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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 Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Chapter 1: The Exam
Explanation and Analysis—Jim Crow:
Rebecca Skloot situates Henrietta Lacks’s medical experience within the broader racial climate of mid-20th-century America. In explaining why Henrietta distrusted doctors and delayed seeking care, Skloot alludes to the system of Jim Crow laws that governed the South:
This was the era of Jim Crow — when black people showed up at white-only hospitals, the staff was likely to send them away, even if it meant they might die in the parking lot. Even Hopkins, which did treat black patients, segregated them in colored wards, and had colored-only fountains.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4: The Birth of HeLa
Explanation and Analysis—Frankenstein:
Rebecca Skloot describes George Gey’s ingenuity and resourcefulness as a young scientist, noting that he often built his own laboratory equipment from scraps because he lacked funds to buy proper machinery. In one early project, he constructed a makeshift time-lapse camera to capture live cells on film, piecing it together from discarded parts and metal salvaged from a junkyard. The description explicitly alludes to Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel in which Victor Frankenstein creates life by assembling a body from disparate parts:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Gey paid his way through a biology degree at the University of Pittsburgh by working as a carpenter and mason, and he could make nearly anything for cheap or free. During his second year in medical school, he rigged a microscope with a time-lapse motion picture camera to capture live cells on film. It was a Frankensteinish mishmash of microscope parts, glass, and 16-millimeter camera equipment from who knows where, plus metal scraps, and old motors from Shapiro’s junkyard.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7: The Death and Life of Cell Culture
Explanation and Analysis—Fountain of Youth:
Rebecca Skloot describes how Alexis Carrel, a French surgeon and researcher, became a scientific celebrity after winning the Nobel Prize for his work on blood-vessel suturing and organ transplantation. Though the award had nothing to do with his earlier chicken-heart experiment, the press conflated the two, portraying Carrel as if he had unlocked the secret of immortality. His fame grew not just from legitimate achievement but from mythologized claims. The phrase “fountain of youth” is a direct allusion to a myth dating back to antiquity:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Months later, Carrel won a Nobel Prize for his blood-vessel-suturing technique and his contributions to organ transplantation, and he became an instant celebrity. The prize had nothing to do with the chicken heart, but articles about his award conflated the immortal chicken-heart cells with his transplantation work, and suddenly it sounded like he’d found the fountain of youth.
Related Themes:
Chapter 22: “The Fame She So Richly Deserves”
Explanation and Analysis—The War on Cancer:
Shortly after Henrietta Lacks’s name first became public, President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law, marking the start of what he called the “War on Cancer.” Nixon promised a cure within five years, aligning the initiative with the national mood of the early 1970s and the approach of the Bicentennial. The announcement, however, was as much a political maneuver as a scientific one, serving to shift public attention away from the Vietnam War while projecting optimism about American progress. Here's the allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Just three weeks after Henrietta’s name was first published, Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law and launched the War on Cancer, designating $1.5 billion for cancer research over the next three years. In a move many believe was intended to distract attention from the Vietnam War, Nixon announced that scientists would cure cancer within five years, just in time for the United States Bicentennial.
Related Themes:
