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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
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Bad Weather:
Bad weather appears as a recurring motif in the novel, emphasizing the inescapable struggles faced by the poor in early-1900s America. Incredibly harsh and unpleasant seasonal changes appear throughout the book, consistently presenting challenges and adversities to Jurgis and his family. For example, in the first third of the novel, the narrator says that:
Now the dreadful winter was come upon them. In the forests, all summer long, the branches of the trees do battle for light, and some of them lose and die; and then come the raging blasts, and the storms of snow and hail, and strew the ground with these weaker branches.
Related Themes:
Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Covered with Boils:
When describing the horrific conditions in some parts of the meat-packing trade, the narrator makes allusions to the works of the authors Dante Alighieri and Émile Zola. These, along with the visceral tactile imagery of the passage, provide context for the horrifying scenes at the stockyards:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] to hear this man describe the animals which came to his place would have been worthwhile for a Dante or a Zola. It seemed that they must have agencies all over the country, to hunt out old and crippled and diseased cattle to be canned. There were cattle which had been fed on 'whisky-malt,' the refuse of the breweries, and had become what the men called 'steerly'—which means covered with boils. It was a nasty job killing these, for when you plunged your knife into them they would burst and splash foul-smelling stuff into your face.
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Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Bad Weather:
Bad weather appears as a recurring motif in the novel, emphasizing the inescapable struggles faced by the poor in early-1900s America. Incredibly harsh and unpleasant seasonal changes appear throughout the book, consistently presenting challenges and adversities to Jurgis and his family. For example, in the first third of the novel, the narrator says that:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Now the dreadful winter was come upon them. In the forests, all summer long, the branches of the trees do battle for light, and some of them lose and die; and then come the raging blasts, and the storms of snow and hail, and strew the ground with these weaker branches.
Related Themes:
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—Reading Gaol:
When describing Jurgis's miserable state in jail, the author employs verbal irony and an allusion to “The Ballad of Reading Gaol." This was a poem written by the British author Oscar Wilde, who was also unjustly imprisoned. The narrator ends the chapter with this enigmatic statement:
Unlock with LitCharts A+So wrote a poet, to whom the world had dealt its justice—
I know not whether Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong.
And they do well to hide their hell,
For in it things are done
That Son of God nor son of Man
Ever should look upon.
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Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—Noah's Ark of Crime:
In this passage, the author employs an allusion to Noah's Ark that also serves as a metaphor, depicting the horrific conditions and diverse population of the Chicago jail where Jurgis is imprisoned:
Unlock with LitCharts A+This jail was a Noah's ark of the city's crime—there were murderers, 'hold-up men' and burglars, embezzlers, counterfeiters and forgers, bigamists, 'shoplifters,' 'confidence men,' petty thieves and pickpockets, gamblers and procurers, brawlers, beggars, tramps and drunkards; they were black and white, old and young, Americans and natives of every nation under the sun. There were hardened criminals and innocent men too poor to give bail; old men, and boys literally not yet in their teens. They were the drainage of the great festering ulcer of society; they were hideous to look upon, sickening to talk to.
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Chapter 29
Explanation and Analysis—Mighty Upheaval:
Sinclair alludes to the stirring French national anthem, the "Marseillaise," after the speaker finishes at the socialist rally. Already excited and shaken by the speech, Jurgis's state of depression is further disrupted by an unfamiliar melody:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Jurgis had never heard it, and he could not make out the words, but the wild and wonderful spirit of it seized upon him—it was the 'Marseillaise!' As stanza after stanza of it thundered forth, he sat with his hands clasped, trembling in every nerve. He had never been so stirred in his life—it was a miracle that had been wrought in him. He could not think at all, he was stunned; yet he knew that in the mighty upheaval that had taken place in his soul, a new man had been born.
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Chapter 31
Explanation and Analysis—Gilman and Kropotkin:
Dr. Schliemann alludes to the works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Peter Kropotkin as he speaks at the Socialist gathering held at Young Fisher's house. When the Doctor is asked to defend his ideas on automation, he replies that his questioner should:
Unlock with LitCharts A+[...] consider that in each of my little free communities, there would be a machine which would wash and dry the dishes [...] and do it at a saving of all the drudgery and nine-tenths of the time! All of these things you may find in the books of Mrs. Gilman; and then take Kropotkin's Fields, Factories, and Workshops, and read about the new science of agriculture, which has been built up in the last ten years [...]
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