Literary Devices

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Reading a Charles Dickens novel is like watching a film inside of your head. He reels you in with his use of descriptive language, keeps you on your toes with his use of foreshadowing, and keeps you captivated with his use of symbolism. An author’s best weapon is the use of literary devices where they can keep the reader engaged and their mind thinking. In his novels, Charles Dickens uses literary elements and maintains a satirical tone to convey his message.

Dickens’ novels are abundant with passages full of descriptive language that transports the reader into the scene taking place in the book. It is one of his strongest tools he uses to show the themes and ideas within his novels. Word choice and attention to detail are very influential in his writing. It is in phrases like ”profligacy and riot have staggered home to dream” and  “he looked less like a man, than like some hideous phantom, moist from the grave, and worried by an evil spirit.” (Oliver Twist, pg 417) where Dickens’ words leave an imprint on the reader’s mind. Creating powerful images contributes to the overall uniqueness of his novels.

In Dickens’ novels there is never an event or character that is not somehow connected or involved to another part of the story. Every character introduced is more involved in the story than they appear and every event that transpires has a corresponding event later on in the book. Nothing ever happens just to push plot or fill space, everything intertwines. Dickens’ favors the use of foreshadowing, where at the beginning an event or person’s appearance may seem insignificant, but later on in the novel can bring the whole entire story full circle. Generally Dickens uses the weather to foreshadow the mood or tone of the impending scene. The use of foreshadowing allows the reader to reflect on the earlier actions of the novel and how they affected or relate to the actions later on.

The most important literary device that Dickens uses is symbolism. His books addressed the issues of poverty, social class, and morals in society through the use of symbols. Symbolism creates a whole new meaning in a novel and requires for a reader to look deeper to uncover hidden messages. One of the most prominent symbols in Oliver Twist is the London Bridge. It symbolizes the class divide of people in society, but also connects the different levels of society. Without symbolism its just a bridge where events take place, but with symbolism one of the most important themes in the novel is summed up in one inanimate object.

Not only does Dickens use literary devices, but he maintains a satirical tone throughout his novels. By taking a satirical approach he is able to exploit the corruption and downfalls of English society as he experienced it in his own life. Rather than just rant on and on about his disdain for society, he lightens the tone of the novels through comedy.

By using literary elements and taking a satirical approach Dickens creates fascinating novels that can engage the reader. The novels are connected throughout the entire thing and the messages that they convey are ones that a reader can take away from the novel at the end.