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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
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Philosopher's Stone:
In an ironic scene, Márquez alludes to the philosopher’s stone, a mythical alchemical substance:
José Arcadio Buendía received his errant son with joy and initiated him in the search for the philosopher’s stone, which he had finally undertaken. One afternoon the boys grew enthusiastic over the flying carpet that went swiftly by the laboratory at window level [...] “Let them dream,” he said. “We’ll do better flying than they are doing, and with more scientific resources than a miserable bedspread.” In spite of his feigned interest, José Arcadio never understood the powers of the philosopher’s egg, which to him looked like a poorly blown bottle.
After José Arcadio learns that he has impregnated Pilar Ternera, he withdraws from her company and feigns interest in his father’s projects in alchemy in order to distract himself. In his alchemy lab, José Arcadio Buendía works on developing the philosopher’s stone, a mythical substance which was said to turn base metals into stone and even create an elixir of life which would confer immortality. This allusion to alchemy, then, places José Arcadio Buendía somewhere between a magician and a scientist. However, this allusion is also deeply ironic. José Arcadio Buendía dismisses the flying carpet as a mere trifle, preferring instead his own “scientific” project. However, his experiments have little to do with science, and he is never able to successfully create the stone.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Sir Francis Drake:
Throughout the novel, Márquez alludes to early figures in the colonial history of Latin America. When detailing José Arcadio Buendía’s journey to the area that he will later christen “Macondo,” the novel alludes to various figures in the history of Elizabethan England, a period marked by the nation’s earliest colonial ventures:
José Arcadio Buendía was completely ignorant of the geography of the region. He knew that to the east there lay an impenetrable mountain chain and that on the other side of the mountains there was the ancient city of Riohacha, where in times past—according to what he had been told by the first Aureliano Buendía, his grandfather—Sir Francis Drake had gone crocodile hunting with cannons and that he repaired them and stuffed them with straw to bring to Queen Elizabeth.
Arcadio and the small party who travels with him, including his wife Ursula, begin in the real municipality of Riohacha. Here, the narrator first alludes to Sir Francis Drake and then to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Drake was a prominent figure in England in the late 16th century, leading a major circumnavigation of the world on behalf of the English crown, which took him through South America. In alluding to these figures here, Márquez embeds his narrative in the long history of Latin America, including the earliest stages of its colonization by major European powers. This allusion also reflects the novel’s use of magical realism, as Drake is a real historical figure, though he almost certainly never used cannons to hunt crocodiles, which would be both implausible and impractical.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Nostradamus:
Describing Aureliano during the early years of his adulthood, the narrator alludes to 16th-century French astrologer Nostradamus, who is best known for a series of poems which allegedly prophesy future events:
He was an expert silversmith, praised all over the swampland for the delicacy of his work. In the workshop, which he shared with Melquíades’ mad laboratory, he could barely be heard breathing. He seemed to be taking refuge in some other time, while his father and the gypsy with shouts interpreted the predictions of Nostradamus amidst a noise of flasks and trays and the disaster of spilled acids and silver bromide that was lost in the twists and turns it gave at every instant.
With his characteristic sense of focus, Aureliano works diligently with metal in his workshop until he is an “expert silversmith” whose work is “praised all over the swampland.” At this point in the novel, Aureliano has little interest in the outside world and appears as if he is “taking refuge in some other time,” while his father and Melquíades loudly interpret “the predictions of Nostradamus.” Here, the narration alludes to the prophecies of Nostradamus, which are taken very seriously by Melquíades and José Arcadio Buendía. Through this allusion, the novel contrasts Aureliano’s painstakingly detailed mechanical work with his father’s ambitious but pointless theories, which seem poised between science and magic.
Explanation and Analysis—Francisco the Man:
Shortly after Melquíades returns to Macondo and helps save the town from the amnesia sickness, Francisco the Man, a 200-year-old troubadour, sets up shop in Catarino’s store in order to sing the news he has gathered from beyond the town. In describing this scene, the narrator uses simile and allusion:
The whole town went to listen to him to find out what had happened in the world [...] Aureliano went to Catarino’s store that night. He found Francisco the Man, like a monolithic chameleon, sitting in the midst of a circle of bystanders. He was singing the news with his old, out-of-tune voice, accompanying himself with the same archaic accordion that Sir Walter Raleigh had given him in the Guianas and keeping time with his great walking feet that were cracked from saltpeter.
Francisco the Man weaves news events from the surrounding region into a song, allowing the residents of Macondo to learn what has happened outside of the town for a small fee. Aureliano visits the shop and regards Francisco the Man “like a monolithic chameleon,” a simile that reflects both the man’s great size but also his otherwordly and unusual appearance.
The narrator further notes that, while singing, Francisco also accompanies himself on an “archaic accordion that Sir Walter Raleigh” gave to him. Here, the narration alludes to Walter Raleigh, a prominent English statesmen and explorer of the Elizabethan era, who traveled to South America in order to help establish a colonial presence for the English crown in its competition for territory with Spain. In alluding to Raleigh here, Márquez incorporates real figures from the history of Latin America into his own fantastical tale.
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Walking Memories:
The narrator uses both allusion and personification to characterize the troubled mental state of Rebeca after a significant period of isolation following her banishing form the Buendía household:
[She] moved in an atmosphere of Saint Elmo’s fire, in a stagnant air where one could still note a hidden smell of gunpowder [...] she had found peace in that house where memories materialized through the strength of implacable evocation and walked like human beings through the cloistered rooms. Leaning back in her wicker rocking chair, looking at Colonel Aureliano Buendía as if he were the one who looked like a ghost out of the past, Rebeca was not even upset by the news that the lands usurped by José Arcadio would be returned to their rightful owners.
First, the narrator notes that Rebeca moves as if “in an atmosphere of Saint Elmo’s fire,” alluding to an unusual meteorological condition which is often mistaken for a supernatural phenomenon. This allusion, then, underscores the otherworldly qualities of Rebeca, who is surrounded by her own distinct “atmosphere.” Next, the narrator describes Rebecca’s memories as walking “like human beings through cloistered rooms.” Rebeca’s house, then, is filled with cherished memories that walk around in a distinctly human manner, suggesting that Rebeca is content to live in a world of memories and therefore feels no need to leave the building.
