“A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen”
“And the air was impregnated with filthy odours”.
By writing this Dickens gives the reader a feeling of what sort of disgusting area Oliver is travelling through. The word dirtier suggests that the area looks poor and indecent. The word wretched means that even the people who live there are unhappy. The word filthy gives an impression of a smelly odour. Dickens also appeals to not just to the sense of sight but to the sense of smell too.
How does dickens create an atmosphere of sadness at the start of chapter 18?
At the start of chapter 18 Oliver is recaptured by Fagin again and locked up in his den. Dickens describes how Oliver is feeling at this point of time. Dickens writes
“And so Oliver remained all that day and for the greater part of many subsequent days”.
He uses repetition to describe the pasting of time so slowly for Oliver, he also uses an alliteration the words left and long also to show the pasting of time. At the end of the paragraph dickens uses the word “sad” to describe Oliver mood because the times passing by so slowly.
Dickens then describes the room. He uses adjectives to show the large, dirty and the darkness of the room. Dickens uses
“Great high and large”
To describe how small Oliver feels walking the large doors. Dickens also uses the words
“Black, neglect and dust”
To show the dirtiness and darkness in the room. Alliteration has also been used
“Dismal and dreary”
This describes the gloominess and the sadness in the room. These words have long symbols.
Dickens then describes what its like for Oliver inside room
“Spiders had built their webs in the angles of the walls and ceilings.”
The quote describes the neglected house the same way as Oliver was. Dickens also uses the quote.
“The mice would scamper across the floor and run back terrified to their holes”.
This quote is similar to when Nancy used to say that her and Oliver were like brother and sister. Oliver was terrified just like the mice when people entered the room.
Dickens starts his description of Oliver and Sikes journey to chirstey at dawn. The streets are quiet, dickens writes
“A few country wagons were slowly toiling”.
Dickens uses toiling and slowly to show the pace is slow. As the passage goes on the pace speeds up. Dicken’s shows the pace is speeding up by using a quote,
“other shops began to be unclosed and a few scattered people were met with”.
In the next paragraph the pace increases, Dickens lists all the people coming into London
“Donkey-carts laden with vegetables “
By the end of this passage the streets become livelier, also at the end of this passage dickens uses alliteration a quote to show this is
“Shoreditch, Smithfield, Sheets and Swelled”.
These words all begin with the letter S this shows the pace and movement. Dickens also uses the word ‘roar’ this gives the reader an idea of what sort of sounds he hears.
This carried on in the next few lines, Dickens writes
“So into Smithfield from which the latter place a rose a trumult of discordant sounds”.
Dickens uses the word discordant this means formitting out; he also uses the word trumult, which means noisy and bustle.
The book Oliver Twist is a very different book compared to the other novels that Charles Dickens wrote. But in all his books he uses the same technique, which keeps the reader interested.
By Fiona McKenzie
