Allusions+In+Books

Allusions In Books

__ Animal Farm __ //Animal Farm// is a novel written by George Orwell that alludes to Stallinistic Communism. In the novel, the animals revolt and run the farmer off the farm. They then rename it "Animal Farm". Two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, are the leaders of the farm for the most part. They set up what the call "The Seven Commandments of Animalism" and at first, everything on the farm runs smoothly. However as time goes on, the struggle for power between Snowball and Napoleon becomes more and more of a battle. Also, the pigs slowly took away powers from the other animals, just as the Communists did the to people of the Soviet Union, until the animals were basically enslaved to the pigs. The farm which was once meant to be equal turned into the furthest thing from it. Something very similar happened with Communism in the Soviet Union when Joseph Stalin was the leader.

__ ﻿A Series of Unfortunate Events __ //A Series of Unfortunate Events// is a book series written by Lemony Snicket. The books are about just what they sound like; a series of unfortunate events that happen to three siblings, starting with the death of the parents. The first book in the series is full of several allusions. To name a few, there is the name of the children. They are the Baudelair Orphans, which alludes to the French poet Charles Baudelair. His life, like those of the children, consisted of several financial and personal disasters. Not just the last name, but also the first names of the children are allusions. The two youngest children are named Klaus and Sunny. These names allude to Claus von Bulow and is wife, Sunny. Claus von Bulow was found guilty of injecting his wife with a deadly insulin cocktail. The oldest child's name, Violet, alludes to a myriad of unfortunate things. Violet Sharpe was a suspect in the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Vio let Nozière was a murderer. Finally, a violet ray was a medical device used in the 20th century based on technology by Nikolas Tesla, Violet's favorite inventor.

﻿ __ Harry Potter __ //Harry Potter// is another book series. It was written by J.K. Rowling. This series, too, contains hundreds, if not thousands, of allusions. For those of you who don't know, //Harry Potter// is about children who go to "Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" to learn to become witches and wizards. To begin with, all of the spells are allusions. For example, the summoning charm, "Accio" is Latin for "I summon". A spell used to unlock doors is called "Alohomora". In Hawaiian "Aloha" means goodbye and the Latin word "mora" means obstacle. "Levicorpus" is a spell that suspends one's body into midair. In Latin, "levi" means "to raise" and "corpus" means "body". In additions to spells, there are still several other allusions in //Harry Potter.// For example, "Azkaban" is a prison for witches and wizards in //Harry Potter.// This sounds very similar to the famous prison located in California, "Alcatraz". Also, //A Series of Unfortunate Events// are not the only books in which the names of the characters are allusions. "Harry" for example, is an allusions to the great magician, "Harry Houdini".

__ ﻿Twilight __ //Twilight// is a series of four books by Stephenie Meyers. It is about a girl, Bella, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward. Again, this series is full of allusions. For example, the cover of the first book is someone holding an apple. This is an allusion to the story of Adam and Eve from //The Bible//. The apple alludes to the forbidden fruit. In Adam and Eve's case, this was literally fruit. For Bella, this is the vampire, Edward, that she falls in love with. In the second book, //New Moon//, Bella spends a lot of time comparing her werewolf best friend, Jacob, to Paris from //Romeo and Juliet// and her vampire boyfriend, Edward, to Romeo. Also, in //Twilight//, Bella compares Edward's vampire mother, Esme, to Snow White because of her fair skin.