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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
Part I: Tony Loneman (1)
Explanation and Analysis—Sock with a Hole:
In Tony Loneman's first chapter, he discusses a famous line from the rapper MF Doom. He describes the time when he found an iPod on the bus, and Doom was the only music on it. Tony's allusion to Doom informs the reader about his character:
I knew I liked him when I heard the line “Got more soul than a sock with a hole.” What I liked is that I understood all the meanings to it right away, like instantly. It meant soul, like having a hole in a sock gives the sock character, means it’s worn through, gives it a soul, and also like the bottom of your foot showing through, to the sole of your foot. It was a small thing, but it made me feel like I’m not stupid.
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Explanation and Analysis—Sweetness:
Tony and his grandmother Maxine often read together. Here, in his first chapter in the novel, Tony references a passage from Louise Erdrich's The Painted Drum. Tony's dyslexia prevents him from fully understanding the passage, but he works with Maxine to overcome his difficulties. The passage from Erdrich describes how to persevere through life's struggles:
Unlock with LitCharts A+One time she used the word devastating after I finished reading a passage from her favorite author—Louise Erdrich. It was something about how life will break you. How that’s the reason we’re here, and to go sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples fall and pile around you, wasting all that sweetness. I didn’t know what it meant then, and she saw that I didn’t. She didn’t explain it either. But we read the passage, that whole book, another time, and I got it.
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Part I: Dene Oxendene (1)
Explanation and Analysis—There There:
In Dene Oxendene's first chapter in Part I, he speaks with Rob, a hipster, while waiting for his interview for his cultural project. Rob is an exaggerated stereotype of a White gentrifier. Rob and Dene ask each other where each is from. Dene tells Rob he is from Oakland, which Rob finds funny: "I mean no one's really from here, right?" He asks Dene if he knows Gertrude Stein's famous quotation about Oakland; Dene does know it, but does not respond out of quiet anger:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“You know what Gertrude Stein said about Oakland?” Rob says.
Dene shakes his head no but actually knows, actually googled quotes about Oakland when researching for his project. He knows exactly what the guy is about to say. “There is no there there,” he says in a kind of whisper, with this goofy openmouthed smile Dene wants to punch. [...] Dene wants to tell him it’s what happened to Native people, he wants to explain that they’re not the same, that Dene is Native, born and raised in Oakland, from Oakland.
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Part I: Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield (1)
Explanation and Analysis—TS on TR:
In her chapter as protagonist in Part I, Opal describes growing up as a preteen with Jacquie. Opal struggles to make friends, so she ends up having long conversations with her teddy bear, Two Shoes, or TS. In one conversation, they each discuss the origins of the names for their kin: "teddy bear" and "Indian." Two Shoes "tells" Opal about a quotation from President Theodore Roosevelt concerning White American opinions toward Native people:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Roosevelt said, ‘I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every ten are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.’ ”
“Damn, TS. That’s messed up. I only heard the one about the big stick.”
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