Magazine 2015
International Peer-Reviewed Journal
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
METAPHORICALEXPRESSIONS IN LITTLE DORRIT:
HUMANISATIONAND DEHUMANISATION
Saoko Funada
ABSTRACT
Dickens’s novels include a large number of rhetorical tropes such as metaphor and simile by which a
variety of scenes, substances or human characters are vividly or symbolically described. In Little Dorrit, one
can see hundreds of metaphors by which the author attempts to delineate the physical appearances or
distinctive personalities of characters elaborately. Above all, he makes particular use of metaphor in order
to depict each appearance or personality of human characters as if they were non-human living creatures
or inanimate objects by drawing close analogies between the natural attributes or physical appearances of
two things. This paper therefore aims to examine the author’s metaphorical descriptions frequently used in
Little Dorrit and thereby make clear the main semantic processes and functions performed by his metaphors.
Additionally, I focus on his remarkable tendency to either humanise objects or dehumanise various characters
in order to elucidate the mechanisms of analogical relations between human beings and non-human living
creatures (or inanimate substances) by considering the author’s point of view and power of imagination.
Thus, I shall firstly look at Dickens’s typical devices in terms of forms and techniques, and secondly explicate
the mechanics of conceptual linkage between tenor and vehicle so as to discover the affinities between two
different things compared. By so doing, I am to show the linguistic characteristics of Dickens’s metaphors.
Key Words: Metaphor, Figure of Speech, Dickens, Stylistics, Semantics, Humanisation, Dehumanisation
Introduction
Dickens’s novels include a large number of rhetorical tropes, such as metaphor and simile, by which
various scenes, substances or human characters are vividly or symbolically described. In Little Dorrit, we
can see hundreds of similes and metaphors by which the author attempts to elaborately delineate the
physical appearances or distinctive personalities of characters. Above all, he makes particular use of
metaphorto depict each appearance or personality of his human characters as though they were non-
human living creatures or inanimate objects by drawing close analogies between the natural attributes or
physical appearances of two things.Therefore, the main purpose of my paperis to examine themetaphorical
descriptions frequently used in Little Dorrit, and thereby bring to light the main semantic processes and
functions performed by his metaphors. Additionally, I shall focus on his remarkable tendency to either
humanise objects or dehumanise various charactersin order to elucidate the mechanisms of analogical
relationships between human beings and non-human living creatures (or inanimate substances)by
considering the author’s point of view and power ofimagination.Thus, I shall first look at Dickens’s typical
devices, in terms of forms and techniques, and second explicate the mechanics of conceptual linkage
between tenor and vehicle so as to discover the affinities between the different things that are compared.
By so doing, I intend to show the linguistic characteristics of Dickens’s rhetoric,focusing mainly on
metaphors.
Devices of Metaphor
First, I will cite two definitions of metaphor. Way (1991: 11) refers to metaphor as a linguistic trope which
involves a deviation from ordinary and straightforward usage of language, whilst Goatly (1997: 8) remarks
that metaphor occurs when a unit of discourse is used to refer unconventionally to an object, process or
concept, or colligates in an unconventional way. In Goatly’s view, metaphor consists of three units:
‘
tenor’, ‘vehicle’ and ‘ground’, as shown in Figure 1. That is, the tenor is the subject to which attributes
are ascribed, while the vehicle is the subject from which the attributes are borrowed. Thus, metaphorical
expressions are established on the basis of similarity or analogy between the tenor and the vehicle. In
other words, the ground consists of the similarities between the tenor and the vehicle. In my paper, I will
pay attention to Goatly’s view, as it will be a crucial key for us in explicating the linguistic mechanisms of
how each metaphorical description is conceived and understood in the reader’s mind.
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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
Figure 1 The Three Units Forming the Metaphorical Structure
Metaphor in general is a device for comparing two things without using terms such as ‘like’ or ‘as’. For
this reason, the descriptive form ‘A is B’ is most frequent, as in ‘he is a lion in battle’.Despite its simple
structure, compared to a simile using ‘like’ or ‘as’, the metaphorical device in this novel plays a
significant role for Dickens in delineating particular features of characters or objects either elaborately
or fancifully. Therefore, if we apply all the classifications of metaphorical forms presented by Ikeda
1
(
1992), Goatly (1997) and Sukagawa (1999) to Dickens’s metaphors, we can see eleven types of
forms, namely Types I to XI. In the next section1.1 Word-Class andMetaphor, I will explicate the
mechanism of Dickens’s use of metaphor in detail, first focusing on the grammatical forms. In Little
Dorrit, several word classes (i.e. nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs) are exploited in his metaphors
as a framework for Dickens’s rhetorical function on a syntactical level.
1
.1 Word-Class and Metaphor
1
.1.1 Nouns
Firstly, Types I to VI denote the typical structures of Dickens’s noun metaphors most commonly used
in Little Dorrit :
(
1
Footnotes)
Although slightly different, I consider their classifications of metaphor forms basically the same in that
their method of understanding metaphor and simile is equally matched: the former consists of ‘A = B’,
while the latter ‘A = as/like B’.
1
Type I: (Det) + N
(
1) ‘How goes the world this forenoon, gentlemen? My little one, you see, going round with me to
have a peep at her father’s birds. Fie, then! Look at the birds, my pretty, look at the birds’. (4)
Type II: (Det) + N (Vocative)
(2) ‘Dear Fanny, what is the matter? Tell me’.
‘
Matter, you little Mole’, said Fanny. (492)
Type III: N1+ Copula + N2
3) Not for the first time. No, not for the first time. In Little Dorrit’s eyes, the outside of that window
had been a distant star, on other nights than this. (144)
4) To Mrs. Merdle, Mrs. Gowan repaired on a visit of self-condolence, after having given the
(
(
gracious consent aforesaid. She drove into town for the purpose, in a one-horse carriage,
irreverently called at that period of English history, a pill-box. (328)
Type IV: N1 + N2(Apposition)
(
5) The Chief Butler, the Avenging-Spirit of this great man’s life, relaxed nothing of his severity. He
looked on at these dinners when the bosom was not there, as he looked on at other dinners when
the bosom was there; and his eye was a basilisk to Mr. Merdle. (465)
Type V: N1 + of + N2(Genitive)
(
6) None of us clearly know to whom or to what we are indebted in this wise, until some marked stop
in the whirling wheel of life brings the right perception with it. It comes with sickness, it comes with
sorrow, it comes with the loss of the dearly loved, it is one of the most frequent uses of adversity. (602)
Type VI: N1 + of + N2(Apposition)
(
7) She opened a drawer or two, looked over some business papers, and put them back again. Her
117)
(
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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
severe face had no thread of relaxation in it, by which any explorer could have been guided to the
gloomy labyrinth of her thoughts. (36)
Type I, the ‘determiner + noun’ form, occurs 278 times in the novel. The instance (1) suggests a close
affinity between two criminals (John Baptist Cavalletto and Rigaud) and birds in that the men are both
captured and confined as if locked up in a birdcage. Therefore, Dickens describes the criminals in
association with birds.Next, Type II (i.e. the ‘determiner + noun’ form) denotes a vocative form of noun
metaphor, of which there are 26 examples. Type III is the form with a copula as in ‘A is B’. The copula
in this case includes a verb such as ‘be’, ‘seem’, ‘appear’ and so on. This type of noun metaphor is the
second most frequent (124 examples).Type IV is effective in linking two nouns together in apposition,
although this form is comparatively rare (12 examples). Similarly, Type V is another way of linking two
nouns together, using the preposition ‘of’. This is, however, different from Type IV in that it is rather
similar to constructions such as ‘B of A’ or ‘B’s A’. Although this type (47 examples) is not so frequent
as other types, such as Type I and Type III, it is most effective in not only describing the appearance or
behaviour of characters themselves but also in symbolising each character’s inner thoughts or emotion
towards other characters who profoundly influence his/her life and fortune. The phrase ‘the whirling
wheel of life’ as in (6) symbolically delineates Arthur Clennam’s emotional state as being greatly influenced
by his surroundings. There is yet another type of ‘noun + of + noun’ form as in Type VI (18 examples).
This also functions throughapposition, linking two nouns together using the preposition ‘of’.
1
.1.2 Adjectives
Type VII, as given below, takes the form of ‘adjective + noun’, which also performs a rhetorical function
in Dickens’s metaphor. This form is most effective in symbolising the quality of certain human
characteristics, although its frequency is different depending on which of his works one reads. For
instance, we can see no more than eight examples of this type in Oliver Twist, while ninety-nine examples
are found in Little Dorrit. As in (8) and (9), Dickens makes good use of adjective metaphor to symbolically
depict dreary landscapes or a dismal atmosphere as if they were human beings. It is therefore noteworthy
that he often insinuates a character’s melancholy disposition or pessimistic view of life by means of
humanisation.
Type VII: Adj + N
(
8) It was a Sunday evening in London, gloomy, close and stale. Maddening church bells of all degrees
of dissonance, sharp and flat, cracked and clear, fast and slow, made the brick and mortar echoes
hideous. Melancholy streets in a penitential garb of soot, steeped the souls of the people who were
condemned to look at them out of windows, in dire despondency. (23)
(
9) She imparted to this sentiment, in itself almost Solomonic, so extremely injurious and personal a
character, by levelling it straight at the visitor’s head, that it became necessary to lead Mr. F’s Aunt
from the room. This was quietly done by Flora; Mr. F’s Aunt offering no resistance, but enquiring on her
way out ‘What he come there for, then?’ with implacable animosity. (132)
In addition, there is yet another form of adjective metaphor, Type VIII, though this is a rare form with
only four examples in this novel:
Type VIII: N + Copula + Adj
(
10) He came down the dark winding stairs into the yard, with an increased sense upon him of the
gloom of the wall that was dead, and of the shrubs that were dead, and of the fountain that was dry,
and of the statue that was gone. (554)
1
.1.3 Adverbs
Next, Type IX is the ‘verb + adverb’ form of metaphor,including 11 examples. Most of the manner
adverbs in the following instances modify verbs in a figurative way:
Type IX: V + Adv
(
11) His little black eyes sparkled electrically. His very hair seemed to sparkle, as he roughened it. He
was in that highly-charged state that one might have expected to draw sparks and snaps from him by
presenting a knuckle to any part of his figure. (324-5)
As for (11), the adverb ‘electrically’ is effective for Dickens in emblematically emphasizing Mr Pancks’s
mechanical behaviour and inhuman nature. This adverbial structure therefore plays a significant part in
symbolising Mr. Pancks’s peculiar figure and attribute.
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.1.4 Verbs
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1
Furthermore, we can see yet other types of forms constructed with verbs, as in Types X and XI. Type X
takes the form of ‘subject + intransitive verb’ as in (12), whilst‘transitive verb’ is metaphorical as illustrated
in (13) and (14). Both of these are effective forms for Dickens in describing various scenes or the
qualities of particular characters colourfully and impressionistically.
Type X: Vi (i = intransitive)
(
12) The clouds were flying fast, the wind was coming up in gusts, banging some neighbouring shutters
that had broken loose, twirling the rusty chimney-cowls and weathercocks, and rushing round and
round a confined adjacent churchyard as if it had a mind to blow the dead citizens our of their graves.
The low thunder, muttering in all quarters of the sky at once, seemed to threaten vengeance for this
attempted desecration, and to mutter, ‘Let them rest! Let them rest!’(288)
Type XI: Vt (t = transitive)
(
13) Wherever he went, this foredoomed Tip appeared to take the prison walls with him, and to set
them up in such trade or calling; and to prowl about within their narrow limits in the old slip-shod,
purposeless, down-at-heelway; until the real immoveable Marshalsea walls asserted their fascination
over him, and brought him back. (63)
(
14) He went out, and she shut the door upon him. He looked up at the windows of his mother’s room,
and the dim light, deadened by the yellow blinds, seemed to say a response after Affery, and to
mutter, ‘Don’t ask me anything. Go away!’ (459)
In the first place, Dickens often attributes human thought, knowledge, and emotion to artificial objects
(
e.g. walls) or natural phenomena (e.g. thunder and light). This is one of the author’s typical humanisation
devices. Above all, he often uses intransitive/transitive verbs to visualise the scene where inanimate
things may appear vigorous and powerful in his eyes. By so doing, the author attempts to portray
realistically his vision of the world that surrounds him. Observing the forms and vocabulary in the
examples above, we find that almost all of the artificial objects or natural objects/phenomena he
describes are animated with verbs such asmutter, assert, bring and say, all of which are related to
2
human powers and activities. As Brook (1970: 35-36) remarks, the process of humansation makes it
possible to attribute human emotion and powers to inanimate objects or to non-human living creatures.
Thus, the author makes abundant use of humanisation so that the reader may envisage the appearances
or behaviours of particular substances or human beings and take a great interest in them.
1
.2 Collocational Analysis
1
.2.1 Adjectives
Furthermore, it is fundamental to shed light on another approach to Dickens’s adjective metaphors, a
collocational approach to the author’s linguistic styles proposed by Hori (2004), who focuses on
metaphorical collocations involving the cohesion of two ormore co-occurring words.Referring to
Dickens’s adjective metaphors, it is important to point out that almost all of the metaphors with the
‘
adjective + noun’ form are based on dehumanisation devices, which involves the process of transforming
human beings into animals, supernatural beings, natural objects or artificial objects as given below:
(
Animal/Fish)
an elephantine build (LD, 123)
(
Supernatural beings)
a cold and ghostly eye (LD, 518), a ghostly air (LD, 639), her ghostly figure (LD, 654), this spectral
woman (LD, 656)
(
Plants)
rosy faces (LD, 167)
(Artefacts)
the same barrel-organ way (LD, 97), a little coaly steam-tug [Mr. Pancks] (LD, 125), that coaly little
gentleman (LD, 231), the statue bride (LD, 238), whose leathern face (LD, 302), that highly-charged
state (LD, 324), a chalky creation (LD, 377), a cool, waxy, blown-out woman (LD, 377), his coaly hand
(
LD, 489), hammer-headed woman (LD, 656)
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Among all the four patterns of transference, we can find that in Little Dorritthe pattern from human
beings to artificial objects is the most frequent (10 examples) when considering the collocations of
‘
adjective + noun’, whilst the patterns from human beings to animals and from human beings to
plantsare the leastfrequent (1 example each).As for the process by which artificial objects are applied
to various characters, it is worth noting that the author is in the habit of using words such as coaly,
chalky, waxy and leathern for inanimate metaphors in order to symbolise each character’s mechanical
figure or lack of human nature.Also, the phrase ‘a little coaly steam-tug’ includes two metaphorical
expressions, namely coal and steam-tug, both of which are employed to describe the same person,
Mr. Pancks. As Hori (2004: 58) puts it, ‘a collocational clash or discrepancy of associations between
different metaphors may convey a sense of a character’s curious personality’; and one can infer from
this view that Dickens attempts to emphasize Mr. Pancks’s mechanical behaviour and inhuman nature
using two metaphors in this context. He is so spiteful or cunning a character in Dickens’s eyes that the
author constantly attempts to degrade him to a machine-like state via metaphor. That is, the semantic
association between Pancks and coal as well as between Pancks and a steam-tug not only comically
represents his mechanical figure itself but also symbolises his lack of human attributes. In this way, we
can identify dual conceptual co-occurrences between Mr. Pancks (tenor) and coal (vehicle) as well as
Mr. Pancks (tenor) and a steam-tug (vehicle). This structure, therefore, plays a significant role in
representing a certain quality of specific characters within the novel.
1
.2.2 Adverbs
Although less frequent than adjective metaphor, Dickens’s use of adverbial collocation also includes
unique metaphorical expressions. The examples below represent some of Dickens’s collocational
styles,wherein manner adverbs modify adjectives or verbs figuratively, and where all of which include
the author’s particular device of dehumanisation.
(
Supernatural beings)
all divinely calm (LD, 279), a diabolically silent laugh (LD, 301), he made it ghastly (LD, 560), Angelically
comforting (LD, 631)
(
Machinery)
Arthur Clennam again mechanically set forth (LD, 96), His little black eyes sparkled electrically (LD,
24)
3
2
. Semantic Classifications
2
.1 Semantic Linkage in Metaphors
In this section, I shall consider the close relationship between two referents, namely ‘tenor’ and ‘vehicle’,
focusing on the semantic concepts involved in Dickens’s metaphorical statements. If we analyse a
process of semantic shift from one concept to another in his metaphors, four main patterns of shift can
be found in Little Dorrit. That is, this novel mainly includes four patterns of semantic transference, as in
(
15) to (18), expressed here as the attributes + animate and – animate: from ‘+ animate to + animate’,
from ‘+ animate to –animate’, from ‘– animate to + animate’ and from ‘– animate to – animate’. In
addition, as outlined in Table 1, I shall examine the frequency of these four patterns among the eleven
types of metaphorical devices, Types I to XI. However, here I only consider the vocabulary of Dickens’s
metaphors whose ‘tenor’ and ‘vehicle’ are specific from the context. The novel has 887 examples of
these types of metaphors.
(
+ Animate to + Animate)
(
15) Little Dorrit had not attained her twenty-second birthday without finding a lover. Even in the sallow
Marshalsea, the ever young Archershot off a few featherless arrows now and then from a mouldy
bow, and winged a Collegian or two. (177)
(
+ Animate to – Animate)
(
16) Mrs. General had no opinions. Her way of forming a mind was to prevent it from forming opinions.
She had a little circular set of mental grooves or rails, on which she started little trains of other
people’s opinions, which never overtook one another, and never got anywhere. (377)
(
– Animate to + Animate)
(
17) In the dining-room, a sentimental desire came over Flora to look into the dragon closet which
had so often swallowed Arthur in the days of his boyhood—not improbably because, as a very dark
closet, it was a likely place to be heavy in. Arthur, fast subsiding into despair, had opened it, when a
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knock was heard at the outer door. (575)
(
– Animate to – Animate)
(
18) In the back garret—a sickly room, with a turn-up bedstead in it, so hastily and recently turned up
that the blankets were boiling over, as it were, and keeping the lid open—a half-finished breakfast of
coffee and toast, for two persons, was jumbled down anyhow on a ricketty table. (77)
Table 1 The Frequency of Semantic Linkageby Metaphor in Little Dorrit
Pattern
Type
Animate to
Animate
Animate to
Inanimate
Inanimate to
Animate
Inanimate to
Inanimate
Total
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
87
26
39
3
5
1
11
0
4
10
12
100
0
39
6
5
7
23
0
4
50
43
33
0
17
0
13
4
44
4
58
0
29
3
24
7
21
0
278
26
124
12
47
19
99
4
11
141
126
3
75
60
0
6
11
XI
Total
198
277
253
159
887
First, we can see from the table that the shift from ‘animate to inanimate’ is the most frequent (277
examples), while the pattern ‘inanimate to animate’ is the second most frequent (253 examples). Also, as
for the transference from ‘animate to inanimate’, Type I (100 examples), Type X (50 examples) and Type
XI (43 examples) are far more frequent than the other patterns of semantic shift. Additionally, it is noteworthy
that Type X and Type XI are also frequent in the shift from ‘inanimate to animate’. Thus, we can infer from
the ratio that Dickens has a remarkable tendency to humanise various lifeless objects in order to make
each appearance of the surroundings more vivid and colourful. Furthermore, the author is in the habit of
animalising or mechanising unique characters so that he can elaborately explain their behaviours and
suggest a resemblance between two dissimilar things that are being compared. Hence, I shall later focus
on a number of characters chiefly dehumanised, on the basis of their personalities.
2.2 Semantic Tree
In this section, we will direct our attention to a semantic diagram in order to elucidate a number of
tendencies in Dickens’s metaphorical descriptions.Drawing on semantic diagrams in Bickerton (1980:
5
3-7), Way (1991: 98) and Goatly (1997: 39) who attempted to analyse the semantic components used
in metaphor, one can recognise the distance between the two features (i.e. tenor and vehicle) involved in
Dickens’s figures of speech.Figure 2 is a modified version of a tree diagram put forward earlier by these
scholars, which will be a fundamental means for us to investigate the semantic mechanisms of his devices.
All phenomena
Figure 2 Semantic Tree Diagram of Dickens’s Metaphors
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The diagram indicates how all phenomena in the world can be categorised into a number of components
based on whether or not they are + concrete, – concrete, + animate, – animate, + human, – human and
so on, branching off from the top of the tree. Above all, Dickens shows a remarkable tendency to
describe people as if they were natural objects, artefacts, supernatural beings or animals, by means of
dehumanisation. I will therefore later examine the way in which various people are represented as non-
human living beings or substances.
As to the diagram, we add the eight semantic components, namely Behaviour, Senses, Feelings,
Natural phenomena, Substance, Supernatural being, Animal, and Human at the bottom of the tree as
they are used often in the author’s metaphoric expressions. Each of these components is further categorised
into various features branching out their nodes down into the bottom of the hierarchy, and therefore,
Animal, for example, can be further categorised into Mammal, Fish, Bird, and Insect, all of which Dickens
makes good use of in dehumanisation. Now, I shall here apply this tree diagram to Dickens’s metaphors,
as this will be a crucial key in explicating the linguistic functions of his devices.
Table 2 The Frequency of the Patterns of Semantic Linkage
Pattern
Frequency
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
+ Human to + Artefact
+ Artefact to + Human
+ Human to – Human
+ Human to + Human
– Artefact to + Human
+ Artefact to + Artefact
– Concrete to – Concrete
+ Human to – Concrete
– Concrete to + Human
– Concrete to + Artefact
+ Human to – Artefact
– Human to + Human
+ Artefact to – Artefact
+ Artefact to – Human
– Concrete to – Artefact
– Concrete to – Human
+ Artefact to – Concrete
– Artefact to – Human
– Artefact to – Artefact
– Artefact to – Concrete
– Human to – Artefact
– Human to + Artefact
216
126
96
92
61
49
45
40
40
28
18
18
11
10
10
10
7
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
3
19
3
20
2
21
1
22
1
Total
887
Among the 887 instances of metaphors, we find 22 patterns of semantic transference from one component
to another, as in Table 2. Referring to the table, we notice one significant point: the pattern from + human
to + artefact is the most frequent (216 examples), whilst the transition from‘+ human to – human’ ranks
third (96 examples). It is one of the marked characteristics of Dickens to transform human beings into
animals, supernatural beings or artefacts by dehumanisation. Moreover, we also discover that Dickens
has a remarkable tendency to humanise various lifeless objects in order to make each appearance of the
surroundings more vivid and graphic, as outlined in 2.3.1 Humanisation.
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.3 Converse Processes
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2
Now, we will analyse the patterns of semantic transference based on the tree diagram. I have found that
dehumanisation is more frequent than humanisationnot only in Little Dorrit but also in almost all of his
novels, such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Great Expectationsand Our Mutual Friend.
However, humanisation is also of great importance in his novels, for it may reflect the author’s/hero’s
inner feelings or attitudes towards his or her surroundings within the world. In this section, we shall,
therefore, examine how the author delineates the appearances of his surroundings by means of both
techniques, and attempts to convey his vision of the world.
