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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—Tagore:
When introducing readers to his wife Mala, the narrator includes an allusion to the 19th-century Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore, as seen in the following passage:
[Mala] was the daughter of a school teacher in Beleghata. I was told that she could cook, knot, embroider, sketch landscapes and recite poems by Tagore, but these talents could not make up for the fact that she did not possess a fair complexion and so a string of men had rejected her to her face.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Bengali Bridal Traditions:
When the narrator goes to pick his new wife Mala up from the airport (after she moves from Calcutta to Boston to be with him), he describes her appearance, alluding to Bengali bridal traditions in the process:
Unlock with LitCharts A+At the airport I recognized Mala immediately. The free end of her sari did not drag on the floor but was draped in a sign of bridal modesty over her head, just as it had draped my mother until the day my father died. Her thin brown arms were stacked with gold bracelets, a small red circle was painted on her forehead and the edges of her feet were tinted with a decorative red dye.
Related Themes:
