How Does Bradbury Use Allusions In Literature

Allusions were used sporadically by Bradbury to help the reader use printed word to paint mental images. They can be defined rather simply, as they are merely a reference to a historical or contemporary, person, place, event, or work of literature, but they can help the story flow nonetheless. The first allusion was encountered when Montag approached the woman with books in “The Hearth and the Salamander” and she quoted ‘“‘Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.’”’ (Bradbury 33) It was later explained by Beatty that it was a reference to a man named Latimer, who said it “‘... to a man named Nicholas Ridley, as they were being burnt alive at Oxford… on October 16, 1555.’” (Bradbury 37) This foreshadowed her fiery demise, and the woman was well aware of this.
The woman was attached to her novels in the same fashion the men were fastened to the wooden pole, and they would fall as one. Allusions were also used in the context of historical events, as shown by Mildred-- “... Mildred ran from the parlor like a native fleeing an eruption of Vesuvius.” (Bradbury 89) The cataclysmic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. was an incredibly perilous and disastrous event, forcing the residents of Pompeii to flee from every which way as their life was on the line. It was obvious to the reader that she was quite on edge due to her hasty manner that she had as she went to greet Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps when they arrived. Mildred jumped to answer the door, disorganized, comparable to how the natives fled the