Introduction
Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned authors of English literature, and this stems from his skillful use of pathos, ethos and logos in his pieces. A Tale of Two Cities was a remarkable depiction of how the French revolution affected the lives of its people, but more importantly is was a representation of how to effectively apply logos in one’s writing. Conversely Oliver Twist was an effortless portrayal of emotion (pathos) as well as the relevance of ethos in making one’s argument.
Analysis
Ethos
Aristotle explained that a good argument is one that stems from credible authors. One must demonstrate to the audience that one is worthy of their respect through one’s character. Credibility in fictional writing may stem from various outlets, including an author’s personal background. The author needs to have experienced or at least come in close contact with the situations or settings in his work. To illustrate this dimension in Charles Dickens’ writings, one may compare the subject of his novels with his personal experiences.
Dickens grew up under relatively difficult circumstances during his childhood. The author did not enjoy the privileges that children from middle income households enjoyed, even though he had both parents. His father was hospitable in nature, and this sunk him into debt. At the time, Victorian laws treated indebtedness as a crime. Therefore, Charles’ father was jailed alongside his family of eight children. Dickens was the only one left to fend for the family; at the tender age of 12, he worked for meager earnings in a polish-making factory. The gruesome experiences at the factory would provide him with material for Oliver Twist. Dickens survived on a meal of pudding and 6 shillings per week. He endured such horrible treatment regardless of the fact that he dedicated 12 hours of his day to the job. Charles would not get any relief after work because he went back to an attic at Camden Town. It was these miserable conditions that caused the author to identify with poverty-stricken children in his country. Oliver Twist mirrors the squalor and misery of the underclass in England’s capital. Many readers have praised Dickens for his incredible ability to describe wretched and unpleasant settings or scenarios. His experience as a young man in those conditions gave him authority over the subject matter. Dickens is credible in the area of child labor, oppression, capitalism and elitism because he was exposed to their evils (Pykett 1).
At this period of his life, Charles lacked access to formal education. He felt frustrated at the fact that he would never grow to become a distinguished gentleman. His parents made things worse by causing him to continue working at the factory even after being released from prison. Dickens learnt first hand what it means to be rejected by one’s own family. These issues added to the richness of his characters in Oliver Twist. The frustrations of the protagonist in the novel closely resemble those of the author. Oliver enters a workhouse where the officials exploit him for his labor. These details would have been difficult to describe if one were merely imagining them. Dickens’ encounters with similar officials give him authority over the writing (Pykett 13).
A Tale of Two Cities also illustrates how an author can render credibility to his work. Since the narrative is a depiction of historical events, it was not possible for the author to experience these issues directly. However, he relied on authoritative figures of the events. He read a lot of books on the French revolution, and thus tried incorporating some of the technical aspects of the episode in his book. Nonetheless, Dickens was careful not to turn his book into a mechanical recount of the revolution. He stuck to his style of writing but made a point of incorporating some actual facts about the French Revolution.
The issue of credibility in a Tale of Two Cities also comes out in the love triangle between Lucie, Carton and Darnay. Charles Dickens had authority to speak over this matter because he was involved in a love triangle of his own. Having been married for over thirty decades to the same woman, Dickens probably needed some excitement in his life. He got involved in a play where he met and worked with the young and beautiful Ellen Ternan. At this point, he fell in love and began an affair with her. The intricacies of being involved with more than one woman were carried forward into the creation of A Tale of Two Cities (Brown 44). Dickens understood his subject matter through his personal experience thus rendering credibility to his work.
Speakers or writers also convey ethos through their positions in society. An audience is more likely to believe someone if his job or the titles he holds support his subject matter. Dickens held numerous positions in the literary field; he worked as an editor, an actor and author of numerous fictional books. Therefore, readers came to expect great work from him. His previous success rendered credibility to his subsequent works, and his position as a columnist prepared him for lengthier works.
Pathos
Aristotle explains that writers ought to use emotions or pathos in their argument as this resonates with audiences. Emotional appeals elicit very strong reactions from readers because they are the most instinctive of all appeals. Charles Dickens was renowned for his tactful use of emotion in his writing. In fact, some technical writers criticized him for it, as they believed that he was vulgar in his approach. Regardless of these criticisms, it is indisputable that Dickens was a literary genius. His ability to harness human emotions drew many readers to his books. In fact, he became one of the first celebrity writers because of this fact.
Oliver Twist exemplifies this form of persuasion brilliantly. When talking about poverty, Dickens had a way of making readers empathize with the characters. He did not just focus on the things they experienced but carefully expressed how those occurrences affected them. For instance, Dickens OliverTwist12) juxtaposed the images of a fat and red-faced gentleman with the images of the poor children of the workhouse who were expected to survive on nothing more than oatmeal or gruel three times daily. Their clothes were described as loosely fitting and their bodies were shrunken (Dickens OliverTwist 14). Such comparisons can easily enrage the audience as soon as it identifies with the injustices experienced by the children of the workhouse. Charles had a way of making even the most unpleasant settings resonate with the reader. For instance, when describing one of the housing establishments in the book, he states the following “The kennel was stagnant and filthy. The very rats, which were here and there lay putrefying in its rottenness, were hideous with famine.” (Dickens OliverTwist 25). One, therefore imagines how depressing the dwelling must have been if the rats themselves were starving.
