0

Death and the Penguin contains the following quote:

He thought suddenly of Nina and her saying that they had been seeing Sergey off at the station. So he had, after all, gone to Moscow, without so much as a goodbye. It was another brick in Viktor's wall of solitude.

Is this a reference to Pink Floyd's The Wall?

1 Answer 1

4

The metaphorical use of “another brick in the wall” to mean “a small component of a much larger structure, system, or process” (OED) was popularized by the Pink Floyd song, but long predates it. The OED’s first couple of citations are:

1867   Sharpe’s London Mag. Feb. 60/1   It was only another brick in the wall of separation.
1945   Corona (Calif.) Daily Independent 2 Mar. 4/2   Branding the..bills as ‘merely another brick in the wall of totalitarianism being built in America’, the group..denounced the compulsory features of the proposals.

The equivalent phrase “but a brick in the wall” has a similar antiquity:

1878   G. B. Malleson History of the Indian Mutiny 1857–1858 I.289   It was but a brick in the wall of Indian administration.
1914   A. S. Hobart Transplanted Truths: Or, Expositions of Great Texts in Ephesians 46   He may be but a brick in the wall of society
1918   The Elevator Constructor XV.9 5   A man, they say, is but a brick in the wall of an edifice

So the use of the phrase is not, by itself, evidence that a reference to the song is intended.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.