Introduction

ThisresearchexaminestheuseofsimileintheDickensiancorpus,Hard

Times. ItisagreatpleasuretometoinvestigatetheuseoftheSimileintheworksofCharlesDickensashewastheleadingclassicalwriterofhisperiod.

After having successfully finished this course paper, I can suggest this

investigationtomygroupmates,otherstudents, aswellasforhighschool

teachers as an additional material to learn about the stylistic device The

Simile.Simile,whichisourmainconcerninthiscoursepaper,isconsidered

asoneof theimportantaspectsofmetaphor.Inthepresentresearch,wewillattempttolay thefingeronthesetwoblackholesintheuniverseoflanguage

(metaphorandsimile).

Thetopicalityofresearchisdefinedbynecessitytoinvestigatemoreand

inadetailedwayaboutthemostusedstylisticdevice,theSimile,bymeansof

theworkofwellknownanEnglishwriterCharlesDickens,HardTimes.

TheobjectofresearchistoattempttofindanswerswhyCharlesDickens

overusedtheexactstylisticdeviceandtoexplorethenotionofsimileasa

figureofspeechandaccountingforthereasonofusingitintheHardTimes.Theaimofthepresentresearchistoidentifythefunctionsofthesimile

intheworkofCharlesDickens,HardTimes.Inparallel,anumberofworking

hypothesisisconsideredthroughoutthisstudy:

howdoessimileenablesthereadertohavemoredetailsaboutcertain

qualitiesofauthorscharacters.

whyDickensmakesuseofsimilesofrequentlyinhisworks?

- howcanstylisticdevisesdevelopthewritersworksandgivetotheworksmorecolourandmeaning?

Scientificnoveltyofresearchisthatattempttodescribe,analysemeans

ofsimilefunctionsexpressedinthenovelHardTimesfromthepositionofthe

1

Kyrgyzlanguagespeaker.

The theoretical significance of this course paper is to present a

theoreticalbackgroundwherethefocusisontwolinguisticdevices,metaphor

andsimile.Metaphoristhegeneraltermwhichisusedtorefertodifferent

figuresofspeech.Simile,whichisourmainconcerninthisinquiry,isoneof

thesefigures.Thetheoreticalbackgroundisthesourcefromwhichthebasic

workingmodelofsimileinthepresentstudyisderived.

Thepracticalimportance ofpresentcoursepaperistohighlightthe

authorscriticalreview,emphasizinghisthemesandstyle.Hereisacorpus

based investigation of simile in Hard Times, trying to find out Dickens

motives behind the use of such a linguistic device. This course paper

attemptedtoinvestigatesimileinDickensHardTimes,layingafingeronthe

authorsmotivesbehindtheuseofsuchalinguisticdevice.Differentsimile

markersweredealtwithtoidentifythesyntacticstructureofsimileandits

meaning.Theapparentonesinthenovelarelike,as,asas,asifand

asthough.ExamplesofsimilesinHardTimeswerestudiedaccordingtothe

investigativemodelmentionedinthefirstchapter.

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Thestructureofthiscoursepaperis,excepttheIntroductionconsistsoftwochapters,ConclusionandtheBibliography.ThefirstchapterisdevotedtothereviewofthestylisticdevicesTheSimileandTheMetaphor,andgivesaboutthemageneralsurveyandasmuchtheoreticalsourcesaspossible.InthesecondchapterwillberevealedtheroleandthemeaningofsimileinthenovelHardTimesbyCharlesDickens.Theconclusionevaluatestheresultsandoffersrecommendations.Tothispoint,thepresentstudywillhopefullygiveanaccountofthenotionofsimileinDickensHardTimesandelucidateitsvariousmotivesandmeaningsinthelanguageofliterature.CHAPTERI

METAPHORANDSIMILEAGeneralSurvey

The term literature often bears qualitative connotations which

demonstrate that any literary workhas particular characteristics whichdiffer

fromanyordinarywrittenwork.Thequalityofimaginationisoneofthemost

importantdistinguishingmarksofliterature.Inrecentyears,thestudyofliterary

languagehasintroducedanewfactfortheattitudeofstyle.Thisfactisthat

literaturehasasetofmodelsforproducingthedesiredlinguisticeffects.Astylisticanalysisofanyliteraryproductionleadstotheexaminationof

thewritersvocabulary,hisfigurativelanguageandanyaspectrelatedtohis

languageandthewayinwhichit isused.Stylisticsisthusconsideredasan

avenueleadingtoincreasedenjoymentthroughthecomprehensionoftheways

inwhichatexthasbeenputtogether.

MetaphorandFigurativeLanguage

ThewordmetaphorisderivedfromtheGreekverbmetaphora:meta

meaningover,andphora,tocarryortotransfer.Itreferstoaparticular

linguisticprocesswherebyaspectsofoneitemaretransferredtoanotheritem.

Thus, metaphorandmeaning transferenceareseenassynonyms in termsof

etymology.Theformerisusuallytakentobeanallembracingtermincluding3

otherfiguresofspeech.Figurativelanguageis that languagewhichdoesnotmeanwhatit says.

However,thelanguage,whichuseswordsintheirnormalsenseastheyappear

intheusualpracticeoflanguage,issaidtobeliteral.Figurativelanguageand

literallanguagearetwoendsofascale,ratherthanclearcutcategories.Thedifferentformsoftransferencearecalledfiguresofspeech.

MetaphorandSimile

Ifonegoesbacktotraditionalviews,mainlyAristotlesview,twomain

semanticcategoriesstandout:metaphorandsimile.Similesaretobeusedjust

asmetaphorsareused;theyareslightlydifferent.Aristotleassimilatessimileto

metaphor. Theformer is anexplicit comparison (unlikemetaphor where the

comparisonisimplicit)recognizablebyusingwordslikelikeandas.Metaphorsmaintainthatthetransferofmeaningispossibleorhasalready

occurred (the bonnet of the car), whereas similes suggest transference and

explainitbymeansoftheirmarkers(Thepieceofsteelcovershiscarsengine

asifitwereabonnetcoveringagirlshead).

FunctionsofMetaphor

Metaphor has various functions. It obscures its literal meaning while

allowinganewunderstandingtoemerge.Itenablesthelanguageusertocreate

and understand novel linguistic combinations. Metaphor highlights the

phenomenonofsemanticcreativity.Thislinguisticdevice(metaphor)extends

vocabulary and creates new linguistic expressions through the principle of

economy.Metaphoricalextensionscanbefoundintheapplicationofwordssuch

as mouth, eye, leg and foot to talk about rivers, needles, tables and

mountainsrespectively.Metaphorisconsideredasapowerfultoolwheneverone

describes newsituations in terms of what has been described before. Thus,4

metaphorcanfunctionasacognitiveinstrument.The most important scientific metaphors are those which describe

theoreticalclaimsthatcannotbeliterallyexpressed.Intheoreticalclaimslike

thatofthebrainisakindofcomputer,noliteralexpressioncandescribethe

same claim. Metaphor is thus considered as a tool used by the scientist to

explainhisscientifictheories.Thefunctionofmetaphorisnotonlytoprovidea

pleasingdecoration,butalsotounderstandnewlinguisticaspectsandtodescribe

sometimesascientificobjectorphenomenon.Forinstance, themeltingiron

hardenslikearockwhenitgetscoldisascientificmetaphorusedtodescribe

iron.

SIMILE

ProminentViewsandCriticalAssessments

Simile isafigureofspeechinwhichoneitemislikenedtoanotherin

ordertoenhanceanimage.Thisfigureisrecognizablebytheuseofwordssuch

aslikeoras.Itiscommonlyusedinproseandpoetryanditisafigurative

deviceofgreatantiquity.Simileistherootnotionoftropes.

Todate,itisstillagreedthattherearefewlinguisticstudiesofsimile.

Thus,aunifiedtheoryofsimileisdeemedtobedistantanditseemsbetterto

tackle particular problems instead. Amiddle course between research anda

generaldiscussionofproblemsis,therefore,advisable.

TheoriesofSimile

Thereexistsnotheoryofsimileinitself.Simileisconsideredasasheepin

the herd of figurative language. Most linguists and philosophers admit that

simileisametaphor.Inthiscase,metaphorisseenasablanketterm.However,

5

thereareotherswhodisagreewiththisviewbasingtheirargumentonthefact

thatsimilesarelesseffectivethanmetaphors.

TheModernClassicalTheories

Thesubordinationofsimiletometaphorisreversedinthehandsoflater

Classical theorists. Among these linguists is Barfield who ignores several

rhetoricaldistinctions,especiallythatbetweenmetaphorandsimile.Hecallsa

longandelaboratemetaphorasimilewiththetermlikemissedout.Barfield

claimsthattheelementofcomparisoncandropfurtheroutofsightinpoetry.In

otherwords,thepoetcantalkaboutBwithoutmakinganopenreferencetoA

(sayingAisBorAislikeB).However,thereaderoughttoknowthepoets

intentionthroughtacklingB.Thisisusuallycalledsymbolism.

AnothermodernClassicallinguistisNowottnywhoarguesthatthereisa

merecollocationinoperationinsimile,bringingtogetherimagesdissimilarin

themainbysomeonepointormoreoflikenessdistinguished.Inmetaphor,she

maintains, there is the operation of imagination, which involves the

reader/listenerinthewriterscreativeact.Nowottnyreachestheconclusionthat

thedifferencebetweensimileandstandardlanguageisoneofdegree,butnotof

kind.

FishelovsTheory

Fishelovintroducestwoformsof simile:thepoeticsimile(PS)andnon

poeticone(NPS).Thepoeticsimile(PS)hasparticularstructuralcharacteristics

differentfromthoseofthenonpoeticsimile(NPS).The(NPS)iscomposedof

fourstructuralandsemanticelements:thetopic(T),thevehicle(V),thesimile

marker(SM)andtheground(G).Inthesimileform,Petereatslikeapig,

Peteristhetopic,apigthevehicle,likethesimilemarkerandthemanner

6

ofeatingistheground.Unlikenonpoeticsimiles,poeticsimilesdeviateinthe

orderoftheconstituentelements,thelengthorexplicitnessof(T),(G),(SM)and

(V), or the topic and the vehicle may belong to the same category. The

previously mentionednonpoetic simile (Peter eats like a pig) can become

deviant,givingthefollowingpoeticsimiles:

(1) PiglikePeteriseating.

(2) PeteriseatinglikeapigIsawalongtimeago.

(3) Peterislikeapig.

(4) Peteristheeatingpig.

(5) PetereatslikeJohn.

TheStructureofSimile

Simile is often defined as an explicit comparison, i.e., a comparison

knownofthepresenceofacomparativeword(likeorothersimilemarkers).It

isusuallydescribedasacomparison,whereasthelatterisnotalwaysasimile.

Therefore,thefollowingtwostatements(a)and(b)standasacomparisonanda

similerespectively:

(a) RichardislikeJohn.

(b) Richardislikealion.

In simile, resemblance is treated as an attributive circumstantial

relationshipofcomparison:xislikea.Similederivesfromtheintensivetobe

atypeofrelationalprocess.Thelatteristhatofbeinginanattributivemodeof

theformula,aisanattributeofx.Thecircumstantialprocess,however,states

thatxisata.In the attributive type, an attribute is related to an entity either as a

quality(intensive),asacircumstanceoftime,placeetc.(circumstantial)oras

a possession (possessive). Structurally speaking, the attributive mode has a

7

clausecomposedof twomainelementswhichare theATTRIBUTEandthe

CARRIER.Forexample,thesimileform,Maxislikeanox,consistsofthe

followingelementsshowninTable(1):

Max islike anox

Carrier Process Attribute

Table(1)

Insimile,thecomparisoncanbedirectlybetweentwonouns:Thisman

islikeatiger.Inaddition,itcanbeaboutaqualitysharedbythetwoitems:

Herfaceisaswhiteasasheetofpaper.Moreover,thecomparisonmaybe

between actions which make the verb act as the link. Words flower likecrocusesinthehangingwoods.

Althoughitisarguedthatsimiles,metaphorsandcomparisonsareoften

processedin thesameway, thereremain important differencesbetween the

three.Thesedifferencesconcerntheirsyntacticstructuresandtheirusesand

functionsintheEnglishlanguage.

TheSimileMarkers

TherearedifferentsimilemarkersusedinEnglishfromthesimplekinds

tothecomplexones:like,as,asas,asif/though,justlike/asand

others.Thisisanunendinglist;asandlikeare,however,consideredasthe

mostfrequentlyusedmarkers.

Like

Like, as a conjunction, tends to be derived from the old compound

conjunctionlikeas.Theconjunctivelikeisusuallyusedafterverbslikefeel

8

andlook:Shelookslikeshehasseenaghost.

Moreover,likemaybeusedasapreposition:Sheislikealittlebaby.It

mayalsofunctionasasubordinatororasanintroductorywordtoanadverbial

clauseofmanner:Thepolicecaughtthethieflikealionstalkingitsprey.

Theclassificationof like is often regarded to be plaguedbyvarious

interpretations.Aproposedrulemaintainsthatlikewillbeaconjunctiononly

ifitisfollowedbyaverbalclause.However,theidentificationofitsfunction

remainsadifficulttaskasinthiscase:Sheistakentoteachinglikeaduckto

water. In this instance, the verbof the secondclause canbe interpreted as

elliptical;suggestingthatlikeisaconjunction.

As

Asisconsideredasasimplesubordinatingconjunction.Itisusually

usedasasynonymoftheconjunctivelike.Ascanalsofunctionasa

preposition.Nevertheless,theprepositionalasisdifferentfromthe

prepositionallike.Theformerreferstoanactualrole,whereasthelatterrefers

tomanner:

- Hespokeasalawyer(inthecapacityof).

- Hespokelikealawyer(afterthemannerof).

Asexhibitsvariouscombinationswithotherwords,producingdifferent

similemarkers,suchasasasandasif/though.Asasisacorrelative

subordinatingconjunction,focusingonanadverboradjectivetomakea

comparison:Herunsasfast(adv)asadeer.Asifandasthoughare

compoundsubordinatingconjunctionswhichintroduceadverbialclauses

indicatingcomparisonwithsomehypotheticalcircumstance:Shelooksatme

asif/thoughIwereastranger.

9

10

1SeeSimileMarkersin:http://www.les.aston.ac.Uk/lsu/diss/jkatsaros.html(July2004)TheBasicWorkingModelofSimile

Similes,asmetaphors,urgethereader/listenertoviewanitemasbeing

likeanotherone.Thetwoprinciplesofcontiguityandcollocationareconsidered

tobeinoperationinthesimileformula,x(is)likey.Contiguity(proximity)

meansthatthetwocompareditemsarecloseinthought,timeorspace.Insimile,

this contiguityseemstobedoneinastrangeandshockingwaythroughthe

secondprincipleofcollocation.Collocation,whichisdefinedasthelinguistic

environment of the word in the text, would in the case of simile producea

certainstructurethatconsistsofthesimilemarker,thetenor,thevehicleand

sometimestheground.In metaphor, the association of meanings is not clearly explained.

However,collocationinsimileisthedeterminingfactorbecauseofthepresence

ofthemarkerandthevehicle.Throughtheuseofanysimilemarker,anexplicit

comparison can syntactically produce a simile, and it can also produce a

metaphor,butwiththeabsenceofthemarker.Both simile and metaphor are

basedontheprincipleofcomparisononacontinuumfromcomparison-simile-metaphor to symbolism.Itisthoughtthatthereisnodifferencebetweenthese

concepts,butagradualtransformationofoneintotheother.

Theeffectsoftheuseofsimileonthereader/listenerareprovedtobe

difficulttoexplain.Anysimilecanleadtoasortoficonicityinthemindofthe

recipient. Personal examination of this device (simile) seems to reduce the

problem into one of meaning and background knowledge. Thus, certain

questionsonthenatureoflanguagewillbegenerated,suchaswhetherthesimile

meaningrequiresanykindoftransferenceorwhetheritisanintelligententityon

its own. For example, the sentence James fights likea tiger can have two

interpretations.ThefirstoneisthatascoopingactionofJamesintoatigeris

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experiencedinthecasewherethereisasenseoftransference:Jamesandthe

tigeractwithfierceenergy.Thesecondinterpretationisthatthebouncingof

Jamesontoatigerinthecasewherethereisnokindoftransference.Hence,

any examination of simile ought to be related to both linguistic and

psychologicalbranches.In thepresentstudy, thestructural analysis of simile will bebasedon

