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Literary Devices
Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Chapter 15: Unexpected Reserves
Explanation and Analysis—Blue Sky:
An allegory comparing blue sky to freedom from ideological structures extends throughout the novel. This allegory becomes especially clear at the end, when it appears in both Willa's and Thatcher's narratives in close succession. In Willa's, Tig explains the value of "looking for blue sky" at the end of a conversation about allowing beliefs to evolve:
"My mother used to say when God slams a door on you, he opens a window."
Tig gave this two seconds of respectful consideration before rejecting it. "No, that's not the same. I'm saying when God slams a door on you it's probably a shitstorm. You're going to end up in rubble. But it's okay because without all that crap overhead, you're standing in the daylight."
"Without a roof over your head, it kind of feels like you might die."
"Yeah, but you might not. For sure you won't find your way out of the mess if you keep picking up bricks and stuffing them in your pockets. What you have to do is look for blue sky."
Related Themes:
Chapter 16: Blue Sky
Explanation and Analysis—Blue Sky:
An allegory comparing blue sky to freedom from ideological structures extends throughout the novel. This allegory becomes especially clear at the end, when it appears in both Willa's and Thatcher's narratives in close succession. In Willa's, Tig explains the value of "looking for blue sky" at the end of a conversation about allowing beliefs to evolve:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"My mother used to say when God slams a door on you, he opens a window."
Tig gave this two seconds of respectful consideration before rejecting it. "No, that's not the same. I'm saying when God slams a door on you it's probably a shitstorm. You're going to end up in rubble. But it's okay because without all that crap overhead, you're standing in the daylight."
"Without a roof over your head, it kind of feels like you might die."
"Yeah, but you might not. For sure you won't find your way out of the mess if you keep picking up bricks and stuffing them in your pockets. What you have to do is look for blue sky."
Related Themes:
Chapter 18: Survival
Explanation and Analysis—The Landis Effect:
Mary Treat has a fascination with ants. She's first introduced as a woman next door, possibly mad, who spends her time inspecting the grass outside her home, when in fact she is observing a population of ants. Later, Thatcher notes that she has an infestation of ants in her carriage house. The ants Mary studies are called Polyergus ants, who take over colonies of smaller Formica ants. Near the novel's end, Kingsolver clarifies that these ants function as an analogy for how power works in 1870s Vineland:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Yesterday after more than a year trying she had succeeded in watching a queen of her captivating Polyergus ants take over a colony of the species they enslaved, the Formica. The ascendant queen invaded the Formica nest, found their host queen, and licked her aggressively until she died. Thereafter in less than a minute a transformation took hold of the invaded colony. Every worker became subdued, without exception. "I did not see any visible communications among the members of the colony." Mary seemed freshly struck with the wonder of what she'd seen. "But the effect was instantaneous. All of them were stupefied and subservient to their new leader. It must be a chemical signal given off by the dominant queen."
"You could call it the Landis effect."
Related Themes:
