Allusions In Sylvia Plath's Daddy

The poem Daddy by Sylvia Plath is about the author and her feelings towards being in a male dominant world. To demonstrate these feelings to the reader, Plath uses multiple examples of allusions throughout the poem. To start, the entire poem refers to WWII and the actions of the Nazis. Plath is describing how she was abused as a child and the way her father treated her as a prisoner. She compares this experience to being a “Jew” during the times of WWII and her father being a “Nazi”. Throughout the poem, Plath refers to various concentration camps and the German Air Force to demonstrate what she feels about how her father treated her. This allusion is very powerful, as the events that occurred during WWII are well known allowing the reader

to understand Plath’s feelings and emotions in their entirety. Another example of an allusion is within the seventh stanza, which says, “A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.” Plath is using specific names of concentration camps to show how she felt like a prison being with her father. This is stronger than making a general reference to WWII as that is such as broad event. Making specific references to things within WWII allows the reader to connect to the exact aspect of WWII that Plath wants us to connect to. Lastly, an example of an allusion is found within the fourteenth stanza, which says, “A man in black with a Meinkampf look.” This is a direct reference to the book, which is an autobiography of Adolf Hitler. With this line, Plath is now describing how her father compares to in looks compared to before when she was comparing his actions. Essentially, Plath is describing her father as looking like Adolf Hitler. This gives the reader a visual and allows the reader to piece together what Plath experienced by knowing what her father looks like and who his actions mimic. To conclude, the powerful use of such allusions allows the reader to understand the experiences of Plath to a much better extent than if they were not included.