Novel

D

Imagery and Irony

In addition to point of view, style, and symbolism, novelists use many other specific techniques in their works. Two of the most important are imagery, the collection of descriptive details that appeal to the senses and emotions of the reader by creating a sense of real experience, and irony, the reader’s recognition that what is expected from a statement, situation, or action is different from what actually happens.

Through imagery the writer attempts to embody in images all abstractions and generalizations about character and meaning. Japanese author Kawabata Yasunari is known for the startling images in his work. In Yukiguni (1948; Snow Country, 1956) the hero on the train sees a girl’s face reflected in the window as the mountain landscape flows by outside:

The difference between imagery and symbolism is that the purpose of imagery is not to embody meaning but to create an illusion of reality by stimulating the reader’s senses. Nevertheless, an image may also serve as a symbol when it has special meaning and represents another idea, either to the reader or to the novel’s characters. In The Scarlet Letter (1850) by American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter A that Hester Prynne wears is an image in the novel that makes her character more vivid to the reader. Within the novel, in the town in which she lives, the letter symbolizes her adultery.

Irony can take several forms, and the novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940) by American writer Carson McCullers provides examples of each type. Irony can be dramatic (acting without knowing that the effect of one’s actions is the opposite of what one expected). In the novel, four different characters talk to John Singer, who cannot hear them or speak to them, because they think that he will understand their conflicts with other people. Irony can also be situational. When all four characters happen to visit Singer at the same time, each is ignorant of the fact that they have many problems in common and could perhaps help one another. And irony can be verbal (saying one thing when the opposite is true). Singer says to a friend of his who lives in a mental asylum, “I write to you because I think you will understand.”

---

---

Authors may also use irony to reveal something about characters to the reader without having the characters become aware of it themselves. In McCullers’s novel, only Singer and the reader are aware that Singer does not understand the characters when they speak to him.

Novelists use many other literary devices in their works. For more information on these devices, see Alliteration; Analogy; Figure of Speech; Humor; Parable; Parody; Satire; Stream of Consciousness.

V

Genres of the Novel

Novels can be classified into dozens of genres, and novels may belong to several of these categories at the same time. Distinctions among genres can be drawn in many ways. Such distinctions include the form in which the works are written, such as epistolary novels, which take the form of letters written between characters; the settings, such as regional novels, which focus on life in a certain area; and the purpose, such as propaganda novels, which try to convince the reader to adopt a certain point of view. Other examples of distinct forms include picaresque novels, which describe the adventures of rogues; Gothic novels, which describe ghosts and other elements of the supernatural; science-fiction novels, which portray other worlds or other possibilities for our world; and detective stories, which focus on mysteries.

A few broad genres of the novel reflect some general tendencies. Social novels tend to focus on the outward behavior of characters and how other characters react. Psychological novels explore the inner workings of an individual’s mind. Education novels recount a person’s development as an individual. Philosophical novels provide a platform for authors to explore intellectual or philosophical questions. Popular novels usually involve adventure, intrigue, or mystery and appeal to a wide range of people. Experimental novels are works in which writers make major innovations in form and style.

A

Social Novel

The social novel focuses on the behavior of characters and how the characters’ actions reflect or contradict the values of their society. The social novel includes two major types: the novel of manners and the chronicle novel. The novel of manners focuses on a small segment of society. The chronicle novel paints a broad survey of society as a whole. In both types, the characters’ external conflicts and interactions with others are the lifeblood of the story.

A

1

Novel of Manners

In its general form, the novel of manners is concerned with subtle nuances of behavior and standards of correctness, usually in upper-class life. Novels of manners describe small encounters and use insights from these incidents to make generalizations that apply to humanity as a whole.

Pride and Prejudice (1813) by English writer Jane Austen describes bad behavior, ungentlemanly conduct, and the distinctions between the pride of self-respect and the various forms of arrogance, willfulness, and self-absorption into which this pride can be twisted. Austen’s novel focuses on the three Bennet sisters’ attempts to find husbands. The work features characters such as the reckless, man-chasing Lydia Bennet, the pompous Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the obsequious Mr. Collins, the snobbish Caroline Bingley, the cynical Mr. Bennet, the inane Mrs. Bennet, and the vulgar Mrs. Philips. Typical maneuverings are those of Caroline, a young woman who tries to impress Mr. Darcy by pretending to read a book he is reading. In the novel of manners, such moments, although seemingly trivial, expose the character of a person.

In her later novel Emma (1816), Austen also exposes questionable social maneuvers. For example, the pretentious Mrs. Elton's patronizing manner causes the main character, Emma, to fume, but Emma’s outburst reveals her own temper:

American authors Henry James and Edith Wharton wrote novels of manners to depict the struggle of people to maintain individualism while conforming to society’s expectations. In James’s novella Daisy Miller (1879), a young American woman in Europe unknowingly violates social norms by going to the wrong places, not being respectful to society ladies, and walking in public with men to whom she has not been properly introduced. Daisy’s too-friendly behavior and flirtatiousness scare off acquaintances, and James uses the small details of her infractions to comment on how difficult it can be for individuals to honor all of society’s conventions. Daisy herself even comments comically on her fate:

Wharton’s book The Age of Innocence (1920) develops much the same theme by showing how the so-called proper New York society of the 1870s, concerned with proper background and behavior, defeats the impulse for freedom and self-expression. Newland Archer has spent his life loving a beautiful, exotic cousin of his wife, but she does not fit his society’s idea of a proper wife. Although Newland is at peace with his place in society—he is described as “the good citizen”—he is aware of a lack in his life: “Something he knew he had missed: the flower of life.”

The novel of manners can deal with any segment of society. A Handful of Dust (1934) by English author Evelyn Waugh is about the conflicting manners of Tony Last, a gullible, kindly country gentleman, and Brenda, his glamorous, faithless wife. The story exposes Brenda's reckless pursuit of an affair and Tony's self-absorption.

American novelist Mary McCarthy stays strictly within the bounds of the novel of manners in The Group (1963). This work uses the guiding idea of autonomy for women to show how several Vassar College graduates assert this autonomy in their love affairs, domestic arrangements, and careers.

Some novelists of manners have satiric intentions. In The Late George Apley (1937), American writer J. P. Marquand uses the letters of a member of Boston’s upper class to make fun of the type of man who imagines that his snobbish routines, club life, tastes, and connections form the most important part of American civilization. In Goodbye, Columbus (1959), American author Philip Roth satirizes the self-protective attitude of the prosperous middle class. Brenda Patimkin, daughter of a successful businessman, breaks off her relationship with her lower-middle-class boyfriend, Neil, by deliberately letting her parents know about their affair and by letting them forbid the relationship. Neil sums up Brenda's position by saying, “You can go home—your father will be waiting with two coats and a half-dozen dresses.”

A

2

Chronicle Novel

The chronicle novel takes a broader view than the novel of manners by attempting to bring the scope of a whole civilization into the work. It also uncovers the meanings, principles, and social styles that govern people’s lives. The chronicle novel scrutinizes individuals but at the same time offers an analysis of social classes and groups.

Père Goriot (1834; Old Goriot) by French author Honoré de Balzac is a chronicle novel that uses the idea of fatherhood to explore facets of French society. The novel describes the mad generosity of old Goriot, a man who feels holy when he helps his daughters, who are women of low morals. Another father figure in the novel is the sly, sinister character Vautrin, who has a profitable murder scheme prepared for the benefit of his young friend Eugène de Rastignac. By describing Vautrin’s twisted paternal action toward Eugène, Balzac asserts that fatherhood is a failed principle in a society in which fashion and making money are of paramount importance.

Beyond this master idea, Père Goriot also explores the ambition of youth to throw off the past, including the influence of fathers. Eugène, a young man from the provinces who moves to Paris to discard the pieties and illusions of his old life, demonstrates this aspect of personal growth:

Eugène comes to recognize his place in society and how his situation can be a form of entrapment. This sort of recognition is typical of what characters discover in the chronicle novel. For example, in Little Dorrit (1857) by English author Charles Dickens, Arthur Clennam visits the deserted London streets on a Sunday, the drawing rooms of the upper middle class, the run-down neighborhood called Bleeding Heart Yard, and the Marshalsea Debtors’ Prison. In all these places he observes his fellow citizens in various forms of imprisonment: physical, emotional, and social.

The chronicle novel often has a historical sweep over several years or even generations. In Madame Bovary (1857), French author Gustave Flaubert first portrays Charles Bovary as a boy—the young oaf at school, his constrained and uneventful life with his parents. These images add depth to the later scenes that deal with the main character, his wife Emma, and her search for glamour.

Sartoris (1929) by American novelist William Faulkner follows tragic recklessness through several generations. The ideal of heroic daring begins for the family in the American Civil War (1861-1865) with the foolhardy actions of Bayard Sartoris, a Confederate Army officer who is killed in an ill-advised raid on a Union camp. This risk-taking heritage carries down to the 20th century, when the youngest surviving Sartoris leads a self-destructive life.

Another chronicle novel set in the American South is A Summons to Memphis (1986) by American author Peter Taylor. On one level the book is a story about a son’s view of his father, a man of traditional ideas. On another level it is a story about the social contrasts between two Tennessee cities, with Memphis representing the Old South and Nashville representing the New South. By looking at how a responsible, honest, but old-fashioned member of the old society is bewildered by the changes that have occurred around him, Taylor gives his impressions of modern life.

For Russian author Leo Tolstoy, public events and personal experiences both contribute to panoramic novels of Russian civilization. His Voina i mir (1865-1869; War and Peace) is a meticulous recreation of the period of Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), when French emperor Napoleon I waged war on much of the rest of Europe. Within this historical landscape, Tolstoy depicts individuals and their actions, in part because he views historical events as being caused by the convergence of innumerable individual actions. To represent why Russian civilization endured intact through the chaotic Napoleonic period, Tolstoy studies individual people and how they adjust to differing situations. For example, Natasha, who progresses from girlhood to middle age, symbolizes the natural process of adaptation and survival. Over the years she transforms herself from a vibrant, self-assured star of Saint Petersburg society to a family-oriented, settled matron.

À le recherche du temps perdu (1913-1927; Remembrance of Things Past, 1922-1931) by French author Marcel Proust examines an entire culture by focusing on an individual’s memories and impressions of society. The novel is not only an evocation of the customs and manners of an earlier period but also a recreation of the stages of consciousness of the narrator. The reader follows Marcel’s progress as he gradually penetrates the illusions of both social life and love. As he learns about snobbery and betrayal, he learns to rise above their destructive effects. In this seven-volume work, Proust documents the state of his society and shows that pretense and cruelty are highly developed in duchesses, courtesans, salon poseurs, and ladies’ room attendants alike.

	More from Encarta
	•  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain