Light Dark Paragraphs
Emily Cloonan, Miranda Haddock, Ryan Getherall
November 3, 2014
Light/Dark Paragraphs
In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the author uses light
and dark to set the tone. The tone of this novel is mysterious, dark, and depressing. At the beginning of the novel, Dickens says “It was the season of Light, it was the season of
Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” (7). In this quote, Dickens uses paradox to explain the controversy between the light and darkness throughout. When he says “season of Light”, the reader is automatically drawn to believe that the “season of
Light” is the happiness in the novel, and the “season of Darkness” is the dark times that the characters face. Dickens uses words such as “mildewy” and “a clammy and intensely cold mist” to illustrate the gloom in the novel. The narrator also says, “Shadows of the night revealed themselves, in the forms of their dozing eyes and wandering thoughts” (18). Dickens uses shadows to also illustrate the mystery that occurs. Not only does mystery portray the quote, but a sense of evilness and wickedness depicts the story as a whole. Both of these quotes create an image in the reader’s mind that makes them feel dark and mysterious as they read. Not only do the words Dickens uses help create a feeling of darkness, however often the author will use imagery to create the same feeling. As the narrator explains “Yet even when his eyes were opened on the mist and rain, on the moving patch of light from the lamps… the night shadows outside the coach would fall into the train of the night shadows within” (13). With the image of mist and rain in the reader’s mind, they now picture the weather when it is raining, which is nothing but mysterious and depressing. As well, Dickens also uses shadows as he does on page 18. The tone of this novel is mainly dark, depressing,
and mysterious, which is set by the quotes, the imagery, and the shadows that
November 3, 2014
Light/Dark Paragraphs
In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the author uses light
and dark to set the tone. The tone of this novel is mysterious, dark, and depressing. At the beginning of the novel, Dickens says “It was the season of Light, it was the season of
Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” (7). In this quote, Dickens uses paradox to explain the controversy between the light and darkness throughout. When he says “season of Light”, the reader is automatically drawn to believe that the “season of
Light” is the happiness in the novel, and the “season of Darkness” is the dark times that the characters face. Dickens uses words such as “mildewy” and “a clammy and intensely cold mist” to illustrate the gloom in the novel. The narrator also says, “Shadows of the night revealed themselves, in the forms of their dozing eyes and wandering thoughts” (18). Dickens uses shadows to also illustrate the mystery that occurs. Not only does mystery portray the quote, but a sense of evilness and wickedness depicts the story as a whole. Both of these quotes create an image in the reader’s mind that makes them feel dark and mysterious as they read. Not only do the words Dickens uses help create a feeling of darkness, however often the author will use imagery to create the same feeling. As the narrator explains “Yet even when his eyes were opened on the mist and rain, on the moving patch of light from the lamps… the night shadows outside the coach would fall into the train of the night shadows within” (13). With the image of mist and rain in the reader’s mind, they now picture the weather when it is raining, which is nothing but mysterious and depressing. As well, Dickens also uses shadows as he does on page 18. The tone of this novel is mainly dark, depressing,
and mysterious, which is set by the quotes, the imagery, and the shadows that