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Alliteration
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—All About My Sort:
As Michael grows older and grapples with the difficult truth of his birth, he seeks new ways of conceiving of his background—and understanding how it shapes his identity. At the age of ten, he unites his study of English literature and history with his self-examination through two allusions in a conversation with Helen. This conversation is punctuated by dramatic irony.
But don’t you bother, Auntie. I’ve found out all about my sort in English Hist’ry and the Shakespeare bits. There was William the Conqueror to begin with, and – oh, heaps more, and they all got on first-rate. ’Twon’t make any difference to you, my being that – will it?
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Explanation and Analysis—The Burden:
The story opens with an epigraph that contains two layers of allusion: one to a poem written by Kipling, another to Christ's Resurrection. This dual allusion has the effect of foreshadowing the story's ending.
Unlock with LitCharts A+One grave to me was given,
One watch till Judgment Day;
And God looked down from Heaven
And rolled the stone away.
One day in all the years,
One hour in that one day,
His Angel saw my tears,
And rolled the stone away!
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Explanation and Analysis—The Gardener:
At the end of the story, Helen encounters a man in the Hagenzeele Third whom she assumes to be a gardener. He helps her find Michael's grave and gives her a compassionate look. This ending serves as an allusion to the Gospel of John, in which Mary Magdalene confuses Christ for a gardener when visiting his tomb.
Unlock with LitCharts A+A man knelt behind a line of headstones – evidently a gardener, for he was firming a young plant in the soft earth.
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