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Allegory
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
Key Examples in Gilead
Pages 46-50
Explanation and Analysis—John Brown:
John Brown is a central and consistent allusion in Gilead. Brown was an abolitionist, and he’s famous for using violent methods to support the cause. Along with Jim Lane, Brown was a prominent actor in the Bleeding Kansas period. At that time, Kansas was being admitted as a state. Kansas residents were to vote to determine whether it was admitted as a slave state or a free state. Many moved to Kansas in order to influence this vote. Free-soilers moved to vote for a free Kansas; proponents of slavery moved to vote for the state to allow slavery. The two sides got into a series of violent clashes known as Bleeding Kansas.
Related Themes:
Pages 53-57
Explanation and Analysis—Abraham, Hagar, Ishmael:
In pages 53–57, John writes that his wife Lila compares him to Abraham, making a biblical allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I’ve shepherded a good many people through their lives, I’ve baptized babies by the hundred, and all that time I have felt as though a great part of life was closed to me. Your mother says I was like Abraham. But I had no old wife and no promise of a child.
Related Themes:
Pages 63-66
Explanation and Analysis—Go to Dark Gethsemane:
John Ames recalls holding his son shortly after his birth, alluding to a hymn:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I would sit in the rocking chair and your mother would put you in my arms and I would just rock and pray until she finished whatever it was she had to do. I used to sing, too, “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” until she asked me if I didn’t know a happier song. I wasn’t even aware of what I was singing.
Related Themes:
Pages 72-83
Explanation and Analysis—Prodigal Son:
John Ames alludes to three biblical stories to describe Jack Boughton, Reverend Boughton’s son:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Old Boughton is so eager to see him. Perhaps anxious as well as eager. He has some fine children, yet it always seemed this was the one on whom he truly set his heart. The lost sheep, the lost coin. The prodigal son, not to put too fine a point on it.
Related Themes:
Pages 116-122
Explanation and Analysis—Charles Lindbergh:
John writes about his son’s admiration for Jack Boughton, using a historical allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+You look at him as if he were Charles Lindbergh. He keeps calling you little brother, and you love that.
Related Themes:
Pages 127-131
Explanation and Analysis—Abraham, Hagar, Ishmael:
In pages 53–57, John writes that his wife Lila compares him to Abraham, making a biblical allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I’ve shepherded a good many people through their lives, I’ve baptized babies by the hundred, and all that time I have felt as though a great part of life was closed to me. Your mother says I was like Abraham. But I had no old wife and no promise of a child.
Related Themes:
Pages 191-200
Explanation and Analysis—Ur of the Chaldees:
Toward the end of his letter, John reflects on the poverty Gilead experienced during the Great Depression, making another biblical allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The times were dreadful, but it was just how it was, and we got very used to it. That was our civilization. The valley of the shadow. And it might as well be Ur of the Chaldees for all people know about it now.
Related Themes:
