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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: The Desert
Explanation and Analysis—Don Quixote:
One of the Walls family’s cats is named Quixote. This allusion to Don Quixote, the 1605 novel by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, is presumably intentional; after all, the Walls family is exceptionally well-read. A pivotal childhood scene describes an altercation between Dad and Quixote:
For comfort, I tried to cradle Quixote, our gray and white cat who was missing an ear, but he growled and scratched at my face. “Quiet, Quixote!” I said.
“Cats don’t like to travel,” Mom explained.
Anyone who didn’t like to travel wasn’t invited on our adventure, Dad said. He stopped the car, grabbed Quixote by the scruff of the neck, and tossed him out the window. Quixote landed with a screeching meow and a thud, Dad accelerated up the road, and I burst into tears.
“Don’t be so sentimental,” Mom said.
This interaction establishes the Walls parents’ unconventional attitude toward adventure, which toes the line between thrilling and irresponsible. It’s worth noting that the titular character of Don Quixote is known for his madness, which makes him both noble and ridiculous at the same time. Alluding to Don Quixote in this scene shows how the Mom and Dad aren’t all that different from him. They, too, have a life outlook that borders on delusion, and their thrill-seeking, nomadic lifestyle threatens the boundary between what’s admirable and what’s indefensible.
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Part 3: Welch
Explanation and Analysis—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:
When discussing her reading habits, Jeannette alludes to the Nolan family from Betty Smith’s 1943 semi-autobiographical novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:
I thought Francie Nolan and I were practically identical, except that she had lived fifty years earlier in Brooklyn and her mother always kept the house clean. Francie Nolan’s father sure reminded me of Dad. If Francie saw the good in her father, even though most people considered him a shiftless drunk, maybe I wasn’t a complete fool for believing in mine. Or trying to believe in him. It was getting harder.
Jeannette’s identification with Francie Nolan, who loves and admires her father in spite of his alcoholism, shows her increasing awareness of her family’s dysfunction, but also her persistent hope.
It’s significant that while Lori opts for fantasy and science fiction, Jeannette prefers realistic stories of everyday hardship like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. In a way, this preference represents a turn away from the fantastical, fable-like narratives Dad has always told about himself. Stories are still a way for Jeannette to make sense of the world and her place in it, but she no longer needs them to be exaggerated and populated by characters who are purely evil or purely heroic. Jeannette’s interest in realistic stories also foreshadows her career as a journalist and memoirist who longs to know what’s “really going on.”
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Explanation and Analysis—The Wizard of Oz:
As the Walls children begin to plan their escape from Welch to New York City, they pool their money in a piggy bank, which they bestow with a name that alludes to The Wizard of Oz:
Oz had no plugged hole on the bottom, and the slot on the top was too narrow to work bills out, even if you used a knife, so once you’d put money into Oz, it stayed there. We tested it to make sure. We couldn’t count the money, but because Oz was translucent, we could see our cash accumulating inside when we held him up to the light.
The name “Oz” suggests that a life away from their parents seems fantastical to the children, like something out of a storybook. New York City becomes a place Jeannette and her siblings imagine and romanticize; like Dorothy and her companions with Oz, the Walls children believe traveling to New York will offer them the solution to their life problems. Although the Walls children have become disillusioned with the false promises of their parents, they have replaced these old dreams with “Glass Castles” of their own—idealistic goals that push them to strive toward a better version of life.
Related Themes:
