What are examples of Biblical allusions in "The Sieve and the Sand," and what do they mean?

An allusion is when someone (narrator or character) mentions something that has a particular reference to history, literature, politics, etc., that the reader (or another character) might understand. Rather than simply making a point explicitly, this device is used to make a point in a more interesting way. Biblical allusions, of course, are references taken from someone or something found in the Bible. Since the Bible is not only a theological resource but a work...

An allusion is when someone (narrator or character) mentions something that has a particular reference to history, literature, politics, etc., that the reader (or another character) might understand. Rather than simply making a point explicitly, this device is used to make a point in a more interesting way. Biblical allusions, of course, are references taken from someone or something found in the Bible. Since the Bible is not only a theological resource but a work of literature, Captain Beatty alludes to it a few times in Fahrenheit 451. For example, when Montag returns to the firehouse and gives a copy of the Bible to his boss, Captain Beatty says the following:

"Well. . . the crisis is past and all is well, the sheep returns to the fold. We're all sheep who have strayed at times" (105).

The image of the sheep refers to a parable that Jesus told in which he compared himself to a shepherd and his followers to sheep. Beatty makes the allusion to make the point that, in this case, he is the shepherd and Montag is one of his sheep returning the the fold, or to the firehouse.

The next Biblical allusion that Beatty makes is when he is telling Montag about his dream. The dream shows the two men in an argument using quotes from literature to defend their positions on literature and society. At one point in his dream, Beatty says, "The Devil can cite scripture for his purpose," which refers to Biblical scripture, and to the Biblical figure of the Devil (106). This reference means that anyone, good or evil, can spout out scripture—the words don't mean anything more than how someone uses them and can twist them to suit their own agenda.

One last example of a Biblical allusion can be found when Faber is able to see and handle Montag's copy of the Bible. He makes a connection between how Christ is depicted on TV compared to how he is portrayed in the Bible. Faber says:

"Christ is one of the 'family' now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He's a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn't making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshiper absolutely needs" (81).

Faber reveals to the reader how the face of Christianity has been transformed from something of spiritual or ethical value to something used for advertisements. This suggests that religion is not important anymore, and any influence Jesus has left is now manipulated in order to sell something.