LITERARY DEVICES.......Part 1

Allegory............

Allegory Definition

Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events. It can be employed in prose and poetry to tell a story, with a purpose of teaching or explaining an idea or a principle. The objective of its use is to teach some kind of a moral lesson.

Examples of Allegory in Literature

 Animal Farm (By George Orwell)

Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is an allegory that uses animals on a farm to describe the overthrow of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WW I. The actions of the animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the revolution. It also describes how powerful people can change the ideology of a society. One of the cardinal rules on the farm is this:

“All animals are equal but a few are more equal than others.”

The animals on the farm represent different sections of Russian society after the revolution.
For instance, the pigs represent those who came to power following the revolution; “Mr. Jones,” the owner of the farm, represents the overthrown Tsar Nicholas II; while “Boxer” the horse, represents the laborer class. The use of allegory in the novel allows Orwell to make his position clear about the Russian Revolution and expose its evils.

 Faerie Queen (By Edmund Spenser)

Faerie Queen, a masterpiece of Edmund Spenser, is a moral and religious allegory.
The good characters of book stand for the various virtues, while the bad characters represent vices. “The Red-Cross Knight” represents holiness, and “Lady Una” represents truth, wisdom, and goodness. Her parents symbolize the human race. The “Dragon,” which has imprisoned them, stands for evil.
The mission of holiness is to help the truth fight evil, and thus regain its rightful place in the hearts of human beings. “The Red-Cross Knight” in this poem also represents the reformed church of England, fighting against the “Dragon,” which stands for the Papacy or the Catholic Church.

Function of Allegory

Writers use allegory to add different layers of meanings to their works. Allegory makes their stories and characters multidimensional, so that they stand for something larger in meaning than what they literally stand for. Allegory allows writers to put forward their moral and political points of view. A careful study of an allegorical piece of writing can give us an insight into its writer’s mind, how he views the world, and how he wishes the world to be.

ALLUSION ...............

Definition

Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text.

Allusion Examples in Everyday Speech..

“Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” – “Romeo” is a reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet, in “Romeo and Juliet”.

In Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, “the two knitting women” whom Marlow sees alludes to “Moirae” or Fates as visualized in Greek Mythology:

“The two knitting women increase his anxiety by gazing at him and all the other sailors with knowing unconcern. Their eerie looks suggest that they know what will happen (the men dying), yet don’t care”

The thread they knit represents human life. The two women knitting black wool foreshadows Marlow’s horrific journey in the “Dark Continent”.



CLIMAX.........

 The decisive moment in a drama the ______ is the turning point of the play to which the rising action leads. This is the crucial part of the drama the part which determines the outcome of the conflict.
Climax, a Greek term meaning “ladder,” is that particular point in a narrative at which the conflict or tension hits the highest point. Climax is a structural part of a plot, and is at times referred to as a “crisis.” It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action. Thus, a climax is the point at which a conflict or crisis reaches its peak, then calls for a resolution or denouement (conclusion). In a five-act play, the climax is close to the conclusion of act 3. Later in the 19th century, five-act plays were replaced by three-act plays, and the climax was placed close to the conclusion or at the end of the play.

 EXAMPLE.........

The Heart of Darkness (By Joseph Conrad)

In Joseph Conrad’s novel The Heart of Darkness, the narrative reaches its climax when Marlowe starts his journey in his steam boat, in the direction of the inner station, and his final discovery upon reaching the station and meeting “Kurtz.” He was shocked to discover that Kurtz had abandoned all norms and morals of his civilization, after giving in to the savage customs of the wild Congo. Following this point in the novel, the mystery surrounding Kurtz is unfolded, and the questions in the mind of Marlow find their answers automatically when he sees the real situation.