thosetheoriesofLeechandFishelov.Forinstance,inthesimileform,Janeruns

asadeer,Janeisthetenor(T),adeerthevehicle(V),asthesimilemarker

(SM)andrunningtheground(G).Besides,thetopic(Tp)isadescriptionof

Jane. The marker is the determining factor in simile: the latter will be a

metaphorifitsmarkerisomitted.Ifthetwocompareditems(thetenorandthe

vehicle)belongtothesamecategory,thesimilewilldegenerateintoaliteral

comparison.Simile,whichistherootnotionoftropes,pointsalikenessnotusually

perceivedbetweentwoitemstoclarifyanimage.Moreover, it is anexplicit

comparison with the words like or as, whereas metaphor is an implicit

comparison.Similesarecommonlyfoundinproseandverse.Asaliterarywork,

CharlesDickens HardTimes isfullofdifferentlinguisticfeatures,mainlyof

figuresofspeech.Simileisdeemedtobethemostfrequentlyuseddeviceinthis

novel.Therefore,anexaminationofDickensworks,particularlyofHardTimes,

isneededtounderstandhisstyle,mainlytheuseofsimileinthenovel.

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CHAPTERII

INVESTIGATIONoftheUSEofSIMILEinDICKENSHARDTIMES

CharlesDickens:ACriticalReview

Victorians appear to be the British people contemporaries in different

ways.TheyfacedseveraldifficultieswhichcanbefoundintheBritishsociety

evennow.

VictorianEnglandisknownof thegreat developmentof theIndustrial

Revolution.By1850,Englandwasthefirstindustrialnationintheworld:most

of its people worked in industry. Although it may have been an era of

achievementandprogress, theVictorianagewasalsoaperiodof doubtand

anxiety.Duringthisera,membersofhumbleoriginsmovedtopositionsofwealth

and government, and people of the working class were forced into the

overcrowdedcitieswheretheyworkedinbadconditionsforlowwages.This

situationinspiredseveralVictorianwriterswhoattemptedtodepictarealpicture

of their society. Through many of their works, these writers revealed their

commitmenttowardstheirsocialenvironmentduringthenineteenthcentury.

DickensasaCommittedNovelist

Charles Dickens is regarded as one of the most outstanding English

novelistswhoseimmensecreativepowermadehimthemostpopularauthorof

hisage.Borninanindustrialsociety,Dickenswasalwaysawareofthesocial

andeconomicabyssesofthatperiod.Hewroteseveralnovels,beginningwith

13

Pickwick Papers (183637) and ending with The Mystery of Edwin Drood

(1870);hisinventivenessisprodigious.Mostofhisnovelswerefirstserialised

inmonthlyorweeklyinstallmentsindifferentmagazines;thentheyappearedin

volumeforms.HisfirstPickwickPapershashadagreatsuccess.Itcameoutina

serial formandgave the Victorian literature someof its most amusing and

knowncharacters.HardTimesisoftenregardedasaworkoftheVictoriantimes.Through

this novel, Dickens attempts to show the abuses and inadequacies of the

Victorian institutions. The novel is set in an industrial environment where

ThomasGradgrindschildrenwerebornandbroughtupinaccordancewithhard

facts,neglectinganykindofimagination.Philip,themaincharacterofDickens

GreatExpectations,hasmanyhopesanddreamswhichcannotbereached.The

novelisusuallyviewedasapictureofPhilipssociety,inwhichVictorianstry

tocopewithitscruelties.

DickensProseStyle

Dickensisoftenknownforthecontinuousvitalityofhisprosestyle.Most

ofhisnovelsarecharacterisedbyhisgiftoffascinatingcharacterisation.His

minorcharactersare,intermsofaction,distinguishedbytheirindividualspeech

patterns, idiosyncratic idiomswhichbelongonly to those characters andare

neverrepeated.Dickensextremelyflexiblestylecreatessuchdiscriminations

andsocialobservations.Hischaracterstakeplaceintheworldofthenovelto

which they belong through their language. Theyare remarkable individuals.

OliverTwist,Micawber,UriahHeep,TinyTim,Squeers,Scroogeanddozensof

othercharactersarepartoftheEnglishfolklore.

Inwriting,Dickenspowersarethoughttobemany.Theauthorcanmake

plotsofcomplexitytoensureasenseofmysteryanduncertaintyinhisnovels.

14

Thiswayhelpshimasanovelistwhosewritingsareproducedinserialform.He

develops the techniqueof suspense to a fineart in his works. Hisplots are

deemedtobetheproductofhisfertileimagination.Hischaractersarevividly

andcogentlydrawnandinvitethereaderswarmlyintothepagesofhisnovels.HardTimes,oneofhismostfamousnovels,hasoccupiedalargepartin

theworksofmanycritics.ItisregardedasaproductoftheVictoriantimes.The

novelwasoftenstudiedasahistoricalwork,neglectingitsartisticandlinguistic

sides.Critics,suchasRuskinsawthatHardTimesoughttobecloselytackledby

persons interested in social matters. Leavis was the first literary critic who

appreciatedDickensfullyastheShakespeareofthenovel.

HardTimes:AnOverview

HardTimesfirstappearedinweeklypartsinDickensjournal,Household

Words.ThefirstpartwaspublishedinissueNo.210inApril1854,andthelast

oneinAugustofthesameyearinissueNo.229.Thenovelwasthenpublished

inonevolumebyBradburyandEvansinthesameyear. In thisedition, the

authoraddedtitlestohischaptersandtothethreebooksintowhichthenovelis

divided.

