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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
Key Examples in The Hairy Ape
Scene One
Explanation and Analysis—Men out of the Sea:
In the following passage, Paddy responds to Yank's sentiments regarding the ship and its relationship to his working class comrades. Notably, Paddy's view on the situation is very different from Yank's, and far less optimistic for the future. Using allusion and simile, Paddy contrasts his ideal view of the world with Yank's more modern, progressive understanding:
PADDY: Oh, to be back in the fine days of my youth, ochone! Oh, there was fine beautiful ships them days—clippers wid tall masts touching the sky—fine strong men in them—men that was sons of the sea as if ’twas the mother that bore them.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Nostalgia:
In Scene 1, Yank and Paddy serve both as debate partners and narrative foils, each representing a commonly held stance on "progress" during the modernist period. On the one hand, there is Paddy: a working-class man, to be sure, but a man fixed on the beauty of nature and the romanticism of the past. Paddy rejects progress and industrialization as antithetical to the human spirit, which he seems to think will languish if it becomes too dependent upon and integrated within the machine.
Paddy's nostalgia almost verges on unreality. Note, for instance, the following passage from Scene 1, in which Paddy describes an old ship sailing through the night:
Unlock with LitCharts A+PADDY: Then you’d see [the ship] driving through the gray night, her sails stretching aloft all silver and white, not a sound on the deck, the lot of us dreaming dreams, till you’d believe ’twas no real ship at all you was on but a ghost ship like the Flying Dutchman they say does be roaming the seas forevermore widout touching a port.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Capitalists:
In the following excerpt from Scene 1, Long goes on a tirade against the upper class, condemning them for making him and his working-class comrades "wage slaves" on the ship they work on. In the course of his rant, Long turns the "beast" motif on its head and uses metaphor, redirecting it to describe the exploitative behavior of the upper classes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+LONG: But what d’they care for the Bible—them lazy, bloated swine what travels first cabin? Them’s the ones. They dragged us down’til we’re on’y wage slaves in the bowels of a bloody ship, sweatin’, burnin’ up, eatin’ coal dust! Hit’s them’s ter blame—the damned Capitalist clarss!
Related Themes:
Scene Two
Explanation and Analysis—How the Other Half Lives:
In the following excerpt from Scene 2, Mildred attempts to articulate her need to feel like she is a part of something larger than herself. In the past, Mildred participated in projects of "social reform" in New York City, which would have meant traveling through the slums and tenements trying to convince impoverished people to give up their bad habits and turn to the Lord. Interestingly, in her justification, Mildred alludes to perhaps one of the most famous social reformers of the late 19th century:
Unlock with LitCharts A+MILDRED: [Protesting with a trace of genuine earnestness] Please do not mock at my attempts to discover how the other half lives. Give me credit for some sort of groping sincerity in that at least. I would like to help them. I would like to be of some use in the world. Is it my fault I don’t know how? I would like to be sincere, to touch life somewhere.
Related Themes:
