Literary Allusions: The Book Thief makes frequent allusions to literary texts, both real and fictional. Throughout the novel, Liesel steals myriad books. Most of these books are fictitious; however, some such as Mein Kampf and The Duden Dictionary and Thesaurus are real.
This quote contains two allusions: A Papist is an allusion to a Roman Catholic, someone who believes in the authority of the Pope; and the Divine Maternity is an allusion to the Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus, a central image in the Christian faith.
Allusions In The Book Thief 1
The book starts with the narrative of Death when he sees the book thief boarding a train adding that he sees him again when he comes to a pilot of a plane likely to crash. It happens again when the bombing takes place. Death observes that the colors such as red, white, or black are surprisingly the colors of the flag of the Nazis too. Following this, the regular narrative begins. Death states that he sees Liesel with his family traveling to Munich when her brother, Werner breathes his last at which they stop the train and bury the body. It happens there that Liesel commits the act of stealing the book from one of the gravediggers, though, it does not stop the family journey and they reach Molching. Then Hans and Rosa take Liesel as their daughter, and her new journey of life starts with her new foster parents.
The following is a list of allusions to other My Little Pony generations, works of fiction, people, places, events, and other cultural touchstones in the series My Little Pony Friendship is Magic storybooks. Entries on this page must follow the similarity guidelines.
[(essay date March-June 1983) In the following essay, Cheney outlines Poe's reversal of biblical and Shakespearean allusions in "The Masque of the Red Death," highlighting Poe's depiction of Prince Prospero as an antihero and the Red Death as an antichrist.]
In "The Masque of the Red Death" Poe's allusions to both The Tempest and the Bible have been widely recognized. Briefly, the allusions to The Tempest include Poe's use of "Prospero" for his hero's name; his use of the romance "masque" for his story's central event; and his borrowing of Caliban's curse of the "red plague" on Miranda for his story's central idea. Poe's allusions to the Bible include his remarks about the Red Death itself: that the Red Death "out-Heroded Herod"; that he "came like a thief in the night"; and that in the end he has "dominion" over all. As yet, though, no one has examined the relation between these two sets of allusions, as they contribute to the narrative and meaning of the story.1
In this essay I suggest that Poe in "The Masque of the Red Death" uses Shakespearean and Biblical allusions to reveal a tragic and ironic reversal of a mythic pattern which The Tempest and the Bible have in common. Where the mythic pattern of both The Tempest and the Bible depicts man's victory over sin, death, and time, Poe's mythic pattern depicts the triumph of these agents of destruction over man. In Poe's "mythic parable" of man's role in the universe,2 Prince Prospero becomes an anti-hero, an image of man misusing his will as he attempts to shape reality; and the Red Death becomes an "anti-christ," an image of the cosmic force conspiring man's failure.
Final Fantasy IX was intended, in many ways, to be a salute to the history of the Final Fantasy series, and as such, it is filled with allusions and references to previous games. One of the most apparent is the similarity of the playable characters to the classic job classes of previous games, most notably Vivi to the Black Mage of the original Final Fantasy.
Being the ninth installment of the series, Final Fantasy IX makes some references to the number itself. Although these are not necessarily deliberate allusions to the number 9 (whether they are or not is speculative), they are nonetheless present.
Percy Jackson is the protagonist, and the antagonist shifts throughout the book. Hades, Luke Castellan, and Kronos are all primary antagonists, with minor antagonists like the Furies and other monsters making an appearance.
Percy begins the novel by explaining that he did not ask for everything that happened to him, and warns readers that being a half-blood is scary and dangerous, so if they have reason to believe they are one, they should shut this book right away. This warning foreshadows the misadventures to come.
The events in this book parallel many of the events and stories that happened in ancient mythology, as Percy undergoes the kind of hero quest that heroes like Hercules and Odysseus underwent before him.
Many non-human creatures are given humanlike emotions and the ability to speak in this book, most notably the circus animals that Percy and his friends encounter on their drive to Las Vegas in chapter 16. The zebra in the car can speak to Percy through his mind because Percy is the son of the god who brought horses into the world.
Ruby Rose alludes to the character Little Red Riding Hood[3] from the fairy tale of the same name, which follows Team RWBY's theme of fairy tale allusions. This allusion has had the following influences on the character and show:
Weiss Schnee alludes to the character Snow White from the fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which follows Team RWBY's theme of fairy tale allusions. This allusion has had the following influences on the character and show:
Blake Belladonna alludes to Belle and The Beast from the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, which follows Team RWBY's theme of fairy tale allusions. This allusion has had the following influences on the character and the show:
Yang Xiao Long alludes to Goldilocks[9] from the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which follows Team RWBY's theme of fairy tale allusions. This allusion has had the following influences on the character and the show:
Adam has multiple allusions to him in which he alludes to the Beast, Gaston, and the cursed rose from the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.[42][43][44] His allusion sets him as a reverse version of the Beast - one who truly becomes a monster, like Gaston, beyond Beauty's help and becoming a burden (curse) for her, rather than being redeemed by her.
Fria alludes to the character known as The Fairy with Turquoise Hair (also known as "the Blue Fairy") from Carlo Collodi's 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio, in which she turns Pinocchio into a real boy. Her name also refers to the Norse Goddess, Freya.
In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the Jew who is forced into hiding, Max, is one of the best gift-givers around. He adores Liesel, the foster daughter of the family who has agreed to care for him, and the first present he gives her is a homemade book called The Standover Man. Liesel loves books (she is the book thief after all!), but the best part is that the book demonstrates how much Max cares for her.
The second gift is much like the first. Again, Max creates something special out of nothing for young Liesel. Created on his sketchbook, the book is a collection of sketches and storyline that speak about Max and Liesel's friendship and the rise of Hitler because of the power in words.
By the time this gift comes to light, Max has left the Hubermanns' house, and Liesel is absolutely missing him. Passed on to Rosa Hubermann for safekeeping, this book, The Word Shaker, was hidden in a mattress until Liesel 'was ready.' Rosa waited until Christmas.
When Liesel looks over the pages of the sketchbook that houses The Word Shaker, she sees many sketches, stories, and recollections - of her friend Rudy's track meets, a snowman, a list of presents, and details of the nights by the fire in the basement.
Bridge of Clay is a book with an incredibly strong beating heart. The blood that runs through this book are the Dunbar boys. When the patriarch and matriarch of the family leave the Dunbar boys, it is up to the family left behind to pick up the pieces and help to return to some sort of order. As the boys learn to negotiate the adult world, one brother stands above the others. Clay Dunbar is the peacemaker, he helps to build a bridge. This bridge has many connotations, but most of all it will help to bring together a family fractured by mistakes, pain and loss.
I felt very fortunate to receive an advanced readers copy of Bridge of Clay from the publisher, Pan Macmillan. In late November, I attended an evening with Markus Zusak here in Perth, where I was able to get my copy of Bridge of Clay personally signed. Listening to Markus Zusak discuss his writing approach and the book itself was enlightening. It definitely added an extra layer to my reading experience. It helped me to understand just what Zusak intended for this book and the painstaking journey to finally bring it to publication.
I will say straight up that this book made me work hard. As an avid bookworm, I strive to push myself further with the books I select to read. Bridge of Clay is going down as one book that challenged me and pushed me outside the realms of my reading existence. I recommend that you do set a good block of uninterrupted reading time aside for Bridge of Clay. This perhaps explains my own delay in reading this book almost three months after its official release. I personally chose to save it for the school holidays, where I had plenty of time and a clear head to devote to this tender novel. Bridge of Clay is a challenging, perplexing and enlightening read nonetheless. The structure of this book is something else and put simply, I have not encountered a book like this one before. Time and place converge. The book is epic and expansive, but somehow there is the inherent feeling that every single word expressed on the pages of Bridge of Clay must count for something, if not everything in the overall picture of events. 2ff7e9595c
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