ThePlot

Thomas Gradgrind, a citizen of the industrial city, Coketown, is a

misguided advocate of Utilitarianism. Mr. Gradgrind as a practical man

believesinfactsandstatisticsandbringsuphistwoeldestchildren,Tomand

Louisa,accordingly,suppressingtheimaginativesidesoftheirnature.

ThestoryopensintheGradgrindsschoolwhereThomasGradgrindis

presentedaddressinghispupils,insistingontheimportanceoffacts.Itisironic

that onhis wayhometoStoneLodge, Mr. Gradgrindpasses thecircusand15

discoversthatTomandLouisaarepeepingintothetent1.SissyJupeistheonly

littlevesselinthisschoolthatisnotfilledwithfacts.Anotherpupil,Bitzer,

showsoffhisabilitytoreciteallthephysicalcharacteristicsofahorse.

Attheendofthenovel,Dickens,briefly,introducesthefutureofhismain

characters.ThefutureshowsBitzerrisinginbusiness,Bounderbydyingofafit

inthestreet,Gradgrindadoptingthephilosophyoffaith,hopeandlove,Tom

dyingpenitentabroad,Sissymarryingandraisingalovingfamily,andLouisa,

remainingunmarried,lovingSissyandherchildren.

TheStyleofHardTimes

In HardTimes,thereareseveralinstancesofthemaincharacteristicsof

Dickensstyle.Someofthesedevicesmanifestthemselvesinrepetition,diction,

detailondetail,irony,humour,imageryandsimile.

Simile

Simile is the most frequently used linguistic device in Hard Times.Dickensmakesuseofthisdevicetodescribehischaractersandhisfictional

placesinthenovel.HisdepictionofCoketownstandsasaninstanceoftheuse

ofsimile:[]itwasatownofunnaturalredandblacklikethepaintedfaceof

a savage. Analysing the syntactic structure of this simile, the tenor (T) is

Coketown,thevehicle(V)isthefaceofasavage,theground(G)canbe

darkness,thesimilemarker(SM)islikeandthetopic(Tp)isaportrayalof

Coketown.Theauthortriestointroducethegrimrealityofthisindustrialtown.

Charles Dickens wrote many novels known for their attack on the

Victoriansocial evils. Hisstoriesoftenpoint to thevalueandimportanceof

cheerfulnessandimaginationasanantidotetothecrueltiesofasocietybasedon

16

factsandreason.Dickens Hard Times raises different issues related to the Victorian

societyas a whole. Theauthor compares theeducational systemof Thomas

Gradgrind who insists on facts and the world of circus which represents

imagination. HardTimes presentsapessimisticpictureofEnglandduringthe

Victorianage.Asa literary work, the novel can be consideredas a store of various

linguisticfeatures. Dickensmakesuseofdifferentlinguisticdevices, suchas

repetition,ironyandimagery.Simileis,yet,themostfrequentlyuseddeviceinthenovel.

Theauthorhasanobjectivebehindtheoveruseofthisfigureofspeech:

Dickenswants totransmithis impressionsandviewstowardstheVictorians.

Thischaptertriestoexaminetwomainissues.First,itattemptstoclarifythe

statusof simile inthenovelbyexploringdata.Second,ittriestoelucidatethe

conceptof simile byformulatinganoperationaldefinitionandassessingthose

differenttheoriesputforward.

TheSelectedSimileMarkersintheStudy

AimingatinvestigatingsimileinHardTimes,differentsimilemarkersare

examined toknowhowtheyoperate. Thesemarkersareoftenconsidered to

makeanopenset,makingitadifficulttasktoconfinesimile.There are, however, two structures, like and as, which become

apparentandclearbyvirtueoftheirfrequencyofoccurrenceinthenovel.The

similemarker,as,combineswithotherwordstoproducevariousstructures.

Thefollowingfivesimilemarkersformthebasisofthisinvestigation:like,

as,asas,asifandasthough.Inordertofacilitatethesearchforsimilesinthenovel,thechoiceofthese

17

markersisoneofconvenienceandofexhaustiveness.Intuitively,itcanbesaid

thatthesemarkersareatthecoreofsimile.Specifyingthelinguisticcontextofthefivesimilemarkersinthenovel

can help to exclude some citations. As may not signal simile if it is

immediatelyfollowedbyconjunctssuchasto,yetandfor1:

Asasdoesnotindicatetheoccurrenceofsimileifitispresentedwithwords

likesoon,well,often,muchandnear.1 SimileMarkers,in:http://www.les.aston.ac.Uk/lsu/diss/jkatsaros.html(July2004)TheFrequencyofSimileinHardTimes

Inthissection,eachsimilemarkerinthenovelisexaminedinordertosee

howitworks.Differentsimilesarestudiedinaccordancewiththeinvestigative

model described in the literature reviewsection, focusing on their syntactic

structures.

Like

Likeisoftenregardedastheprototypicalsimilemarker.Itisusedin

differentstructuresin HardTimes torepresentvarioustopics.Dickensmakes

useofliketotalkaboutanimateandinanimatetopics,describinghischaracters

andplaces.Intheopeningchapterofthenovel,Dickenshasrecoursetosimile,

portraying Mr. Gradgrind when he introduces his model philosophy to his

pupils.Dickens makes use of caricature to describe his characters physical

appearance.Forthispurpose,heintroducessimilestodrawmoredetailsabout

the people he describes in the novel. His portrayal of Bitzers appearance

definingthehorseisanotherillustrationoftheuseofsimileinHardTimes:

Bitzer,afterrapidlyblinkingatThomasGradgrindwithbotheyesatonce,and

socatchingthelightuponhisquiveringendsoflashesthattheylookedlikethe

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antennaeofbusyinsects,puthisknucklestohisfreckledforehead,andsat

downagain.(HT:4)

Bitzerisnotausualhumanbeing;heistheproductofhismechanical

society.Hegivesadefinitionofahorseintheclassroominarobotlikemanner.

Intheabovepassage,DickensdescribesBitzerslashesastheantennaeofan

insect.Thus,the(T)isBitzerslashes,the(V)istheantennaeofbusyinsects

and the (SM) is like. The(G) is quivering: Bitzers lashes quiver as the

antennaeoftheinsectsact.Besides,the(Tp)isaportrayalofBitzer.

ThroughoutHardTimes,Dickenscontinuestoportrayhischaracters

appearanceandactions.HedescribesThomasGradgrind(Tom)asfollows:

But,LouisalookedatherfatherwithmoreboldnessthanThomasdid.Indeed,

Thomasdidnot lookathim, butgavehimself up tobetakenhomelikea

machine.(HT:1011)

Inthiscaseofsimile,Tomiscomparedtoamachinecontrolledbyhis

father. Syntacticallyspeaking, the(T) isTom, t he(V)isamachineand

like is the (SM). The (G) of this comparison is acting automatically.

Moreover,the(Tp)isadepictionofTom.Tomfollowsthedirectionofhis

fatherwithoutthinkingorshowinganyfeeling.Throughthiscaseofsimile,the

author illustrates the themeof harsh education in the Victorian society.Mr.

Gradgrind depriveshissonoffeelingsandemotions.Theuseoftheindefinite

article,a,generalizessuchaportrayal.Intheinstanceabove,thepsychological

impressionisoneofgeneralizationcombinedwiththementalimageryinvolved.

Dickens is often knownfor his wit to create special characters in his

novels. The author uses simile as a means to give more details about his

characters.HisdescriptionofJosiahBounderbysappearancestandsasanother

instanceoftheuseofsuchalinguisticdeviceinHardTimes:

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Amanwithagreatpuffedheadandforehead,swelledveinsinhistemples,

andsuchastrainedskintohisfacethatitseemedtoholdhiseyesopen,andlift

hiseyebrowsup.Amanwithapervadingappearanceonhimofbeinginflated

likeaballoon,andreadytostart.(HT:12)

Inbrief, the simile marker, like, is used to describe characters, their

actionsandsomeplacesinthenovel.Therefore,onemaysaythatlikehelps

thewriterdevelophisplotandenhancesnarrationofhisstory.

As

Asisoftenconsideredtobeoneofthemostimportantsimilemarkers

becauseitcancombinewithotherwordstoformdifferentstructures.Theauthor

makesuseofthemarkerasinHardTimestotackledifferenttopics.Thelatter

includeshumanportrayals,actionsanddescriptionsoffeelings.

Throughout the novel, as is used either as a pre position or as a

subordinator, introducinga clause of similarity. In the following instance of

simile,asfunctionsasapreposition.Comingbackhome,StephenmeetsMrs.

Pegler, a mysterious old woman who asks him many questions about

Bounderbyshealthandappearance.Stephensatisfieshercuriosity,givingher

informationaboutthesocalledselfmademan:

Asshestraightenedherownfigure,andheldupherheadinadaptingher

actiontoherwords,[].

Andhowdidhelook,Sir?Washeportly,bold,outspoken,and

hearty?Andhealthy,saidtheoldwoman,asthefreshwind?

Yes,returnedStephen.(HT:69)

InMrs. Peglersspeech,thecomparisonisbetweenBounderbyandthefreshwind.Inthiscaseof simile,the(T)isBounderby,the(V)isthefresh

20

windandthe(SM)isas.Besides,the(G)ishealthfulness.Bounderbyis

totallyfreefromanyillnessandfullofenergy.The(Tp)isadescriptionof

Bounderby.Dickensalsomakesuseofassimilesinordertocompletethemakeup

ofhischaracters.HedescribesMrs.Sparsitasfollows:

Allthejourney,immovableintheairthoughneverleftbehind;plaintothe

darkeyesofhermindas theelectric wires whichruleda colossal stripof

musicpaperoutoftheeveningsky,wereplaintothedarkeyesofherbody;

[].(HT:188)

In short, the (SM), as, functions either as a preposition or as a

subordinatorin HardTimes.Dickensusesthismarkerinordertoportrayhis

charactersandtheiractions.

Asas

OneofthemainsimilemarkersusedinHardTimesisasas.This

markeristhoughttobeintroducedtointensifymeaning,beingpossiblymore

effectivethantheothersimilemarkersinthisrespect.Dickensdoeshave

recoursetoasastotalkaboutdifferenttopics.Hedescribespeople,their

actionsandfeelings,theirmentalstatesandverbalacts.Healsodepicts

inanimateobjectssuchasplacesinthenovel.

DickensusesasasinasceneinwhichBounderby,standinginfrontof

the fire at Stone Lodge, talks to Mrs. Gradgrind about the poverty heexperienced in his childhood and the way he overcame all the obstacles to

becomea successfulselfmademan:

[]Ipassedthedayinaditch,andthenightinapigsty.[]Notthata

ditchwasnewtome,forIwasborninaditch.

Mrs.Gradgrind,alittle,thin,white,pinkeyedbundleofshawls,[];Mrs.

21

Gradgrindhopeditwasadryditch?

No!Aswetasasop.Afootofwaterinit,saidMr.Bounderby.(HT:13)

Inhisspeech,Bounderbymakesacomparisonbetweentwoitems,the

ditchandasop.TheditchwhereBounderbywasbornandthesophavethe

samecharacteristics.Thus,the(T)istheditch,the(V)isasop,the(SM)is

asasandthe(G)iswet.The(Tp)isadepictionoftheditch.Tomaintain

theideaofbeingselfmade,Bounderbydoesexaggerateeverythingabouthis

childhood. He proclaims that the ditch was the place where he was born,

consideringitasasop.BounderbytriestoshowMrs.Gradgrindhowmiserablethelifehelivedwas.

Finally,onemayconcludethatthesimilemarker,asas,isusedfor

differentpurposesinHardTimes.Dickenshasrecoursetoitinordertohandle

varioustopics.Inasassimiles,thegroundisexplicitlycited.Thus,mostof

thesesimilesarenonpoetic.Thismarkerisoftenregardedasanotherformof

as.

Asif

Itcanbesaidthattheuseofasifinthenovelisduetocertainmotivesof

thewriter.Thismarkerusuallyintroducesahypotacticclause;itfunctionsasa

subordinatingconjunction.Dickensmakesuseofsuchamarkerinportraying

human beings, in depicting their actions and emotions, and in describing

inanimateobjects.

DescribingSissysreactionafterlosingherfather,theauthorusessimile

toemphasizethenatureofhermakeup:

Itwassopathetictohearhersayingmanythingsofthiskind,withherface

turnedupward,andherarmsstretchedoutasifsheweretryingtostophis

departingshadowandembraceit[].(HT:33)22

Byusingasifsimiles,Dickenstacklesdifferenttopics.The(SM),as

if,usuallyfunctionsasasubordinatingconjunction,introducingahypotactic

clause. In the latter, theauthor uses thesubjunctivemoodwhichrefers toa

hypotheticalstate.Inthisrespect,onededucesthatthesubjunctiveparallelsthe

indefinitearticleasameansforgeneralization.

Asthough

Asthoughisconsideredasanoldformofasif.Asasubordinating

conjunction,italsoexpandsintoahypotacticclause.InHardTimes,thissimile

markerisusedtotalkaboutcharacters,theiractions,theirfeelingsandinanimate

items.

In the second opening chapter of the novel, Dickens emphasizes the

physicalappearanceofBitzer,Gradgrindspupil,makinguseofasthough:

Hisskinwassounwholesomelydeficientinthenaturaltinge,thathelooked

asthough,ifhewerecut,hewouldbleedwhite.(HT:4)

Through the use of simile in his novel, Dickens tries to describe his

characters, their actions and the places where they live. Therefore, such

descriptionscanhelptodeveloptheplotofthestory.Also,hehasrecourseto

thislinguisticdevicetointensifythemeaningofanywordinhisworkandto

create new meanings without using newwords. The teacher as well as the

studentmayfindsuchdataofsimileausefulwaytointroduceanyliterarywork

in the classroom. In the following chapter, we will try to propose some

pedagogicalimplicationsoftheuseofsimileinDickensHardTimes.

HelpingLearnerswithSimileintheNovel

Students often find difficulties in understanding the ambiguities of

23

figurativelanguage.Manynovelsarerichinvariousfiguresofspeechwhichare

included under the general term of metaphor. The latter is an implicit

comparisonbetweentwoessentiallyunlikeitems.

Studentsmayfinditdifficulttounderstandmetaphorsinnovelsforsome

reasons.First,itisnotnecessarilyclearforlearnersthata metaphor isusedin

theliterarytexttheyarereading.However,similesareclearlyidentifiedbythe

learner of English, since there is a simile marker in eachstructure. Second,

learners may find difficulty in unraveling the relation between apparently

dissimilarthings.Forinstance,themetaphoricalstatementdaysfireisoften

usedtodescribethesun.Tounderstandthismetaphor,thelearnerofEnglish

oughttoinferthatoneitem,thesun,isimplicitlycomparedtotheother,the

fire.So,thefirestandsforthesun.Studentsneedtofindoutthequalities

that the two items have in common; some of these characteristics are

brightnessandwarmth.Inaddition,theyshoulddiscovertheeffectsofthe

useofsuchadevice.Therefore,understandingmetaphorsinvolvesengagingina

seriesoflinguisticinferences.Studentsmayinterpretmetaphorsorsimilesby

drawingon their own individual associations. These associations are usually

determinedbytheconventionsandcustomsof their social environment. The

simile,heislikealion,isoftenusedtorefertobravenessandcourage;itis

also introduced by students from other societies to indicate savagery or

royalty.Theteacherneedstostrikeabalancebetweenallowingtheintegrityof

learnersinterpretations,whilesimultaneouslyreferringtothesymbolicmeaning

forthewriterssociety.Another point that can arise is that students may find difficulty in

distinguishingbetweentheusesofthedifferentsimilemarkers,like,as,as

as,asifandasthough.Inthiscase,theteacherofliteratureoughttofinda

strategyoraplanofhis/herlessononsimiletofollowinordertogetoverallthe

24

above mentioned difficulties. In the following section, we suggest a sample

lessonofhowtoteachsimileusingaliterarytextasacorpus.

7Seetheproposeddefinitionofsimile(pp.9192)

CONCLUSION

Thepresentstudyshowstheimportantroleofsimile,incontrastwiththeclassicalviewwhichhighlightsthedecorativefunctionofthislinguisticdevice.

