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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
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Nietzsche & Schopenhauer:
In Chapter 1, when Humphrey is sailing across the San Francisco Bay on his way to visit his friend Charley Furuseth, he makes an allusion to the 19th century German philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer:
I scarcely know where to begin, though I sometimes facetiously place the cause of it all to Charley Furuseth's credit. He kept a summer cottage in Mill Valley, under the shadow of Mount Tamalpais, and never occupied it except when he loafed through the winter months and read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer to rest the brain.
Explanation and Analysis—Leviathan:
In Chapter 1, Humphrey catches his first glimpse of the Ghost, moments before it collides with the Martinez and sinks it. He makes an allusion to Leviathan, a sea monster from ancient mythology and the Bible:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The fog seemed to break away as though split by a wedge, and the bow of a steamboat emerged, trailing fog-wreaths on either side like seaweed on the snout of Leviathan.
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—On The Origin of Species:
When tidying up Wolf’s room in Chapter 5, Humphrey stumbles on his surprisingly large book collection. He owns several books on science, including Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Against the wall, near the head of the bunk, was a rack filled with books […] There were scientific works, too, among which were represented men such as Tyndall, Proctor, and Darwin.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Browning's Caliban:
In Chapter 8, after noticing an open volume of Robert Browning’s poetry on Wolf Larsen’s bed, Humphrey makes an allusion to Browning’s 1864 poem “Caliban Upon Setebos:”
Unlock with LitCharts A+"You are a sort of monster," I added audaciously, "a Caliban who has pondered Setebos, and who acts as you act, in idle moments, by whim and fancy."
[...]
Not to be tiresome, I shall say that I fetched the book from his state-room and read "Caliban" aloud. He was delighted. It was a primitive mode of reasoning and looking at things that he understood thoroughly.
Chapter 26
Explanation and Analysis—Milton's Lucifer:
Throughout the novel, Humphrey makes allusions to the character of Lucifer, or Satan, from John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. Both Humphrey and Maud frequently compare Wolf Larsen to Lucifer, and Wolf himself is fascinated by what he sees as the character’s independent spirit and fearlessness.
In Chapter 26, during one of his frequent conversations about literature with Maud and Humphrey, Wolf says:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“[Lucifer] led a lost cause, and he was not afraid of God’s thunderbolts,” Wolf Larsen was saying. “Hurled into hell, he was unbeaten […] To serve was to suffocate. He preferred suffering in freedom to all the happiness of a comfortable servility. He did not care to serve God. He cared to serve nothing. He was no figurehead. He stood on his own legs. He was an individual.”
