The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

howling wilderness
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2 Samuel 1:19, in which David laments the deaths
of Saul and Jonathan: “<strong>The</strong> beauty of Israel is slain
upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!”
“Once it took the head of my family a day’s hard riding
to make the circuit of his estates, but the mighty
are fallen. Fast women and slow horses” (William
Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage, 1915).
howling wilderness A wild, desolate place; a situation
complete devoid of potential, style, or
interest. <strong>The</strong> phrase comes from Deuteronomy
32:10, in which Moses recalls God fi nding the
Israelites “in a desert land, and in the waste howling
wilderness.” Several 19th- century writers,
including William Makepeace Thackeray, used the
phrase to describe locations where unfashionable
people lived. “In the old war, when I was out under
Sir William, I travelled seventy miles alone in the
howling wilderness, with a rifl e bullet in my thigh,
then cut it out with my own jack- knife” ( James
Fenimore Cooper, <strong>The</strong> Pioneers, 1823).
How long, O Lord? A rhetorical question expressing
dismay at how long something is taking. <strong>The</strong>
phrase has its origins in the Bible, as in Psalm
13:1, where it is a cry for deliverance from a lifethreatening
illness, and in Revelation 6:9–10, in
which it is a cry for the martyrs who have died for
their faith. “Now and then, as if to show the thoughts
which were most poignant, he muttered—‘Lepers,
lepers! <strong>The</strong>y—my mother and Tirzath—they
lepers! How long, how long, O Lord!’ ” (Lew Wallace,
Ben Hur, 1880).
Hoyle, according to See according to hoyle.
hubris (hyoobris) Arrogant self- confi dence or
pride. <strong>The</strong> term is of Greek origin, referring to
the refusal of characters to accept the authority of
the gods in ancient Greek tragedy. This arrogance
is invariably followed by the character concerned
being punished by the gods for his impudence
(usually at the hands of nemesis). Hubris drove him
to strike back at those who had sought to belittle him in
the eyes of the public.
Huckleberry Finn (hukblberee) Archetype of idealistic
American youth. <strong>The</strong> central character in <strong>The</strong>
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) by U.S. novelist
Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn is a spirited young
lad who fi nds himself torn between friendship to a
runaway slave called Jim and his legal duty to report
him to the authorities. He eventually decides to
protect his friend and with him seeks to escape the
overbearing treatment of his drunken father by sailing
on a raft down the Mississippi. “He had something
of a Huckleberry Finn spirit, wanting to run
away to sea” (Michael Munn, Hollywood Rogues,
1991). See also tom sawyer.
Hudson A butler, or other personal servant.
Hudson, played by Gordon Jackson, was the family
butler in the highly successful British tele vi sion
drama series upstairs, downstairs (1971–75), in
which the lives of the wealthy Bellamy family were
contrasted with those of the servants who kept
their house hold running smoothly. What we need in
this house hold is our very own Hudson.
Hughes, Howard See howard hughes.
Hulk See incredible hulk.
Humphrey, Sir (humfree) <strong>The</strong> embodiment of a
po liti cal bureaucrat. Sir Humphrey Appleby, played
by Nigel Hawthorne, was one of the two main
characters in the acclaimed British tele vi sion comedy
series Yes Minister (1980–82) and Yes Prime