Following the Romantic view, it can be said that simile functions in a

constructiveway.Metaphor, being a blanket term, refers to different figures of speech,

including simile. Metaphor is an implicit comparison, whereas simile is an

explicitone,usingmarkerslikelikeandas.Itiscommonlyusedinpoetry

andprose.Asaliterarywork,DickensHardTimescontainsdifferentlinguistic

devices,mainlyfiguresofspeech.Simileisthefrequentlyusedfigureofspeech

inthenovel.

Dickensusesvariousformsofsimilewithdifferentmarkers.Like,as,

asas,asifandasthoughrepresentthesimilemarkersinvestigatedinthe

present study. This work considered the functions of simile in the readers

25

approachtothenarrativewhichisusuallysaidtorepresentanunknownworld,

remotefromthepresentexperience.Thepresentinquiryattemptedtoaccount

forthemeansbywhichDickensallowshisreaderstoaccesseachdetailofhis

society.

26

Wehopethatthesequestionswillopenupforthestudentnewperspectivesforresearchonsimileinliterature.WealsohopethatthisstudyhashelpedtothrowsomelightontheuseofsimileinCharlesDickensHardTimes.Ourobjectiveisthatteachersaswellasstudentswillfindsomeusefultheoreticalandpractical

ideasaboutsimile.BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Alderson,J.C.andUrquhart,A.H.,1984,ReadinginaForeignLanguage,London:Longman.

- Beardsley, M., 1967, Metaphor, in Edwards, P., (ed.), 1967, The

EncyclopaediaofPhilosophy,vol.5,NewYork:MacmillanPublishing.

- Betsky,S., 1996,SocietyinThackerayandTrollope,inFord,B., (ed.),

1996, FromDickenstoHardy,vol. 6of TheNewPelicanGuidetoEnglish

Literature,London:PenguinBooks(pp.139163).

- Black, M., 1979, More about Metaphor, in Ortony, A., (ed.), 1979,

MetaphorandThought,Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress(pp.1943).

- Carey, J., 1973, The Violent Effigy: A Study of Dickens Imagination,London:FaberandFaber.

- Carter,R. andMcRae,J., 1996,ThePenguinGuidetoEnglishLiterature:

BritainandIreland,London:PenguinBooks.

- Chapman,R.,1973,LinguisticsandLiterature,London:EdwardArnold.

SimileMarkers,in

http://www.les.aston.ac.Uk/lsu/diss/jkatsaros.html(July2004)

PlotOverviewofHardTimes,in

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hardtimes/summary.html(March2005)27

ThemesofHardTimes,in

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hardtimes/themes.html(March2005)Glossary

- Alliteration:afigureofspeechinwhichconsonants,mainlyatthebeginning

ofwordsandstressedsyllables,arerepeated.

- Allusion:usuallyanimplicitreferencetoanotherworkofliteratureorartand

toapersonoranevent.Itisanappealtothereaderstosharesomeexperience

withthewriter.

- Caricature: a termused to refer to the exaggerated description of ones

appearanceandattitudes.

- Diction: word choice; different ways of selecting from the range of

vocabularies.

- Drama:aworkthatismadetobeperformedonstagebyactors.

- Euphemism:thesubstitutionofamildexpressionforaharshandbluntone.

- Hyperbole: afigureofspeechthat is characterisedbyanexaggerationfor

emphasis.

- Imagery: coverstheuseoflanguagetorepresentobjects, actions,feelings,

thoughtsandanysensoryexperience.

- Irony: somethingwhichhasanothermeaningputbythewriter;itisusually

theopposite,andoftenhasahumoroustone.- - Metaphor:referstoacertainlinguisticprocesswherebyaspectsofoneitem

aretransferredtoanotheritem.

- Metonymy:afigureofspeechinwhichthenameofathingistransferredto

taketheplaceofanotherthingwithwhichitisassociated.

- Modality:textualelementssuchasmodalauxiliaries(e.g.may,could,would)28

and sentence adverbs (perhaps, certainly) signaling attitude and enablingspeakerstoexpressdegreesofcommitmenttothetruthorvalidityofwhatthey

aretalkingabout.- Oxymoron: a common device which combines contradictory words and

meaningsforaparticulareffect.

- Parallelism: consists of phrases or sentences of similar construction and

meaningplacedsidebyside,balancingeachother.

- Personification:theattributionofhumanfeaturestoinanimateobjects.

- Polysemy:thechangeofmeaninginwords.- Pragmatics:thestudyofwhatpeoplemeanbylanguagewhentheyuseitina

suitablecontexttoachievecertainaims.

- Repetition: amainunifyingelement inpoetryandprose.It canconsistof

sounds,specialsyllablesandwords,phrases,ideasandmetricalpatterns.

- Rhythm: the sense of movement communicated by the arrangement of

stressedandunstressedsyllablesandbythedurationofthesyllables.

- Romanticperiod:aliterarymovementthatrejectstherulesofClassicismand

focusesontheneedforexpressingpersonalpassionsduringtheeighteenthand

nineteenthcenturies.

- Semantics:thestudyofmeaningasencodedinalanguageinabstractionfrom

itsuseinaparticularcontext.

- Simile:anexplicitcomparisonofonethingwithanother,recognizablebythe

useofwordslikelikeandas.

- Stylistics: the study of style in language, i.e., the analysis of distinctive

linguisticexpressionsandthedescriptionoftheirpurposeandeffect.- Symbol: an object, animate or inanimate, that represents or stands for

somethingelse.Itcombinesanimagewithaconcept.

Synecdoche:afigureofspeechwhichcoversthosecaseswherethepartstands

29

forthewholeorviceversa.

30