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Allegory
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 Swimmer
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Communist Hallorans:
As Neddy makes his way across the county swimming pool by swimming pool, he stops at the Hallorans’ house. When introducing the Hallorans, the narrator alludes to the anti-communist sentiment in the United States in the mid-20th century, as seen in the following passage:
The Hallorans were friends, an elderly couple of enormous wealth who seemed to bask in the suspicion that they might be Communists. They were zealous reformers but they were not Communists, and yet when they were accused, as they sometimes were, of subversion, it seemed to gratify and excite them. […] The Hallorans, for reasons that had never been explained to him, did not wear bathing suits. No explanations were in order, really. Their nakedness was a detail in their uncompromising zeal for reform.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Aphrodite and Shakespeare:
When introducing readers to Neddy at the beginning of the story, the narrator alludes to both Greek mythology and Shakespeare, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He was a slender man—he seemed to have the especial slenderness of youth—and while he was far from young he had slid down his banister that morning and given the bronze backside of Aphrodite on the hall table a smack, as he jogged toward the smell of coffee in his dining room. He might have been compared to a summer’s day, particularly the last hours of one, and while he lacked a tennis racket or a sail bag the impression was definitely one of youth, sport, and clement weather.
Related Themes:
