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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—Jesse James:
In Book 1, Chapter 1 of My Ántonia, Cather makes an allusion to the real 19th-century outlaw Jesse James. She does so as part of the visual imagery that describes the frontiersman Otto Fuchs. When they meet, Jim observes Fuchs intently and notes that:
He might have stepped out of the pages of “Jesse James.” He wore a sombrero hat, with a wide leather band and a bright buckle, and the ends of his moustache were twisted up stiffly, like little horns. He looked lively and ferocious, I thought, and as if he had a history. A long scar ran across one cheek and drew the corner of his mouth up in a sinister curl. The top of his left ear was gone, and his skin was brown as an Indian’s. Surely this was the face of a desperado.
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Book 1, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—"Selah!":
In Book 1, Chapter 2 of My Ántonia, Cather alludes to the Hebrew word "Selah" as Jim's grandfather reads aloud from the Bible. This provides context for the novel's periods of reflection, and also implicitly refers to to the frame story the book begins with:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Grandfather put on silver-rimmed spectacles and read several Psalms. His voice was so sympathetic and he read so interestingly that I wished he had chosen one of my favourite chapters in the Book of Kings. I was awed by his intonation of the word “Selah.” “He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Selah.” I had no idea what the word meant; perhaps he had not. But, as he uttered it, it became oracular, the most sacred of words.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Eldest Evil:
In Book 1, Chapter 7, Cather uses an allusion to describe the snake that Jim kills as a child, describing it as being like the Devil in the Christian tradition:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He seemed like the ancient, eldest Evil. Certainly his kind have left horrible unconscious memories in all warm-blooded life [...]
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Book 3, Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Camille:
In Book 3, Chapter 3, Cather alludes to Camille, an 1848 play by Alexandre Dumas. This allusion aligns Jim's heartsickness for Ántonia Shimerda with the storyline of the play, and foreshadows some of the girl’s later difficulties:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Toward the end of April, the billboards, which I watched anxiously in those days, bloomed out one morning with gleaming white posters on which two names were impressively printed in blue Gothic letters: the name of an actress of whom I had often heard, and the name “Camille.”
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