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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
Prologue: At Rome
Explanation and Analysis—No Wigwams:
In the Prologue, Cather makes an allusion to James Fenimore Cooper's romanticized Western fiction to correct stereotypical views of Native Americans. As Allande and Ferrand speak about sending Latour to New Mexico, Allande gently chides the other priest for his ideas about the Southwest’s indigenous population:
The Bishop shook his head. “No, I can’t promise you—I do not know. I have noticed that he is a man of severe and refined tastes, but he is very reserved. Down there the Indians do not dwell in wigwams, your Eminence,” he added gently.
"No matter, Father. I see [them] through Fenimore Cooper, and I like them so. Now let us go to the terrace for our coffee and watch the evening come on.”
Cather makes a tongue-in-cheek allusion here to a writer she disliked and was often compared to, James Fenimore Cooper. Ferrand's understanding of "Indians" is based on the romanticized and often racist portrayal of Native Americans in Western fiction, something Cooper's novels were known for. These portrayals often reduced Native Americans to simplistic and stereotypical characters, like dime-novel villains or uncivilized children. Cather hated this tendency and actively tried to disrupt these images in her own writing. Allande's dismissive response echoes the persistence of these stereotypes: he does not want to have his ideas about indigenous people changed, as he "likes them so." Imagining Native populations as inferior beings was a common tactic people used to justify occupying land and imposing their religion on other countries and peoples.
Allande's attempt to gently correct Ferrand's stereotype emphasizes the disparity between Cather's nuanced portrayal of the Southwest and the one-dimensional depictions found in a lot of other Western novels. Allande states that the Native population of New Mexico “do not dwell in wigwams” and implies that their lives are far more complex than the romanticized stereotypes from Cooper’s novels. In doing so, he challenges Ferrand's preconceived notions and encourages a more accurate and respectful understanding of the indigenous people.
Related Themes:
Book 1: The Bishop Chez Lui
Explanation and Analysis—Kit Carson:
In the chapter “The Bishop Chez Lui” Cather makes an allusion to the legendary American frontiersman and guide, Kit Carson, highlighting his role as a real historical figure and providing context for the character's significance in the narrative. Latour, despairing about the lack of information available to him about the geography of his diocese, plaintively asks:
Does anyone know the extent of this diocese, or of this territory? The Commandant at the Fort seems as much in the dark as I. He says I can get some information from the scout, Kit Carson, who lives at Taos.
Kit Carson was a well-known historical figure in the American West during the 19th century. He was particularly renowned for his expertise in navigating the mountains and deserts of the region. This made him a valuable and sought-after guide for various expeditions, including those of figures like John C. Frémont, one of the major early "explorers" of the American West. Carson's reputation as a scout and wilderness expert extended to the point where he became a famous cultural figure in his own right, with comics and dime novels written about his “adventures.”
Carson's legacy, however, is also marked by cruelty and controversy. While he is still celebrated for his skills and contributions to Western exploration, he was also involved in the brutal forced relocation of the Navajo people. In 1864 he presided over a forced 300-mile march to an internment camp, known as the "Long Walk to Bosque Redondo.” Many Navajos did not survive this genocidal displacement, and more died of starvation and disease when they arrived at their new location.
By alluding to Kit Carson in the context of Father Latour seeking information about the diocese and territory, Cather adds a sense of realism to the novel, blending real historical figures with her fictional version of the Catholic community.
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Book 3: The Rock
Explanation and Analysis—Ácoma Rock:
Latour uses a metaphor and an allusion to reflect on the significance of the Ácoma rock, which represents permanence, identity, and community for the people who live on it:
The rock, when one came to think of it, was the utmost expression of human need; even mere feeling yearned for it; it was the highest comparison of loyalty and love and friendship. Christ Himself had used that comparison for the disciple to whom he gave the keys of His Church. And the Hebrews of the Old Testament, always being carried captive into foreign lands,—their rock was an idea of God, the only thing their conquerors could not take from them.
The metaphor Cather uses here is multi-layered. She depicts the “rock” as a symbol of permanence and identity for the Ácoma people: essentially, it’s the physical embodiment of the Ácoma community’s spirit. This metaphor highlights the rock's deep-rootedness and quality of unyieldingness. It also mirrors the steadfastness and resilience of the people who live upon it. Additionally, the rock serves as a larger metaphor for the land contested during the Mexican-American War. It reflects the struggles over territory and the disruptions faced by the Native communities of that contested area. It takes on an additional significance in this context, as something unshakeable and enduring amidst turmoil and change.