Most of the goings-on in the slum were typical depictions of basic human living, but it was the intensity with which they took place that made them particularly moving. For instance, when describing the death of Mr. Sowerberry’s friend, Dickens (OliverTwist 42) captures the gravity of the situation through the use of powerful imagery. Not only does the audience learn that this woman died alone, but the conditions around her death were unbearable. She had no one to turn to and was so poor that she could not afford a candle, so her death was as a cold and dark as her surrounding. The addition of these minute elements in Dickens’ descriptions indicates his eye for detail and his capacity to tap into the root of human emotion.
Charles’ talent for the portrayal of emotion was especially prevalent when describing his characters’ surroundings. When talking about Mr. Sowerberry’s business premises, Dickens describes it as follows “An unfinished coffin on black tresses, which stood in the middle of the shop, looked so gloomy and death like. The shop was close and hot and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins.” (Dickens OliverTwist 34). This rich description of a simple establishment like a shop has been used by the author to heighten the dreariness of the location. Oliver is surrounded by so much despair that it is evident even in the smell of death. The author used the protagonists’ environment to elicit even more sympathy from the audience.
Logos
When making one’s argument, it is essential to make it logical. One ought to appeal to people’s mental processes in order to write a successful story. A Tale of Two Cities is a perfect depiction of such an approach. In the book, the author uses plot events in a manner that justifies future occurrences in the narration. Therefore, audiences cannot question what happens next since it is almost inevitable for them to take place.
At the beginning of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, Dr Manette is psychotic after spending two decades in prison. It is not surprising that he turns out this way. First, the man was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Second, he had spent approximately twenty years in an enclosed space; it is only rational that he retreats into himself. This aspect is logical and consistent with what took place later. When the doctor meets with his daughter, he has difficulties remembering her. However, he starts to form a connection when he ties her golden hair and blue eyes to his wife’s. Dickens remembers to show the detachment between these two parties because not only is the doctor mentally ill, but father and daughter have not seen each other for over two decades. He presents yet another rational argument in the given circumstances. Later on, Sydney Carton makes a commitment to Lucie Manette, shortly after she marries the aristocrat Charles Darnay. This commitment was essential in explaining why Sydney was willing to sacrifice his life to save Lucie’s family. At the end of the narrative, Sydney trades places with Charles, who had been arrested for his role in the revolution. Therefore, the author had already prepared the audience for this tragic outcome by foreshadowing it in subsequent parts of the novel (Dickens A Tale 80). It makes the story believable and also tragic to those concerned.
Dickens’ ability to use logos is also evident in the manner in which he presents his characters. Towards the end of the novel, Carton finds an opportunity to redeem himself as a purposeless individual by saving Darnay from the guillotine. The manner in which he prepares for this event is the most convincing of his character. First, he needs Barsad’s help to execute the plan, but because Barsad’s conscious might get in the way, Carton uses blackmail to accomplish his objective. Thereafter, he considers what will happen to the family and makes arrangements for them to leave Paris. Additionally, he knows that Darnay will be reluctant to take part in the plan so he passes by a chemist and purchases drugs that he will use on Darnay. Thereafter, Carton also tricks the prison guard to comply with him. All these actions lead to Darnay’s freedom and Carton’s execution. When writing about what happened to Carton, Dickens left no stone unturned. The author thought through possible objections and obstacles to the plan and came up with solutions to them. If Darnay merely accepted Carton’s offer to save his life, then readers would wonder why he no longer despised Carton; therefore, he had to be drugged. Additionally, if all other mediators, such as the prison guard or Barsard, eagerly followed his directions, then this would have made the story implausible. It is possible to relate to the story owing to the ingenuity of the author and the attention to detail that he gave to his characters (Pykett 109). This kind of approach appeals to the rational side of the audience’s mind.
Conclusion
Logos is evident in Charles Dickens work through the sequence of events in his character as well as the choices made by his characters. Ethos is visible in Dickens’ writing through his personal experience as well as his literary positions in London. Lastly, the author uses pathos skillfully in describing his characters, especially in Oliver Twist. The careful application of these appeals explains why Dickens was and continues to be a best -selling author.
Works Cited
Brown, Ivor. Dickens in his time. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1963. Print.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. London: Penguin, 1992. Print.
Dickens, Charles. A tale of two cities. London: Public Domain Books, 2010. Print.
Pykett, lyn. Critical issues: Charles Dickens. NY: Palgrave, 2002. Print.