26 pages • 52 minutes read
Margaret AtwoodA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Allusion is a common literary device that involves referring to a person, event, place, etc. from the world outside the text. In many cases, including in “Death by Landscape,” it takes the form of a reference to another piece of art or literature; Atwood not only describes pieces by the Group of Seven in detail but also alludes to various myths from Classical Greece and Canada’s own indigenous peoples. The raven, for instance, is a trickster god in much First Nations folklore, which makes Atwood’s references to the bird throughout the story significant. As third-year students, Lucy and Lois are “Ravens” in the Camp Manitou’s classification system, and Lois hears a raven calling just before Lucy shouts and vanishes; the implication is perhaps that Lucy has encountered the Raven god or that she herself is a raven-like figure because of her ability to disappear into thin air.
Later in the story, Atwood offers a different possible explanation for Lucy’s disappearance when Lois wonders “how many trees there were on the cliff just before Lucy disappeared” and whether “there was one more, afterward” (Part 9, Paragraph 9). In this case, the allusion is to the Greek myth of Daphne—a nymph who transforms into a tree to escape the advances of the god Apollo.
By Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace
Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood
Backdrop Addresses Cowboy
Backdrop Addresses Cowboy
Margaret Atwood
Cat's Eye
Cat's Eye
Margaret Atwood
Hag-Seed
Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold
Margaret Atwood
Happy Endings
Happy Endings
Margaret Atwood
Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing
Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing
Margaret Atwood
Lady Oracle
Lady Oracle
Margaret Atwood
Life Before Man
Life Before Man
Margaret Atwood
MaddAddam
MaddAddam
Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood
Rape Fantasies
Rape Fantasies
Margaret Atwood
Siren Song
Siren Song
Margaret Atwood
Stone Mattress
Stone Mattress
Margaret Atwood
Surfacing
Surfacing
Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
The Circle Game
The Circle Game
Margaret Atwood
The Edible Woman
The Edible Woman
Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
The Heart Goes Last
The Heart Goes Last
Margaret Atwood
The Landlady
The Landlady
Margaret Atwood