Furthermore, Latour also makes two significant biblical allusions here. Just as Christ referred to Peter as the "rock" upon which he would build his church in the Christian Bible, the Ácoma rock is the foundation of community for the people who live on and around it. This allusion adds a spiritual dimension to the metaphor. Cather suggests a parallel between the steadfast faith represented by Peter and the enduring strength of the Ácoma rock. Latour also references the Hebrews in the Old Testament, for whom the idea of God was their "rock," an unassailable part of their identity that could not be taken from them even in captivity. This adds yet another layer to the metaphor. In manifold ways, the Ácoma rock is a symbol of spiritual endurance and unyielding belief.
Related Themes:
Book 9: Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Father Latour's Garden:
Father Latour has created a lush and beautiful garden by the time “death comes for” him. Cather makes an allusion to biblical gardens and the philosophy of the 17th-century monk Blaise Pascal to describe Father Latour's gardening philosophy:
Father Latour’s recreation was his garden. He grew such fruit as was hardly to be found even in the old orchards of California; cherries and apricots, apples and quinces, and the peerless pears of France—even the most delicate varieties. He urged the new priests to plant fruit trees wherever they went, and to encourage the Mexicans to add fruit to their starchy diet. Wherever there was a French priest, there should be a garden of fruit trees and vegetables and flowers. He often quoted to his students that passage from their fellow Auvergnat, Pascal: that Man was lost and saved in a garden.
The allusion to biblical gardens that Cather makes here carries profound religious and symbolic significance, tying the Bishop’s hobby of gardening to his work as a missionary.
The Garden of Eden, in the Bible, is the paradise where Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with nature before their disobedience led to the Fall of Man and the beginning of humanity’s troubles. In contrast, the Garden of Gethsemane is the site where Jesus Christ experienced intense agony and prayer before his arrest and crucifixion. It’s a place of suffering, struggle, and submission to God's will in the New Testament. Given this, in the Bible humanity's fall and redemption are closely associated with gardens. Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden led to their expulsion, while Jesus' agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane marks the point where he submits to his own death to save humanity from Hell. By alluding to these biblical gardens, Cather suggests that Father Latour's gardening is much more than a way to pass the time. It’s a spiritual endeavor linked to redemption and self-understanding.
Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician and philosopher born in 1623, and his Christian writings (collected as Pensées, which means “thoughts”) was published after his death in about 1670. This allusion to Pascal's philosophy underscores the idea that nature can be an effective medium through which people can relate to the teachings of Christianity. Pascal believed that contemplating the natural world could lead to a deeper understanding of both God and one's own existence. Father Latour's obsession with cultivating gardens and nurturing fruit trees aligns with Pascal's philosophy, as he sees the act of gardening as a means of connecting with the divine and ensuring spiritual nourishment.
Related Themes:
Book 9: Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Holy Family:
As he reminisces about a favorite story involving Father Junipero, Latour ponders the ways in which rural Mexican life can reflect Christian ideas. As he muses, he employs metaphors and allusions to convey the concept of “greatness returning to simplicity”:
There is always something charming in the idea of greatness returning to simplicity—the queen making hay among the country girls—but how much more endearing was the belief that They, after so many centuries of history and glory, should return to play Their first parts, in the persons of a humble Mexican family, the lowliest of the lowly, the poorest of the poor,—in a wilderness at the end of the world, where the angels could scarcely find Them!
The allusion Cather makes here links the humble Mexican family Junipero describes to the biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus. In the Bible, Mary and Joseph of Nazareth—Jesus’s parents—were forced to seek shelter in a cattle-shed when they had nowhere else to go. Junipero reportedly saw this reproduced in the situation of the poor Mexican family, when its charming child drew the sign of the cross upon his forehead.
The idea that the Son of God was born and lived among humans and animals in a stable is an important part of Jesus Christ’s human origin story for priests like Junipero and Latour. The duality of holiness and humbleness that the Bible describes Jesus as embodying is an important part of Christian doctrine. Further, Latour explains his meaning more explicitly through using an additional metaphor. He describes the notion that it would be “charming” to see a queen participating in peasant work, as it would be an important person displaying humility. He is pleased and amused by the idea of the Holy Family “returning” as a Mexican family in the same way.
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