Somewhere along the way (p. 400 in my copy), King wrote, "Doesn't exactly make me John Howard Griffin, but I'll take it." Aside from the fact that in the book's context, the allusion worked perfectly for me, my reading immediately screeched to a stop.
My first thought was how many people even know who John Howard Griffin was, and how many would stop there temporarily to find out? Most contemporaries of Stephen King (and me) would probably know, because they were around when Griffin did his thing, and there was much publicity. (During the time when the US was still segregated, Griffin, a white man, darkened his skin enough to pass as a black man and spent 6 weeks travelling through the deep South to experience first-hand what life was life on the other side. He offered his findings in a book called Black Like Me.)
As usually happens, thought led on to thought, and I reached some conclusions. Writers use many allusions. Understanding those allusions adds a deeper and clearer understanding to enhance the writer's meaning. Many years ago, while promoting Cultural Literacy, I found a one-page essay in the back of a news magazine, I found some 35 allusions (I 'got' all but two).
We are all unique in our knowledge. I do lots of crosswords, and certain words keep coming up - where the Taj Mahal is located (Agra), 'The Thin Man's dog's name (Asta), etc. (Anyone even know the Thin Man is?), a certain reed instrument (Oboe), etc. If you don't know those, does it really matter?
I am sure there are things everyone need to know (Cultural Literacy), but what they are, I am not sure.
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