Previous
Literary Devices
Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Chapter 1: The Vanishing
Explanation and Analysis—Flower-Killing Moon:
Chapter 1 begins with a detailed image that serves as an allegory of sorts for what happened to the Osage in the 1920s and 30s:
In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma. [...]The Osage writer John Joseph Mathews observed that the galaxy of petals makes it look as if the “gods had left confetti.” In May, when coyotes howl beneath an unnervingly large moon, taller plants, such as spiderworts and black-eyed Susans, begin to creep over the tinier blooms, stealing their light and water. The necks of the smaller flowers break and their petals flutter away, and before long they are buried underground. This is why the Osage Indians refer to May as the time of the flower-killing moon.
Related Themes:
Chapter 13: A Hangman’s Son
Explanation and Analysis—Sheriff Death:
In Chapter 13, Grann describes Tom White's upbringing as the child of a prison warden. When White witnesses his first public hanging, the preacher first personifies death as a sheriff and then goes on to develop an entire allegory of justice:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Sheriff Death is on his black steed, is but a short distance away, coming to arrest the soul of this man to meet the trial at the higher bar where God himself is supreme ruler, Jesus, his son the attorney, and the Holy Ghost the prosecutor.”
Related Themes:
