One of the good things about the English language is the fact that it is very equipped. As a writer, you have a variety of tools and devices at your exposal to help you manipulate your ideas and come up with great content. I know you are probably asking yourself, “Am I the only one who doesn’t have these so-called tools and devices at my exposal?” Of course, you have to do a bit of searching to find them. But I’ll save you from all that hassle and tell you about allusion as a literary device. What is allusion?

The definition of allusion

Allusion is a literary device in which an object or circumstance (or situation) from an unrelated context is referred to indirectly. Some writers may simply define allusion as a reference to something else. Usually, when using allusion, the writer does not expand more on the connection between the idea or object he is alluding to and the context of his or her content. The readers are left to make the connection on their own. The following sentence is an example of allusion in use.

If it were not for a Good Samaritan to scare away the thugs, I would have been mugged in the alley.

That sentence alludes to the biblical story of the Good Samaritan.

Pandora’s box (used to allude to something that causes problems)

Struck by Cupid (used to allude to the act of falling in love. Cupid is the god of love in Greek mythology)

Romeo (used to allude to a romantic male character. Romeo is a character from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet)

Scrooge (used to allude to someone who is greedy or does not enjoy Christmas. Ebenezer Scrooge is the protagonist in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)

Catch-22 (used to allude to a very tough situation that has no possible solution. Catch-22 is from Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22)

Now let’s take a look at the pronunciation of the word allusion. This is usually a tricky part for most writers when learning a new word. Some writers may even still wrongly pronounce a word they learned a very long time ago. It’s important that you get the pronunciation right, just like the definition. Allusion is pronounced as “uh-loo-zhn.”

Examples of allusion

Some examples of allusion include:

My school headteacher is he who must not be named. (Voldemort from the Harry Potter series)

We have an Einstein in our class. (Albert Einstein)

Today might be the Ides of March. (Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar)

I wish I could just click my heels. (The Wizard of Oz)

Her smile is like kryptonite to me. (Superman’s weakness)

The following are biblical allusions and their general contexts:

A snake (Serpent, Satan)

An apple (The tree of knowledge, temptation)

Betrayal (Judas)

Fraternal competition or sibling rivalry (Abel and Cain)

Generosity or philanthropy (The Good Samaritan)

Wisdom (King Solomon)

Righteousness, purity (Jesus Christ)

Physical strength (Samson)

Physical enormity (Goliath)

Stubbornness (King Pharaoh)

Types of allusion

External allusion

In this type of allusion, the writer refers to something that is outside his work (or content).

Internal allusion

In this type of allusion, the writer refers to something they’ve captured in their work (or content).

Sources

literarydevices.net/allusion/

https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/allusion