Language

Style of language

The style of language of the short story “Nobody’s story” by Charles Dickens is formal Victorian English. It is understandable, but extremely proper, with no contractions in the narration and always grammatically correct. Dickens is well known for his creative use of language, especially Victorian jargon, with words such as: “dwelt” (p.3 l.22), “uncouth” (p.3 l.27), “serfs” (p.4 l.29). 

At the end of the story, Nobody seems to have lost all hope for change and this is expressed throughout his use of language, especially negative words, such as: “a man condemned” (p.7 ll.17-18), “torment” (p.7 l.19), “mire” (p.7 l.20), “pernicious neglect” (p.8 l.22).

The story also includes descriptive language which creates rich images. An example of this is ...