“Then the wretched boy
looked cautiously up and found her gone, crept out of bed, fastened his door,
and threw himself upon his pillow again: tearing his hair, morosely crying,
grudgingly loving her, hatefully but impenitently spurning himself, and no less
hatefully and unprofitably spurning all the good in the world” (186).
Dickens artfully describes Tom’s internal struggles as well as the physical pain that his guilt of robbing the bank is causing. This passionate mixture of sadness and anger is demonstrated by his simultaneous love for his sister and hate for himself and the rest of the world.
Dickens artfully describes Tom’s internal struggles as well as the physical pain that his guilt of robbing the bank is causing. This passionate mixture of sadness and anger is demonstrated by his simultaneous love for his sister and hate for himself and the rest of the world.
Emma, I absolutely love this quote! Mainly because I think the narrator portrays conflicting images of Tom. After Harthouse joins the plot, Tom is always referred to as the "whelp" by the narrator. However, in this quote the narrator seems to portray some sympathy towards him because of the strong emotions that Tom feels. I also think that it still casts a negative connotation on Tom because the narrator refers to him as a "wretched boy". It is really important that the narrator refers to him as a "boy" and not a grown man because it shows he is immature and not thought highly of.
ReplyDeleteGabby I totally agree but I didn't actually find this quote! I just posted all of my group's stuff from a word document we made. So the complement goes to either Brigdet, Ally or Zach!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I especially like what you said about the importance of the word "boy." It evokes sympathy in the reader, and highlights his lack of maturity--possibly due to the lack of a real childhood, during which he could get his childishness out of his system. Now it lingers with him and makes him wretched.