2
.3.1. Humanisation
Again, humanisation is a means of description that involves transference from non-human living creatures
or artificial objects to human beings. As forLittle Dorrit, although this technique is less frequent than
dehumanisation,we can recognise the author’s ingenious descriptions and artistic talent in personifying
artificial substances, natural phenomena or abstract things. Furthermore, as Brook (1970: 35) remarks,
this technique of attributing human emotions and powers to inanimate objects or to non-human living
creatures enables Dickens to reflect his (or the narrator’s) emotions or thoughts toward his social
surroundings.
(
Artefacts to Human Beings)
human beings
(
19) There was the large, hard-featured clock on the sideboard, which he used to see bending its
figured brows upon him with a savage joy when he was behind-hand with his lessons, and which, when
it was wound up once a week with an iron handle, used to sound as if it were growling in ferocious
anticipation of the miseries into which it would bring him. (27)
(
Natural Objects/Natural Phenomena to Human Beings)
human beings
20) This scroll, majestic in its severe simplicity, illuminated a little slip of front garden abutting on the
thirsty high road, wherea few of the dustiest of leaves hung their dismal heads and led a life of choking.
249)
(
(
û0the stars; all bad weather; rain; hail; frost; thaw; snowÒ! human beings
21) The stars, to be sure, coldly watched it (= the old house) when the nights and the smoke were clear
(
enough; and all bad weather stood by it with a rare fidelity. You should alike find rain, hail, frost, and
thaw lingering in that dismal enclosure, when they had vanished from other places; and as to snow, you
should see it there for weeks, long after it had changed from yellow to black, slowly weeping away its
grimy life. (150-1)
(
Abstracts to Human Beings)
human being
22) Mrs. General was not to be told of anything shocking. Accidents, miseries, and offences, were never
(
to be mentioned before her. Passion was to go to sleep in the presence of Mrs. General, and blood was
to change to milk and water. (377)
With regard to humanisation, which includes 245 instances, the pattern of shift from + artefact to +
human is the most frequent (126 examples), whilst the shift from – artefact to + human ranks fifth (61
examples), because the author tends to attribute human emotion and abilities to non-human living creatures
or lifeless objects especially for the purpose of visualising the scene where inanimate objects or natural
objects/phenomena such as houses, walls, plants, mists, rain and wind may appear more vigorous and
powerful in the narrator’s/the author’s eye.It is also a fundamental characteristic of Dickens’s metaphor
that he makes use of humanisation by which natural objects/phenomena are likened to human beings.
Instance (20) exhibits the way in whicha few of the dustiest of leaves hung their heads on the road as if
they were human beings, and the noun phrases ‘their dismal heads’ and ‘a life of choking’ are used to
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imply a sense of an anxiety or a pessimistic atmosphere in the surroundings. As Meier (1982: 103)
remarks, ‘when the natural elements such as wind, rain, and the sea are animated, this device is usually
applied in order to parallel or comment on human action and fate’, it can be said that this humanisation
has a symbolic significance in Dickens’s metaphor. Above all, the author’s method of transforming rain,
hail, frost, thaw or snow into human beings as in (21) is worth noting in that the ‘lingering’ or ‘weeping’ of
these natural phenomena contains a symbolical element, as it points, in the author’s eye, to Little Dorrit’s
dismal life and fortune.
2
.3.2 Dehumanisation
In this section, we will analyse the author’s metaphorical descriptions on the basis of characterisation,
and explicate some of the deep meanings inherent in his use of dehumanisation. As in Little Dorrit,
Dickens has a tendency to replace good people with harmless animals, while evil or villainous people are
likely to be replaced with dangerous animals or something else with bad qualities. If we further consider
the function of lexis in dehumanisation, we can discover that Dickens makes the most of the device to
portray people of good or gentle character as harmless domestic animals (e.g. bird, tortoise,
mouse,elephant, etc.) and people of evil character as insects or dangerous predatory beasts (e.g.
cat,beast, phoenix,porcupine, reptile, etc.) or objects devoid of human abilities (e.g. machine, instrument,
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organ, wax, statue, coal, etc.).
(
Human Beings to Artefacts)
Mr. Pancks - steam-tug
23) Calling these things to mind, and ranging Mr. Pancks in a row with them, Arthur Clennam leaned this
(
day to the opinion, without quite deciding on it, that the last of the Patriarchs was the drifting Booby
aforesaid, with the one idea of keeping the bald part of his head highly polished: and that, much as an
unwieldy ship in the Thames river may sometimes be seen heavily driving with the tide, broadside on,
stern first, in its own way and in the way of everything else, though making a great show of navigation,
when all of a sudden, a little coaly steam-tug will bear down upon it take it in tow, and bustle off with it;
similarly, the cumbrous Patriarch had been taken in tow by the snorting Pancks, and was now following
in the wake of that dingy little craft. (125)
Mrs. General - wax; varnish
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24) If her eyes had no expression, it was probably because they had nothing to express. If she had few
wrinkles, it was because her mind had never traced its name or any other inscription on her face. A cool,
waxy, blown-out woman, who had never lighted well. (377)
(
25) There was varnish in Mrs. General’s voice, varnish in Mrs. General’s touch, an atmosphere of
varnish round Mrs. General’s figure. Mrs. General’s dreams ought to have been varnished—if she had
any—lying asleep in the arms of the good Saint Bernard, with the feathery snow falling on his house-top.
(377)
(
Human Beings to Animals)
Mr. Pancks - porcupine
26) Mr. Pancks was making a very porcupine of himself by sticking his hair up, in the contemplation of
(
this state of accounts, when old Mr. Nandy, re-entering the cottage with an air of mystery, entreated them
to come and look at the strange behaviour of Mr. Baptist, who seemed to have met with something that
had scared him. (480)
Mrs. General - phoenix
(
27) The phoenix was to let, on this elevated perch, when Mr. Dorrit, who had lately succeeded to his
property, mentioned to his bankers that he wished to discover a lady, well-bred, accomplished, well
connected, well accustomed to good society, who was qualified at once to complete the education of
his daughters, and to be their matron or chaperon. Mr. Dorrit’s bankers, as the bankers of the county-
widower, instantly said, ‘Mrs. General’. (375)
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Little Dorrit - bird
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015
(
28) The courtyard received them at last, and there he said good bye to Little Dorrit. Little as she had
always looked, she looked less than ever when he saw her going into the Marshalsea lodge passage, the
little mother attended by her big child.
0
00The cage door opened, and when the small bird, reared in captivity, had tamely flutteredin,0he saw
it shut again; and then he came away. (87)
(
Human Beings to Supernatural Beings)
Mrs. Clennam - phantom
29) Still so recoiling in her chair that her overpoised weight moved it, from time to time, a little on its
(
wheels, and gave her the appearance of a phantom of fierce aspect gliding away from him, she interposed
her left arm, bent at the elbow with the back of her hand towards her face, between herself and him, and
looked at him in a fixed silence. (39)
Little Dorrit - angel
(30) ‘O, my best friend! Dear Mr. Clennam, don’t let me see you weep! Unless you weep with pleasure to
see me. I hope you do. Your own poor child come back!’
So faithful, tender, and unspoiled by Fortune. In the sound of her voice, in the light of hereyes, in the
touch of her hands, so Angelically comforting and true! (631)
(
Human Beings to Natural Objects/Natural Phenomena)
Mrs. Merdle - cabbage; snow
31) Powder! There was so much Powder in waiting, that it flavoured the dinner. Pulverous particles got
(
into the dishes, and Society’s meats had a seasoning of first-rate footmen. Mr. Merdle took down a
countess who was secluded somewhere in the core of an immense dress, to which she was in the
proportion of the heart to the overgrown cabbage. (209)
(32) Mrs. Merdle shrugged her snowy shoulders and put her hand upon the jewel-stand, checking a little
cough, as though to add, ‘why a man looks out for this sort of thing, my dear’. Then the parrot shrieked
again, and she put up her glass to look at him, and said, ‘Bird! Do be quiet!’ (329)
(
Human Beings into Abstracts)
Mr. Merdle -the shining wonder; the new constellation
33) … he, the shining wonder, the new constellation to be followed by the wise men bringing gifts,
(
until it stopped over certain carrion at the bottom of a bath and disappeared—was simply the greatest
Forger and the greatest Thief that ever cheated the gallows. (594)
Little Dorrit - love
(
34) One morning, as Arthur listened for the light feet, that every morning ascended winged to his heart,
bringing the heavenly brightness of a new love into the room where the old love wrought so hard and
been so true; one morning, as he listened, he heard her coming, not alone. (684)
As for the technique of dehumanisation, we can recognise from instances (23) to (34) that Dickens
effectively uses the method of depicting particular characters as if they were artefacts, animals, supernatural
beings, natural objects/phenomena or even abstracts by metaphor. From these examples, we can see
that almost all of the characters are animalised or mechanised as a predatory beast such asa porcupine
orphoenix, or artificial objects like a steam-tug, wax or varnish. What stands out most regarding this
device is that Dickens tends to degrade spiteful persons into less than human beings,for example,
indentifying Mr Pancks with a steam-tug or porcupine; while sacred or adorable women like Little Dorrit
are often praised by Arthur Clennam as though they werea bird, angel or love. This is one of the remarkable
characteristics of Dickens’s novels. Kincaid (1971: 168) remarks that the main purpose of Dickens’s
dehumanisation of various people is to appraise them warmly or coldly, so that the author may speak of
good people as harmless domestic animals and evil people as dangerous predatory beasts or inanimate
objects. Therefore, I shall now focus on two characters, namely Mr Pancks and Little Dorrit, chiefly
dehumanised on the basis of their personalities.
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To start with, we can discover from instance (23) that Mr Pancks is mechanised as if he were a steam-tug.
He is so spiteful or cunning a character in Dickens’s eyes that the author constantly attempts to degrade
him to a machine-like state. That is, the semantic association between Pancks and a steam-tug not only
comically represents his mechanical figure itself but also symbolises his lack of human attributes. In
addition, it is noteworthy that Dickens successively mechanises Mr Pancks as a steam-tug with 100
examples where verb metaphors are effectively created: verbs such as ‘puff’, ‘snort’, ‘drift’, ‘fume’, ‘smoke’
and ‘steam’ symbolise Mr Pancks’s mechanical figure and movement. This repetitive use is of great
importance inemphasizing his unpleasant character in the novel. In this way, we can identify a conceptual
relationship between Mr Pancks (tenor) and a steam tug (vehicle). Moreover, this type of mechanisation
is reminiscent of other characters likeMr Wemmick in Great Expectations, whose face is associated with
a post office, for his mechanical appearance constantly draws the hero Pip’s attention. Therefore, in
Dickens’s novels, this type of dehumanisation includes a symbolical effect that suggests the non-human
artificiality in a civilised society, as the author attempts not only to comically delineate someone’s
mechanical figure itself, but also to suggest his/her inhuman nature in terms of ‘coldness’, ‘oddity’ or
‘ferocity’, all of which include negative nuances.In other words, the effect of dehumanisation is not a mere
embellishment of description but a symbolisation of the inhuman and life-lacking qualities of particular
characters.
In contrast, we can find other characters dehumanised as if they were animals, supernatural beings or
abstracts, but in a favourable light. For instance, sacred or adorable women like Little Dorrit are often
praised by Arthur Clennam as an animal, supernatural or abstract being in a positive context, which is a
marked tendency in Dickens’s novels. As in citation (28), Dickens is in the habit of representing people of
gentle, loving or timid disposition as birds in this novel. Also in David Copperfield, as for people of good
nature, Mr Chillip is one of the characters frequently compared with a birdby simileon the basis of his
gentle disposition. Similarly, Dora Spenlow in Great Expectations is dehumanised as abird or abutterfly,
owing to her shy and timid character. In Dickens’s metaphor, other female characters like Dora and
Agnes in David Copperfield are often praised by the hero David as if they were supernatural beings (using
words such asfairy or angel), natural phenomena or abstracts. Although this type of expression, which
gives us positive nuances, is rare in Little Dorrit, it is one of the fundamental means of description used by
Dickens to symboliseheavenly character or suggest a good nature and harmlessness in other people.
Dehumanisation has a high frequency of use in this novel, as the author focuses on delineating every
feature of various characters by degrading evil or fearful people to a ghostly or animal-like state. It also
includes a transformation of human beings into lifeless objects, which is far more frequent than that of
human beings into animals or supernatural beings. Additionally, this technique is more often used in
metaphor than simile and most effective in attacking and lowering the quality of other particular characters.
Because of this, the author gives humorous portrayals of various characters on the basis of their personalities
for the purpose of not only appraising them coldly but also insinuating his vision of the mechanised,
inhuman society that surrounded him. In Dickens’s novels, almost all of the instances of dehumanisation
include negative, rather than positive, nuances, since he has a remarkable tendency toward animalising
or mechanising naturally unpleasant and villainous characters.
Conclusion
So far, I have examined Dickens’s metaphorical statements through which various scenes, substances or
human characters are vividly or symbolically described. Above all, the author makes particular use
ofdehumanisationin order to depict each appearance or personality of human characters as if they were
non-human living creatures or inanimate objects, achieving this by drawing close analogies between the
natural attributes or physical appearances of the two things compared. As his metaphors include various
structures and semantic patterns of shift, we can conclude that his delineations are continuously rich in
humour and vividness, and that his technical aims and functions in metaphors are unique. It is worth
noting that Dickens’s animalisation and mechanisation appear with exceeding frequency in this novel so
that he can enrich his expression of his worldview through his unique rhetorical devices, as he is exceedingly
aware of the dehumanising qualities in mankind and attempts to give a colourful and vivid delineation of
each character. Thus, his imagination and sense of humour are reflected in his sophisticated use of
metaphors.
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Select Bibliography
A. Texts
Dickens, Charles.Oliver Twist. 1837-38. Ed. Kathleen Tillotson. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP,
999.
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David Copperfield. 1849-50. Ed. Nina Burgis. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999.
Bleak House. 1852-53.Ed. Stephen Gill. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008.
Little Dorrit. 1855-56. Ed. Harvey Peter Sucksmith. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008.
Great Expectations. 1860-61. Ed. Margaret Cardwell. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998.
Our Mutual Friend. 1864-65.Ed. Michael Cotsell. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998.
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Appendix Frequency of Dehumanisation of the Main Characters
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