19th Century Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, and 20th Century Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck - Compare and contrast how these authors use language to depict the murder scenes in their novels.

Authors Avatar

19th Century Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

20th Century Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck

Q. Compare and contrast how these authors use language to depict the murder scenes in their novels.

        In both novels there is a big difference between both murder scenes.  The reason for these differences is that the two novels were written in two different centuries.  Charles Dickens wrote his novel in the 19th century and was brutally honest about what life was like in the 19th century London, even if it was not to the higher classed peoples tastes.  Dickens grew up in poverty and used his past experiences to help write his novel.  He also used his past experiences of living in poverty to write his novel in great detail.  The 19th century readers believed strongly in differences in classes.  References to God were not uncommon in the Victorian times, but now modern authors have to be very careful about what they put into their books as to not upset the general public.  The language used in Dickens’ novel is very complicated and complex, this is due to the fact that only a few could read in the Victorian times and those who could, could do it well.

        John Steinbecks novel ‘Of Mice And Men’ was different to Oliver Twist.  It was written in the 20th century America and was written for lonely men who would travel all over America looking for work.

        In the murder scene of Oliver Twist we are well prepared for the murder of Nancy.  Dickens presents the murder to be premeditated and the suspense is quickly built up over a short period of time.  If we look at the conversation between Bill and Fagin we can see that the murder is planned and the conversation is focused around it.  Fagin says to Bill “Don’t be-too-violent Bill?” which tells us that the murder of Nancy will be bloody and violent.  Also ‘There was fire in the eyes of both’ actually shows us that both men are angry, this gives us another clue that there is going to be a murder taking place in the near future.  When Sikes is walking down the street towards Nancy’s house he does not move his eyes or look at his surroundings, he is overcome with anger.  The scene is very dark and almost scary.

Join now!

        There is almost a completely different atmosphere in Steinbeck’s novel.  The scene is warm and light, instead of the cold dark scene in Oliver Twist.  The mood in the book is a happy one, with the men outside the barn playing horseshoes.  We are not prepared at all for any type of murder, well at least not in the same way that we are prepared in Dickens novel.  We see Lennie as a friendly giant and not as a threat, because of this we do not expect any violent behaviour to come from him.  We don’t judge Lennie like ...

This is a preview of the whole essay