Allusion

"That's why she often looked more like the Wicked Witch than a movie star - an impression reinforced by her irritating way of jabbing you with a finger the second before she said something to you." - Never Let Me Go, page 141.

The quote above is an example of an allusion as it is a reference to the Wicked Witch from the movie The Wizard of Oz.  The purpose of using this literary device was to help describe both Chrissie's appearance and personality.  The way she carried herself, crouching all the time, proved to be one of the reasons why people saw her to be witch-like.  Another thing that helped to make people see her the way they did is that she would poke you everytime she said was talking to you.  She was also much like an evil villain in the way she would try to separate the Hailsham kids and reference how they came from Hailsham as if that could explain everything about them.  It seems as though she was an awful person but that is the impression the reader gets from hearing it through Kathy.  Again, this book is written in the first person point of view so we can not help but see her in the way Kathy sees them.