name, but also the logo for the popular maple syrup and pancake company. Her image, reprinted over and over on bottles and boxes, was supposed to represent comfort to White families. This racist marketing strategy was so effective that the company only rebranded in 2020. For Gabriel, the logo comes to life in an even more real way. He personifies Aunt Jemimah as a woman who actually dropped by to cook him breakfast.
On the one hand, this personification is a concerning sign about Gabriel's detachment from reality. As Rose goes on to tell Troy, Gabriel's landlady (Ms. Pearl) has said that Gabriel is not eating at all. His confusion about whether or not Aunt Jemimah is real seems to extend to confusion about what food is real or imaginary. On the other hand, Gabriel's allusion also demonstrates that his mind is still inundated with all the memories and messaging he has received throughout his life. He remembers with nostalgia his childhood pancake breakfasts with Troy. The fact that those memories are attached to racist images like the Aunt Jemima logo emphasizes how even the metal plate in Gabriel's head, which sends him into escapist delusions, cannot entirely block out the experience of growing up as a Black man in the early 20th-century United States.
Related Themes:
