Amis vs. Dickens

The authors Charles Dickens and Martin Amis have many stylistic differences. Even though they lived in different times, with diverse ideas about life, these two authors are still able to have a few stylistic similarities. Charles Dickens, author of the novel, "Hard Times" in the 19th century, focuses on the reality of life, and how many people seem to forget about "living" and concentrate too much on work. His ideas are straightforward, and don’t pay much attention to "fancy". The author of "Times Arrow", Martin Amis, is a contemporary novelist. It was written in 1991, which makes it easier for the reader to relate to. The novel is written from the point of view of the main character's soul, and therefore the story seems to be told backwards. Both Charles Dickens and Martin Amis have admirable writing styles that attract readers both young and old.

Dickens' use of rhetorical devices is exceptional in "Hard Times", and Amis uses this stylistic feature equally skillfully in "Time's Arrow". Rhetoric devices are a way for the narrator to speak to the reader. This is particularly effective device in each novel, since it attracts the reader to the novel, and gives the reader a sense of "belonging" to the story. In "Hard Times", the narrator says of M'Choakumchild, "If he had only learned a little less, how infinetely better he might have taught much more" (15). Through this, we can see that the narrator is inviting the reader to be a part of the novel. He is also trying to get the reader to express an opinion about M'Choakumchild - does the reader agree with the narrator, or disagree? The narrator in "Time's Arrow" tells the reader that, "We sat around the fire, as you do …" (169). For the last time in the novel, the narrator invites the reader to experience the story with him. By attracting the reader, it leaves the reader with a sense of fulfillment, and a sense of being part of the storyline for the last time.

Although rhetorical devices add a remarkable touch to each novel, characterization is also used by both authors, although each writer adds his own personal touch. The characters in each novel are extremely diverse, and it is clear the each writer has his own ideas and opinions about people. When Sissy and Jupe are introduced in "Hard Time...

... middle of paper ...

... obviously cares about her gives her this advice, the reader knows that she will make the best of her life. In "Times Arrow" foreshadowing also plays a large role. "The world is going to start making sense…" (124). This foreshadows that things will simply get worse, and not better, because the soul is seeing things backwards. After all, the world doesn't make sense.

Dickens and Amis use personification, in order to liven up each novel. In "Hard Times", time is personified repeatedly. "Time … worked away … Time passed Thomas on in the mill … Time, sticking to him" (94). Dickens does this, in order to make the reader realize that even though time passes, it is still very much "alive" and around us. In "Times Arrow", "…the railway tracks [are] in their arrested journey" (170). The narrator gives the railway tracks a sense of humanity here. It may suggest that the little things we tend to overlook, are in fact alive, and on a journey of their own. We don't often stop and look around to observe what’s alive, and what's really going on in the world. Amis challenges the reader to do just that by using personification.