Dickens also used what were then contemporary images (which are now archaic) in his novels. This was so that his audience could relate objects in the text to the society they lived in. They would have been familiar with things like gibbets, hulks and canons, and would have heard people asking for tittles (food) in the streets. But Dickens only used this style of language because it was what Victorians liked to read, and were characteristic of the nineteenth century text.
The content of ‘Great Expectations’ was also decided by what the audience liked, and because of this Dickens chose to include tragedy, comedy and moral aspects. Middle-class Victorian adults liked these characteristics, so Dickens had to keep to his audience’s tastes.
At the beginning of the book, Dickens tries to create sympathy for Pip, so that the reader is on Pip’s side. This is very important when using a first-person narrator – if the reader isn’t on the narrator’s side they will not believe what he/she says. Pip’s name makes people sympathetic towards him because he couldn’t pronounce his real name – Philip Pirrip – when he was younger, and his “…infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.” A pip is also a seed, so Dickens could be trying to imply that Pip is a growing seed.
All of Pip’s family are dead - apart from his sister – are dead, and this is a major sympathy factor created by Dickens. We are told this when he says, ”…Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and that also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried: and that Alexander, Bartholemew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried…”
When Magwitch emerged from the marshes to seize Pip, there was an air of sympathy because of Magwitch’s description as, “A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg.” We are also drawn to Pip’s side because he had been crying in the churchyard when Magwitch uttered to him, “Hold your noise! Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!” Dickens did very well in getting his audience to take his narrator’s side.
The comedy aspect came in styles that would amuse Victorians (his audience), but not us. This is because he had to stay with styles that would sell books. Victorians would have found it funny when Magwitch asked for “…wittles…” – instead of vittles (food) – because they thought it was amusing for someone to have a lisp. Dickens also echoed Little Red Riding Hood when Magwitch said, ”…what fat cheeks you ha’ got.” He then echoes the nursery rhyme “Hey-Diddle-Diddle” when he wrote, “…the church jumped over its own weather-cock.” Using these echoes of children’s texts not only amused the audience, but it also softened our image of Magwitch. Pip didn’t write about Magwitch as if he was a bad man because he was writing the story in a time a decade later, so he knew what Magwitch was really like, and did not want to make him sound bad.
Victorians liked a moral to their stories, so Dickens gave them a couple to think about. The first is that you shouldn’t let money spoil your character, as happened to Pip when Magwitch gave him large sums of money. The second was that rich people are not better than poor people, and you shouldn’t judge people because of their background. Victorians liked a little lesson in their stories, so Dickens was giving the readers what they wanted.
Dickens also had to write the book in a way which would make the reader want to read the next episode of the story, as it was written as a series. Dickens had to make the story exciting so that people would buy the next episode, which is why there are so many different events in the story. For instance, Dickens could have left the story on a knife-edge when Magwitch threatened Pip in the churchyard, as the reader would want to read the next instalment.
Dickens’ second purpose was to make a comment on society, as he did in Magwitch’s and Compeyson’s trial. When Magwitch was young, a man said about him, “May be said to live in the jails, this boy.” Magwitch had been labelled as a criminal at an early age, as he stole food because he had to. In the nineteenth century there was no welfare state, so if you were poor you had to steal.
At the trial Compeyson said to Magwitch, “Separate defences, no communication…” Compeyson immediately distanced himself from Magwitch because he knew he would get different treatment, as he was rich. The defence only defended Compeyson, and didn’t bother with Magwitch, as he was poor and looked like a criminal. Compeyson got “...seven year, and me (Magwitch) fourteen…”
By writing about the trial in this way, Dickens commented about the judicial system in Britain, and showed his desire for it to be changed. Dickens also had a reason to write with a first-person narrator – if he wrote third-person his audience would think he was criticising them himself. He knew his readers (the middle-class) were the voting public, and that they had the power to change the system. He wrote first-person so that it seemed like the character was criticising it and not him, as he knew his books would not sell if people thought he was slating them directly.
Written by Penelope Lively, “The Darkness Out There” is a subverted modern fairytale. It tells the story of Sandra and Kerry, who help out with their schools’ Good Neighbours’ Club. They help Mrs Rutter – an old lady – doing household chores for her. It tells the story of how Sandra learns not to stereotype people, having thought that because Kerry wasn’t very good-looking, he wasn’t a good person. Mrs Rutter talks to Sandra, flattering her about her looks, and gradually begins to talk about how she left a man to die who had a plane crash in the Second World War. Sandra realised Mrs Rutter wasn’t a good person, and that Kerry was, as he had good morals. She realises that you cannot stereotype people and judge by appearance, as it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
Lively’s purpose when writing the story was to entertain and to educate, so to do this she had to consider the audience she would write for, and write to their tastes. If she didn’t write in a way her audience liked, they wouldn’t read the text.
Lively chose a young, modern audience, because she wants to educate them and send an allegorical message. She chose to tell children it is wrong to stereotype people, and not to judge by appearance. Morals are common in children’s stories, because educating is often one of the author’s main purposes.
Another consideration for Lively was the type of text she would write, and she chose a short story. This is because young people are less likely to read a long novel, and would prefer something quick and easy to read.
The similarity between Dickens and Lively here is that they both had to consider their intended audiences and purposes to construct their writing.
Lively’s style of language is very different to that of Dickens, because they have different audiences to consider. Lively uses short sentences in her text, because her readers will not want to read Dickens-style long sentences. Whereas Dickens often wrote sentences over fifty words long, Lively averages about ten words per sentence. The paragraphs in Lively’s story average about four lines long, yet some of the paragraphs in “Great Expectations” spread over fifteen lines. Lively uses shorter paragraphs because this is the language style that suits her audience, and short sentences and paragraphs are characteristics of modern children’s texts.
Her story also uses colloquial dialogue, with the characters speaking in the modern way that young people do. For example, Kerry talks in a common manner, saying things like: “I dunno…”, “It makes you want to throw up…” and “…that poor sod.” Sandra also uses modern language, but not quite so commonly as Kerry. The children also tend to say things in a very direct way, without using all the excess words that Pip did in “Great Expectations”. But this is because Lively’s audience will speak like this, and so they would not want to read the language Pip used.
As in “Great Expectations”, Lively uses contemporary images in her story, mentioning objects like, “…an Aero bar…” and a “…Ford Escort…”. Lively does this because it lets the reader familiarise themself with the story, as they will know of the objects mentioned. Dickens did this in the form of hulks, gibbets and vittles, but Lively would not use these objects, as they wouldn’t be suitable for her audience.
Like Dickens’ text, Lively’s content is decided by her audience’s tastes. Due to this, Lively has used a format her audience will be customary with from when they were a bit younger, and turned it on its head to add a twist to the tale.
“The Darkness Out There” has many similarities with a fairy tale, using a third-person narrator, and having three main characters. Fairy tales often have a prince, a princess, and an old witch. These are provided in the form of Kerry, Sandra and Mrs Rutter. The setting is also conventional for a fairy tale, as it is a house in the woods. Fairy tales also contain a strong horror element, which young people enjoy in their entertainment. This story has an element of horror, but it is Mrs Rutter’s past actions that provide it.
But the story is not a proper fairy tale because the prince is meant to be handsome and rich, and the princess is meant to have good morals. However this is not the case as Kerry is not good-looking – as “His chin was explosive with acne – and while Sandra is, she stereotypes people and doesn’t think for herself.
At the beginning of the story Sandra doesn’t think much of him, because of his appearance. In her thoughts she says, “Kerry Stevens that none of her lot reckoned much on, with his blacked licked-down hair and slitty eyes. Some people you only have to look at to know they’re not up to much.” This shows that she doesn’t like because other people don’t like him, and that she judges by appearance. We learn about Sandra’s personality through her thoughts – she thinks she’s mature mentally because she’s mature physically.
Sandra likes Mrs Rutter throughout the majority of the story, until she learns not to judge by appearance. Sandra is fooled by Mrs Rutter’s appearance as a nice, little old lady, and doesn’t consider what people are like on the inside. Mrs Rutter is portrayed as a sinister character through the descriptions of her eyes as they “…snapped and darted.” This tells us she is evil from the beginning, but it took Sandra a lot longer to realise this.
Sandra eventually realises the truth about people, through Mrs Rutter’s vivid description of the German pilot she left to die. She realised that Kerry “…had grown…his anger eclipsed his acne, the patches of grease on his jeans…” and that “You could get people all wrong…” as “…she realised in alarm.”
Lively is trying to teach young people not to stereotype, and that they should find out what people are like on the inside. This moral is similar to that in “Great Expectations”, where Dickens is also trying to send a message across about stereotyping – you should not judge people by their wealth.
Having compared the two stories, they have both shown that the writer’s purpose and audience decide the content of any text. Lively had to write a story, and had to use the language style she did, because it is what her audience liked. The content of her story was decided by her purposes, which were to entertain and to educate people to avoid stereotyping.
The same applies to Dickens’s novel, “Great Expectations”, as he wrote what he wrote because it suited his purposes and audience. He also had to write to his audience’s tastes; otherwise the book would not have sold. If it had not have sold, he would not have made money, and therefore would not have achieved his main purpose. But for the author to make money, every piece of text must cater to suit its audience’s tastes.
