Look at p. 323 (Ch. XXI, paragraph that starts "All of a sudden, one evening..."). This is a complicated thing that Dickens is doing. He is creating a room full of people, he is having a person tell a story. In a way it's a story inside a story (Mr. Peggotty's story in Dickens' novel). How does he pull this off so that we know when we're hearing Mr. Peggotty's voice, when we're hearing Copperfield-the-author's voice, when we hear little Em'ly's voice in Peggoty's story, etc.?
And, since I bring this scene up, let's talk about Steerforth. David has introduced Steerforth to the Peggottys in this scene. Later, Agnes will call Steerforth David's "bad angel." David loves Steerforth to distraction (there's a homoerotic impulse there, I think, if anyone wants to pursue it) and won't hear Agnes' criticism. Do you hear it? Had you questioned the nobility of Steerforth before or after Agnes' comments? Or do you still think David's depiction of him is correct?
Dickens uses the difference in pronunciation and tone from each character so that readers can distinguish who's speaking at the moment. When Mr. Peggoty is speaking, Dickens writes with amusement and excitement while when Ham speaks the words are written with hesitance but with a genuine quality. We know when we're hearing Copperfield's voice because he takes us into his thoughts and observations, with great detail and insight, of the other characters and situations around him.
ReplyDeleteSteerforth is an upper-class man who is charming towards others but posses a sort of an egotistic, pretentious attitude which David naively falters to just as the other school boys did. His high regards for Steerforth fogs his judgement on his character and refuses to listen to Agnes because of this. I've questioned his nobility before Agnes' comments because he has always seemed to like David because he gave him status and used this to his advantage instead of truly caring for him. David listens to him without hesitation not digging into Steerforth's intentions.
Dickens uses a different tone with each character, to allow the reader an idea as to whom is speaking at the moment. when he introduces Mr. Peggoty as the speaker, he represents his tone as sturdy and without question. He spoke as in what he says is the final answer, On the other hand when Copperfield introduces Ham into the conversation his tone of speaking is hesitant and with great surprise. Copperfield's voice is always well identified in the story because his tone is gloomy and takes the readers mind somewhere else they haven't been before, Copperfield's voice always has a story behind his choice in words.
ReplyDeleteDickens tells the story in a very intellectual way. I agree with Diamond when she says that Dickens presents a different tone when describing or talking about each character. When Agnes talks about Steerforth, you can almost envision her facial expression as if shes talking to him with a disgusted look on her face. She warns David on several occasions about Steerforth and his loyalty towards him. She believes that Steerforth is up to no good. Before Agnes brought up her judgement about Steerforth, I looked at him as someone who was caring but someone who would also change up their attitude towards someone in an instant. David tends to follow Steerforth in everything he does. It's as if David doesn't have a powerful voice in their friendship.
ReplyDeleteWhen Dickens introduces Mr. Peggoty, he uses a more stern and direct tone. It's almost as if Mr. Peggoty is a stiff and well rounded character.