Bleak House Commentary Essay

The following is an analysis of a passageway from Charles Dickens novel, s forevere House, in which a bleak and drab atmosphere is conveyed.The introductory thing that is menti singled by the narrator in the first dissever of the passage is remains, and this plays a signifi tailt get around in the depiction of a filthy, corrupting environment. The beginning aviation, As much mud in the streetsand it would non be wondrous to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet abundant or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill uses hyperbole to mention that the streets argon so muddy that its almost like the beginning of the world, and it wouldnt be strange to see a dinosaur roaming around because of that. Also, the line Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better splashed to their rattling blinkers is an exaggeration of how the streets atomic number 18 so bemire that nonp aril cannot tell the different amongst the mud and the dogs, and even horses ato mic number 18 up to their eyes in it. This shows us exactly how much mud and grime at that push through is, and how dirty all(prenominal)thing is.Another aspect in this passage is the dreariness and the bleak environment. This is delivered in the line Foot-passengers, jostling one anothers umbrellas, in a worldwide infection of ill temper, and losing their foot-hold at street-corners, where tens of thousands of other foot passengers have been steal and skid since the mean solar day broke (if this day ever broke), adding new deposits to the bile upon crust of mudFirstly, the line jostling one anothers umbrellas suggests that the transmit is so all overcrowded and uncomfortable that people are both bumping into each other, and that their ill temper is spreadhead like a disease every time they come into contact, and it stirs in us a sense of claustrophobia because the people are all packed together. This adds to the implication that its a miserable and mortifying place to be. Also, the divergeicular that the foot-passengers are using umbrellas suggests that it is or has been raining, strengthening the general step of gloominess.Further more(prenominal), the fact that the part of the line slipping and sliding since the day broke (if this day ever broke) is written in parenthesis suggests the mordant voice of the narrator, that he is mocking the foot-passengers ill temper and derisively commenting on the cold and depressing atmosphere, and this in knock over reinforces that very fact. The use of sibilance in slipping and sliding further increases the effect of the blueish environment.The following line, Smoke expectant round from chimney-pots, making a soft gloomy drizzle with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snowflakes asleep(p) into mourning, one might imagine, for the finale of the cheer is very effective in expressing how unpleasant the place is. The fact that the smoke is lowering down, instead of drifting upwards as it no rmally does, implies that the atmosphere is so authoritarian that even smoke cant escape and is being pushed down.In addition, on that point is a personification of the soot and snow, as they have gone into mourning for the death of the sun. This could be an implication that the place is so gloomy and polluted that you can no longer see the sun, and that is why it has died, and is also why everything is black. This effectively intensifies the notion of despair and dreariness that is hiatus over the city, and the bleakness of the environment.The second carve up of this passage concentrates mainly on blur and how it has been personified into a shadowy demon from which in that location is no escape.The first line of the second paragraph begins with Fog everywhere, and this alone is a very abrupt, aggressive statement that makes us feel, once again, slightly claustrophobic, as though in that respect is fog pressing in all around us and that on that point is no escape from it.Su bsequently, the lines Fog in the eyes and throats of antediluvian Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides, and Fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering gnomish prentice son on embellish are examples of how the fog is personified, and made to calculate sinister, omnipresent, like an oppressor that takes pleasure in assail weak, vulnerable people like ancient Greenwich pensioners and the shivering little prentice boy.Another very effectual line is Chance people on the link peeping over the parapets into a nether chuck out of fog, with fog all round them, as if they were up in a balloon, and hanging in the misty clouds. The use of the verb peeping is very interesting because it means the people are looking quickly or secretly over the bridges, and it creates a sense of restiveness and apprehension, as though the people are frightened of the fog, thus making the fog calculate all the more threatening. In addition to this, the use of parapets may not b e just a acknowledgement to the sides of the bridge, as it also makes us turn over of castles, and so people peeping over parapets makes it seem as though they are below siege or under invade from an army of fog, which goes back to the allusion that the fog attacks weak or vulnerable people.Furthermore, the last part of the line, as if they were up in a balloon, and hanging in the misty clouds conveys a sense of helplessness, because when youre in a balloon you have very restrain control, and this has been used as a allegory to suggest how the people have no control over the fog and that they are trapped by it. Once again, this creates the feeling of claustrophobia and makes it seem overwhelming as there is so much fog and theres no way out.The twist of these this passage is very interesting to note. The first paragraph is almost conversational, as though the narrator is describing to us the some(prenominal) events of the day, plot of ground the second paragraph suddenly swi tches to more somber, grave narrative of the fog, and this affects us and makes us feel uneasy of the fog. This is also partially because the passage is written in the present, and so it involves us, makes us feel as if we are there in the dreary environment. Additionally, the extensive syntax of the sentences mirrors the long, miserable day and the unceasing fog, and this intensifies the gloomy feeling we get from it.In conclusion, this passage from Bleak House uses many different techniques such as personification, hyperbole and tone of voice to effectively express the dirty and gloomy environment and the general feeling of misery and despair.