22 pages • 44 minutes read
Leiningen Versus the Ants
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Literary Devices
Literary Allusion
An allusion is a brief reference to a specific person, place, or thing that the reader would know due to the reference’s historical or cultural significance. Stephenson uses literary allusions in this story, meaning he references the protagonists of two major literary works in the narrative to illustrate particular scenes more clearly.
When describing how the ants are using leaves to ferry themselves across the water ditch, Stephenson alludes to Shakespeare’s Macbeth anticipating the arrival of the supernatural forest of Birnam—the only thing that can defeat him on Dunsinane Hill. This allusion relates both to how a seemingly benign aspect of nature can become harmful, as the leaves now are for Leiningen and his men, and to the incredible, supernatural abilities of the ants. Leiningen contrasts himself with Macbeth, knowing that his problem with the ants has nothing to do with witches or black magic and everything to do with the ants’ real and natural abilities to organize against him.
In another scene, when Leiningen rises at dawn and observes the gathering ants from the roof of his house, Stephenson describes the sight as something out of Dante. He refers very casually to Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno,” the first book in The Divine Comedy. Stephenson’s brief mention of Macbeth, and his even briefer mention of The Divine Comedy, indicate that these classics would have been very well-known and commonly read by the audience likely to read this story.
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is a device that an author uses to give animals human-like qualities. In the narrative, Stephenson is explicit about the ants being more complex creatures than the humans would have expected. Not only are they exceptional at organizing, but both Leiningen and the workers sense that the ants have the capacity to think and are particularly focused on consuming every living being and object in their path. The ants’ voracity contrasts with the scientific tendency to think of animals as creatures ruled by basic instincts—that is, the simple needs to eat, rest, and reproduce themselves. Stephenson uses the ants to introduce the possibility that other creatures could be as rapacious, petty, and vindictive as humans, in the interest of illuminating and questioning human behavior.
Metaphor
This common figure of speech compares two things that are materially unrelated but share a quality in common. When Leiningen goes to the weir to open the dam, the ants cover his body and fiercely attack him. He becomes frightened of dying and being eaten alive. Stephenson conveys his fright by writing that Leiningen’s “blood roared in his ears” and “a giant’s fist battered his lungs” (Paragraph 115). To express the sense that Leiningen’s basic survival instinct is kicking in, Stephenson gives his blood a bestial quality, as though something animal-like is welling up in the man to encourage his will to survive. Here, alas, Leiningen ceases to think and becomes a creature ruled entirely by his senses, as the ants supposedly are. To express his panic, which causes the strong thumping of his heartbeat, Stephenson encourages us to imagine a giant beating on Leiningen’s heart. However, the metaphor of a giant’s fist also suggests that Leiningen has great courage. Finally, the expression reminds the reader that he is much bigger than the ants that overwhelm him. Before, Leiningen underestimated the ants’ ability and viewed himself as a sort of giant who could easily crush the tiny creatures, but his experience forces him to reconsider this stance.
Atmosphere
Atmosphere is the feeling that an author produces in a reader through depictions of setting and the presentation of certain objects that are integral to our understanding of characters. Atmosphere differs from mood in that the latter refers more directly to the feelings of the characters, which the author may express either through dialogue or narration.
Stephenson evokes the atmosphere of the Brazilian jungle in which Leiningen lives by describing certain features of the landscape, such as the liana plants and the forest of tamarind trees. The reader senses that this is a lush, humid, tropical setting. Its intense heat and the density of vegetation help the reader understand the pressure and discomfort that Leiningen and his workers would likely feel.
Stephenson also creates an atmosphere of suspense that he builds before the ants arrive on the scene. He describes a stampede of wild animals, including jaguars and pumas, running from the ants. This depicts the irony of the ants being more fearsome than wild cats. The reader is led to wonder how dangerous these ants are if they can produce such a reaction in the animal world. When the ants appear, the vision of them is likened to one of darkness and shadowiness, indicating the arrival of something evil and ominous.
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