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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
Key Examples in This Side of Paradise
Book 1, Chapter 1: Amory, Son of Beatrice
Explanation and Analysis—Monsignor's Robes:
In Book 1, Chapter 1, Amory meets Monsignor Darcy for the first time. The two hit it off immediately, and Fitzgerald makes a clever allusion to describe Monsignor's appearance and cement is appeal to the young Amory.
Monsignor was forty-four then, and bustling—a trifle too stout for symmetry, with hair the color of spun gold and a brilliant, enveloping personality. When he came into a room clad in his full purple regalia from thatch to toe, he resembled a Turner sunset, and attracted both admiration and attention.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 2: Spires and Gargoyles
Explanation and Analysis—The Great Dreaming Spires:
In Book 1, Chapter 2, Amory settles into his new life as a Princeton student. Throughout This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald leans heavily on a variety of literary devices to describe the university and the psychological effect that its prestige and grandeur have on Amory. In this case, Fitzgerald uses an allusion to equate Amory's conception of Princeton's architecture with that of Oxford:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Princeton of the daytime filtered slowly into his consciousness—West and Reunion, redolent of the Sixties, Seventy-nine Hall, brick-red and arrogant, Upper and Lower Pyne, aristocratic Elizabethan ladies not quite content to live among shopkeepers, and, topping all, climbing with clear blue aspiration, the great dreaming spires of Holder and Cleveland towers.
Related Themes:
Book 1, Chapter 3: The Egotist Considers
Explanation and Analysis—The Art of Dying:
In Book 1, Chapter 3, Stephen Blaine—Amory's father—passes away. Amory's reaction to his death and behavior at his funeral reflects his emotional detachment from his family and his extreme self-involvement. Fitzgerald demonstrates Amory's startling attitude towards the proceedings with an allusion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The day after the ceremony he was amusing himself in the great library by sinking back on a couch in graceful mortuary attitudes, trying to determine whether he would, when his day came, be found with his arms crossed piously over his chest (Monsignor Darcy had once advocated this posture as being the most distinguished), or with his hands clasped behind his head, a more pagan and Byronic attitude.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 2: Experiments in Convalescence
Explanation and Analysis—Lowered Expectations:
In Book 2, Chapter 2, Amory and Tom struggle to make sense of the world in the aftermath of World War One. As he struggles to explain his sense of meaninglessness, Amory makes an allusion to great figures in history:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Oh, Lord, what a pleasure it used to be to dream I might be a really great dictator or writer or religious or political leader—and now even Leonardo da Vinci or Lorenzo de Medici couldn't be a real old-fashioned bolt in the world. Life is too huge and complex. The world is so overgrown that it can't lift its own fingers, and I was planning to be such an important finger—
Related Themes:
