The most compelling and significant features within a novel typically arent bluntly stated or connected with other

significant components of the novel in an obvious manner. Good books dont give up all of their secrets at once (Stephen King). A common way that authors incorporate important details or parts of their overall message is by use of allusions. Allusions are literary devices that reference places, other literary works, famous or historical people, or events without directly stating them. Authors incorporate the use of allusions to allow the reader to interpret occurrences within the novel for themselves and it gives the author options to extend their messages or other metaphors. Many authors, such as Ghassan Kanafani and Ken Kesey, also include allusions in their works to give the reader a way to relate to the characters and the plot within literature. The allusions in the popular works of Ghassan Kanafani and Ken Kesey are used to enhance the meaning through the text of the works, give insight to characterization, and to establish relatable connections to the reader to purposely convey significant messages. In Ghassan Kanafanis Men in the Sun, allusions are used to express a greater message within seemingly meaningless components of the novel and to create connections with its audience. In the novella, three determined Palestinian men desperately race against the heat to reach opportunity in Kuwait by means of a water tank. However, the men perish before they complete their journey to Kuwait due to suffocation from being in the lorry. Assad expresses the intensity of the water tank when he places his head within it and states, its on fire (Kanafani 57). Kanafani intended to allude to water and fire, but to more specifically allude to the fact that water gives life and fire destroys it (Men). By connecting the journey to water and fire, the story is enhanced with a deeper meaning and the travel as a whole can be represented as water and fire. The water tank is fire because it ironically represents the destruction of opportunity and death, and the road itself represents water because it is symbolic of the path to a new life. Through this

allusion, the reader is able to understand the message that Kanafani conveys specifically to the voyage and the symbolism intertwined within it, which is the struggle between life and death, alluded to as water and fire. The fact that the water tank caused the three voyaging men to perish, it can be assumed that Kanafani intended to allude to the Quran as well. The Quran states, Those who are immortal in the Fire and are given boiling water to drink so that it teareth their bowels (Quran 47:15). This is symbolic of the fact that water is associated with death, like in the novella. By incorporating the Quran, the author is able to extend the story to a larger audience with the familiarity of an important religious text. Kanafani incorporates the use of allusions to emphasize reoccurring themes within the story and to make the characters travel comprehendible in terms of determining what his purpose is in utilizing a journey within the novella by also including the Quran. The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, written by Ken Kesey, describes the antics of several patients in a mental ward lead by a strict and castrating nurse from the perspective of a patient, Chief Bromden. Chief Bromden pays special attention to a rambunctious addition to the ward, R.P. McMurphy, who challenges the existing authoritative structure within the hospital and commits rebellious actions with his boisterous personality. At one point in the novel, Chief Bromden notes that McMurphy has tattoos on each shoulder [one] is a poker hand fanned out across his muscleaces and eights (Kesey 77). It is also noted that Bromden can only see part of the tattoo: two aces and two eights. At first glance, many people overlook the fact that Kesey had just incorporated an important allusion. The aces and eights represent a hand that can be played in poker called the Dead Mans Hand, which consists of at least two aces, at least two eights, and the fifth card is unknown. This legendary poker hand is infamous because of Wild Bill Hickok who was murdered on August 2, 1876 with two aces, two eights and an unknown fifth card in his

hand, giving its name the Dead Mans Hand (Wild). Being a gambler, it is only appropriate that Kesey incorporates the allusion of the Dead Mans Hand in the novel because it gives the reader more insight to McMurphys personality. By having a tattoo, let alone a tattoo of a poker hand, it is revealed the McMurphy is very free-minded, independent, and aimless and he has a wandering lifestyle (Lamont). This allusion is important not only because a huge part of McMuphys persona is emitted, but also because of that fact that Wild Bill Hickok is an infamous historical figure that many people know and have learned about. Readers are also able to associate themselves more with the plot because they can be familiar with the historical figure that was incorporated into the novel, especially with McMurphy, which is important in order to understand his later choice of actions and the fact that the allusion foreshadows his death. Allusions are either interpreted immediately or are completely missed altogether or misconstrued when reading. However, many novels wouldnt have the deeper meaning and significance that they have without allusions because of how they enhance the importance of works. These literary devices can be extremely crucial in making substantial connections that make understanding the importance and the message of authors works more interesting and relatable for the reader. They are also crucial in understanding the personalities that characters are given that give insight to why they say and do certain things. Allusions allow the author to be as powerful and flexible with the interpretation possibilities that are to be produced by the reader and to enhance the integrity and comprehension of the message that authors strive to convey.

Works Cited Kanafani, Ghassan. Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories. London. Heinemann, 1982. Print. Kesey, Ken. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print. Lamont, George. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Novel Study Unit Key." Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://members.fortunecity.com/dorge/cuckooky.htm>. Quran: The Final Testament [Authorized English Version]. Trans.

Rashad Khalifa. Rev. III ed. Fremont: Universal Unity, 2001. Print. "Men in the Sun." The Ken. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://trippingabout.blogspot.com/2010/05/men-in-sun.html>. "Wild Bill Hickok Biography." Biography.com. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. <http://www.biography.com/people/wild-bill-hickok-40262>.