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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
Part 2
Explanation and Analysis—New Deal :
After George and Lennie arrive at the ranch in Salinas, California, they meet Candy, an aging handyman, and The Boss, the superintendent of the ranch. In this scene, Steinbeck alludes to employment policies and schemes established during the New Deal, a series of programs and public works projects enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the aim of stabilizing the economy after the Great Depression. Annoyed that George and Lennie have arrived a day late, the Boss states that:
“I wrote Murray and Ready I wanted two men this morning. You got your work slips?” George reached into his pocket and produced the slips and handed them to the boss. “It wasn’t Murray and Ready’s fault. Says right here on the slip that you was to be here for work this morning.”
George looked down at his feet. “Bus driver give us a bum steer,” he said. “We hadda walk ten miles. Says we was here when we wasn’t. We couldn’t get no rides in the morning.”
The boss squinted his eyes.
The boss notes that he had written to “Murray and Ready” requesting two laborers who would be ready for work that morning. Here, Steinbeck alludes to Murray and Ready, one of several employment agencies contracted by the government during the Great Depression to help direct laborers to employers as part of the employment programs under the New Deal. Further, Steinbeck alludes to “work slips,” or the employment cards given to laborers as a sign of legitimacy. These allusions help to embed the narrative in its historical context.
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Part 4
Explanation and Analysis—Lynching:
While Candy, Lennie, and Crooks chat in the barn, discussing their plans for the future and their hopes of living on their own farm, they are interrupted by Curley’s wife. When they rebuff her attempts to join their conversation, she threatens Crooks that she could get him “strung up on a tree,” a dark allusion to the lynchings of African Americans that marked rural America in the early and mid-20th century:
“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny."
Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego–nothing to arouse either like or dislike. He said, "Yes, ma'am," and his voice was toneless [...] Crooks sat perfectly still, his eyes averted, everything that might be hurt drawn in. She turned at last to the other two.
Old Candy was watching her, fascinated. "If you was to do that, we'd tell," he said quietly. "We'd tell about you framin' Crooks."
After Crooks demands that Curley’s wife leave the barn, which also serves as his bedroom, she threatens him cruelly. Here, Steinbeck alludes to lynching, a form of extrajudicial killing carried out by a mob. In the early 20th century, African Americans were often the target of lynchings by groups of white Americans. Recognizing the seriousness of her threat, Crooks becomes passive and obedient as a form of self-defense. Candy insists that if Curley’s wife makes some false accusations against Crooks, he would tell everyone the truth, but Curley’s wife retorts that nobody would believe him, as he is just a poor laborer. This scene, then, with its allusion to lynching, reflects the broader social hierarchies that marked the setting of the novella.
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Part 6
Explanation and Analysis—The Fat of the Land :
At various points in the novella when George and Lennie talk about their plans for the future, Lennie uses an idiom, “the fat of the land,” which is itself an allusion to the Bible. In the final scene of the story, for example, when George comforts Lennie by talking about their future dreams despite knowing that he must kill Lennie to spare him from the mob, Lennie again repeats this idiom:
“Go on,” said Lennie. “How’s it gonna be. We gonna get a little place.”
“We’ll have a cow,” said George. “An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . little piece alfalfa——”
“For the rabbits,” Lennie shouted.
“For the rabbits,” George repeated.
“And I get to tend the rabbits.”
“An’ you get to tend the rabbits.”
Lennie giggled with happiness. “An’ live on the fatta the lan’.”
“Yes.” Lennie turned his head.
This idiom, “the fat of the land,” means to have the very best that life can offer. This idiom stems from a phrase used in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. In the Biblical story, the Egyptian Pharaoh uses this phrase in offering some of the finest land in the nation to Joseph, a trusted advisor. Here, Lennie’s allusion to this Biblical phrase, which had entered into common English as an idiom, suggests that he dreams of living a life of prosperity without struggle or toil.
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