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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
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—The Temperance Movement:
Near the end of the novel, Tom briefly joins the “Cadets of Temperance” and also finds Injun Joe passed out at the “Temperance Tavern”—two allusions to the Temperance movement that swept the US in the 19th century. The Temperance movement was centered on promoting complete abstinence from alcohol, with supporters believing that alcohol only had negative effects (on people’s individual physical health and the health of society overall). Many supporters of the movement were Christians who also felt that alcohol led to immorality.
Related Themes:
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Aunt Polly the Healer:
After Tom witnesses Injun Joe kill Dr. Robinson and frame Muff Potter, he is full of guilt and fear, and Aunt Polly misinterprets his reaction as an illness, leading her to try various remedies. Here, Twain uses a metaphor to describe Aunt Polly’s poor healing abilities—comparing her to death itself:
Unlock with LitCharts A+She gathered together her quack periodicals and her quack medicines, and thus armed with death, went about on her pale horse, metaphorically speaking, with "hell following after." But she never suspected that she was not an agent of healing and the balm of Gilead in disguise, to the suffering neighbors.
Related Themes:
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Native American Tensions:
There are a few different moments in the novel when Twain alludes to historical tensions between Native Americans and white settlers in the United States. In this example from Chapter 16, Twain describes Tom and his friends deciding to “be Indians” rather than playing pirates:
Unlock with LitCharts A+This was to knock off being pirates, for a while, and be Indians for a change. They were attracted by this idea; so it was not long before they were stripped, and striped from head to heel with black mud, like so many zebras—all of them chiefs, of course—and then they went tearing through the woods to attack an English settlement.
Related Themes:
Chapter 21
Explanation and Analysis—Give Me Liberty:
The “Give me liberty or give me death” speech that Tom recites at Examination Evening for school is an allusion to orator Patrick Henry’s speech at the Second Virginia Convention, in which he pushed for more Virginian troops to be sent to fight in the Revolutionary War. Here Twain describes Tom’s speech:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Tom Sawyer stepped forward with conceited confidence and soared into the unquenchable and indestructible “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, with fine fury and frantic gesticulation, and broke down in the middle of it. A ghastly stage fright seized him, his legs quaked under him and he was like to choke.
Related Themes:
Chapter 26
Explanation and Analysis—Robin Hood:
At a few points in the novel, Tom encourages his friends to “play Robin Hood” with him, an allusion to the English folktale about an outlaw named Robin Hood who stole from the rich to give to the poor. Here, Tom asks Huck if he knows about Robin Hood before they start their fantasy games:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Do you know Robin Hood, Huck?”
“No. Who’s Robin Hood?”
“Why, he was one of the greatest men that was ever in England—and the best. He was a robber.”
“Cracky, I wisht I was. Who did he rob?”
“Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. But he never bothered the poor. He loved ‘em. He always divided up with ’em perfectly square.”
“Well, he must ‘a’ been a brick.”
“I bet you he was, Huck. Oh, he was the noblest man that ever was. They ain’t any such men now, I can tell you.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 30
Explanation and Analysis—Native American Tensions:
There are a few different moments in the novel when Twain alludes to historical tensions between Native Americans and white settlers in the United States. In this example from Chapter 16, Twain describes Tom and his friends deciding to “be Indians” rather than playing pirates:
Unlock with LitCharts A+This was to knock off being pirates, for a while, and be Indians for a change. They were attracted by this idea; so it was not long before they were stripped, and striped from head to heel with black mud, like so many zebras—all of them chiefs, of course—and then they went tearing through the woods to attack an English settlement.
Related Themes:
