Literary Allusions in Eliot's The Hollow Men Scholars have long endeavored to identify the sources of various images in T. S. Eliot's work, so densely layered with literary allusions. As Eliot himself noted in his essay "Philip Massinger" (1920), One of the surest of tests is the way in which a poet borrows. Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. In Eliot's poem
Literary Allusion in Women of Brewster Place, Linden Hills, and Mama Day Gloria Naylor has endeavored to overcome the obstacles that accompany being an African-American woman writer. In her first three novels, The Women of Brewster Place, Linden Hills, and Mama Day, Naylor succeeds not only in blurring the boundary between ethnic writing and classical writing, but she makes it her goal to incorporate the lives of African-Americans into an art form with universal appeal. Gloria Naylor explains
a part of this woman’s –whom he loves- life, but he cannot bring himself to the complete the act, to say “I love you.” The poem itself consists of all of the reasons, going through Alfred’s head, why he should not profess his love. Imagery, literary allusion, and structure are prominent tools used by Eliot to convey the man’s feelings in the poem. Eliot’s criticism of the modern man of his time is another strong theme in this poem. A demonstration of this is clear when Eliot presents Alfred as a
the primary narrator, Marlow, who too, is a product of the dominant society. For the novel's narrator, Marlow, the journey up the Congo River to the 'heart of darkness' is reminiscent of Guido's journey into hell in Dante's Inferno, with these literary allusion always present, through forms of intense imagery. The landscape takes on a hellish nature and the wilderness is personified. Death is omnipresent and this is reflected in the death imagery used to describe the cities of Brussels and London, the
associated with it, serve to polarize the British community between Muslims and non-Muslims, as well as to polarize people supporting liberation and those supporting containment. Combined with other cultural references, Kureishi uses the literary allusion to create his themes and symbolism. The question of the racial, religious, and socioeconomic identity of Shahid becomes a central question posed as Shahid undergoes translation from his Pakistani ancestry to his desired identity as
Sheppard and his foil, Rufus Johnson, in [comment2] "The Lame Shall Enter First".[comment3] Challenging the literal paradigm of light and darkness, O'Connor weaves together well crafted characterization, cryptic dialogue, and both biblical and literary allusion in this paradoxical plot and, by way of Sheppard and the antithetical Rufus, blends the black and white of Christian dogma into an ironic grey. The contrast of light and dark begins with the description and characterization of the
written in the mood of society after World War I. By using these allusions, The Waste Land reflects on mythical, historical, and literary events. The poem displays the deep disillusionment felt during this time period. In the after math of the great war, in an industrialized society that lacks the traditional structure of authority and belief, in the soil that may not be conductive to new growth (Lewis). Eliot used various allusions that connected to the time period and the effect of the war on society
Symbol, Allusion, and Myth in Irving Layton's Rhine Boat Trip "...haunted/by the ghosts of Jewish mothers/looking for their ghostly Children" (Layton). Though physical evidence of the Holocaust is now slightly limited, as time tends to destroy the tangible, the cry for justice and the remembrance of systematic genocide by a sadistic people enacting ignorant dogma will ring indefinitely throughout the world. Humanity will always be guilty of the atrocities that it instigates. Irving Layton, in
Christian life. This is the theme of many of her stories. The grandmother being the physical body that feels the grace of god and the Misfit as the one who tests her faith, expresses this message to her readers effectively. The usage of foreshadowing, allusions, imagery and flashbacks by O’Connor builds up the reader’s anticipation for the final stage of the story and leads to the family’s fatal outcome. O’Connor relies strongly on the use of foreshadowing to create a suspenseful story to convey her message
Allusions in Invisible Man Invisible Man, written with ingenuity by Ralph Waldo Ellison, is a masterpiece by itself, but it also intertwines into every page one or more allusions to previously written masterpieces. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, and whether it was Ellison who incorporated the works into his own or others who incorporated his work into their own, it makes for a brilliant piece of literature. Ellison defines the character of the Invisible Man through literary, Biblical,
Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus" In her poem, “Lady Lazarus,” Sylvia Plath uses dark imagery, disturbing diction, and allusions to shameful historical happenings to create a unique and morbid tone that reflects the necessity of life and death. Although the imagery and diction and allusions are all dark and dreary, it seems that the speaker’s attitude towards death is positive. The speaker longs for death, and despises the fact the she is continually raised up out of it. From the title, Plath
a comparison to his own time, he wrote the song "Children's Crusade" about these scheming, power-hungry people. Both these poets describe a war in which children were abused, controlled by other's selfish wants. Although Sting mainly uses strong allusions to describe the soldiers' loss of innocence, Owen's poem uses jarring, tangible images of reality that are emotionally more universal. As in other effective poetry, Sting uses strong language to convey the world's cruelty toward the innocent.
person may be tempted to cheat their diet and eat a fun-sized candy because “it won’t hurt,” in life people cheat and make things out of lust or irrationality which ends up harming them. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses dialogues and allusions to show that when ambitions are achieved through irrational decisions and betrayal they can lead to an undesired life. Irrational decisions can lead to a life of misery, and this is something Hansberry elaborates on through the use of dialogue showing
be trying to write an intelligent story of romance, bettered by its literary self-awareness. She fails on both counts. Winspear appears to recognize that more valued literature tends to involve symbolism and allusions to other works. It seems she is trying to use archetypes and allusions in her own novel, but her references to alternate literature and culture are embarrassingly obvious and awkward. Another inter-literary connection, though, is more difficult to notice unless the book is pondered
displayed predominantly throughout the entire book. The author of this novel, Joseph Conrad, features this theme by using different literary devices. In Conrad's novel, he uses the literary elements of symbolism, figurative language, and Biblical allusions to demonstrate the theme of human depravity when removed from civilization. The author uses the literary element of symbolism to demonstrate the theme of human depravity when removed from civilization. In particular, Kurtz's painting of
A graphic novel is a story that actually has something to say, it means something, and/or it is nonfictional. It is set up like a comic but has more detail. A graphic novel is different form cartoon comics because it does not have the cartoon look and feel to it. A graphic novel is different form comic books and comic strips because even though it looks similar, it is different in the fact that this graphic novel is based on true events. Who is Alison Bechdel? Is she the author? Is she the main character
In many classic novels, authors use biblical allusions to highlight a certain character or situation. By using biblical allusions, authors can help the reader better understand what it is that they want to convey through their literary work. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding utilizes symbolism of places and characters to allude to the Bible. Out of the many references, four significant biblical allusions – title of the novel, Simon, beast, and the island itself – emphasize Golding’s
and most often the Bible. One may ask themselves the reasoning behind allusions and how it can affect our perspective and the authors meaning when reading the novel. In the late sixties, Julia Kristeve, who studied the elements of literature and other communication systems, introduced the word “Intertextuality”. In Kristave’s essay “Word, Dialogue, and Novel” she went into deep analysis of an authors work and its text, “A literary work, then, is not simply the product of a single author, but of its
of man overreaching his biblical passivity through playing God, her response acting as a cautionary tale to scientists during the Industrial Revolution. The monsters belief that ‘I ought to be thy Adam but instead I am thy fallen angel’ is a literary allusion to Milton’s Paradise Lost, perpetuating Shelley’s admonitory of man’s desires as Victor’s monster and Satan are ‘irrevocably excluded’ from compassion, unlike their creators. Comparatively Roy is the ‘meteor from heaven, metaphorically aligning
as an intelligent, mentally independent being part of the upper class, but at the same time, an arrogant "liberal humanist snob" (Radhakrishna Rao, www.freshlimesoda.com/reviews/thecollector.html). The use and lack of several literary techniques, point of view, allusion, and Heraclitian philosophies encourages this intended response I hold towards Miranda. Fowles' various writing techniques promoted the interpretation that Clegg is part of the lower class and as a result is a victim of the