The Broken Auditory Mask
In his novel Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens constructs the character of William Dorrit, father of Amy Dorrit and a debtor from the Marshalsea prison, who inherits a large sum of wealth. He is presented as a paranoid, insecure, and broken man when reminded of the Marshalsea prison. From his introduction in “The Father of the Marshalsea” where he witnesses Amy’s birth and receives testimonials from the collegians to his eventual demise after his hallucinogenic speech in “The Storming of the Castle in the Air,” Dickens draws the reader's attention through his use of repeated breaks in Mr. Dorrit’s dialogue to highlight the struggle of refusing to acknowledge one’s past identity, splitting his personality in the process, indicating how the pressure of Society forces …show more content…
However, this is due to the fact that he is surrounded by the familiar space of the Marshalsea. He is comfortable with the people that surround him. So comfortable, in fact, that he does not hesitate or stutter while asking someone like John Chivery, son of the Marshalsea turnkey, for a testimonial in chapter 18 “Little Dorrit’s Lover.” However, these interruptions consistently appear in book two. The only difference between Mr. Dorrit in book one versus book two, besides the wealth, is the distance he is away from the Marshalsea. What readers can observe when comparing the two books is the fact that he continuously speaks in this broken speech pattern after leaving the prison. Being in the prison gave him a sense of stability and peace. He was not obsessed with seeming of a higher status because he knew that he was above everyone else, or at least believed to be since he was given the title of the “Father of the Marshalsea.” Now, the change of location seems to have unhinged his insecurities and makes him obsessive to the point where his speech is constantly interrupted by “ha”, “hum”, and
In his novel Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens constructs the character of William Dorrit, father of Amy Dorrit and a debtor from the Marshalsea prison, who inherits a large sum of wealth. He is presented as a paranoid, insecure, and broken man when reminded of the Marshalsea prison. From his introduction in “The Father of the Marshalsea” where he witnesses Amy’s birth and receives testimonials from the collegians to his eventual demise after his hallucinogenic speech in “The Storming of the Castle in the Air,” Dickens draws the reader's attention through his use of repeated breaks in Mr. Dorrit’s dialogue to highlight the struggle of refusing to acknowledge one’s past identity, splitting his personality in the process, indicating how the pressure of Society forces …show more content…
However, this is due to the fact that he is surrounded by the familiar space of the Marshalsea. He is comfortable with the people that surround him. So comfortable, in fact, that he does not hesitate or stutter while asking someone like John Chivery, son of the Marshalsea turnkey, for a testimonial in chapter 18 “Little Dorrit’s Lover.” However, these interruptions consistently appear in book two. The only difference between Mr. Dorrit in book one versus book two, besides the wealth, is the distance he is away from the Marshalsea. What readers can observe when comparing the two books is the fact that he continuously speaks in this broken speech pattern after leaving the prison. Being in the prison gave him a sense of stability and peace. He was not obsessed with seeming of a higher status because he knew that he was above everyone else, or at least believed to be since he was given the title of the “Father of the Marshalsea.” Now, the change of location seems to have unhinged his insecurities and makes him obsessive to the point where his speech is constantly interrupted by “ha”, “hum”, and