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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
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Red Chief:
After Sam and Bill kidnap Johnny and take him to a cave in the woods, Johnny makes Bill play with him, imagining himself to be the violent Native American “Red Chief” and Bill to be his white captive. This is an allusion to common racist tropes and stereotypes about Native Americans that were prevalent in the early 20th century, when O. Henry was writing this story.
The stereotypes about Native Americans underlying Johnny’s make-believe game become clear in the way Johnny acts out the character of Red Chief, as well as in Bill’s explanation of the game to Sam:
“Ha! cursed paleface, do you dare to enter the camp of Red Chief, the terror of the plains?”
“He’s all right now,” says Bill, rolling up his trousers and examining some bruises on his shins. “We’re playing Indian […] I’m Old Hank, the Trapper, Red Chief’s captive, and I’m to be scalped at daybreak. By Geronimo! that kid can kick hard.”
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Explanation and Analysis—Ebenezer:
O. Henry’s decision to name the wealthy and miserly character in the story “Ebenezer” is likely an allusion to another famous literary Ebenezer—the affluent and tight-fisted Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Like it is now, A Christmas Carol was well-known at the time, and O. Henry probably expected his readers to understand the connection that he was making between the two men.
Sam’s introduction to Ebenezer in “The Ransom of Red Chief” captures some of his shared qualities with Dickens’s Ebenezer:
Unlock with LitCharts A+We selected for our victim the only child of a prominent citizen named Ebenezer Dorset. The father was respectable and tight, a mortgage fancier and a stern, upright collection-plate passer and forecloser.
Related Themes:
