Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is packed with parallelism, repetition, and alliteration. He uses parallelism to emphasize what he says. For example, Dickens writes that "Scrooge was [Marley's] sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner" (1). He restates "sole" to accentuate Marley's loneliness. Scrooge and money was all he had. Another example of parallelism is found when "Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern..." (8). Dickens stresses the word "melancholy" to provide the reader a glipse into Scrooge's solitary every day life.
Instances of repetition can also be discovered in the classic story. Scrooge's young sister, Fan, comes to bring Scrooge home for Christmas. She says, "To bring you home, home, home! (22). Fan's echoing of the word "home" demonstrates her enthusiasm of what would be "the merriest time in all the world" (23). Repetition is found again when Fan endearingly calls Scrooge her, "Dear, dear brother" (22). This reveals how much she loves and admires him.
Dickens employs alliteration to give the classic story a variation in tone when read alound or a fun visual effect when read silently. For instance, the narrator describes "shadowy passengers" that "passed and repassed..." (23). The repeating of "pass" in the words "passengers", "passed", and "repassed" let the readers feel like they have passed by the words, in a sense. Alliteration is found again when Scrooge talks to Marley. He sounds "caustic and cold as ever" (11). This helps the reader see and feel the sharp words.
P.S. I am sorry if the last paragraph sounds confusing. I tried to write it to where it made sense. : )
No comments:
Post a Comment