Strategic Literary Techniques in Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells - Essay Example

Tono-Bungay Written in 1909, Tono-Bungay is one of the most famous H. G. Wells’ novels. The realist semi-autobiographical novel draws its success from the ability of the author to develop a cohesive plot that remains focused on the analysis and portrayal of the social landscape in England at the time. The author achieves unity in the plot not only by the systematic narrative chronology of the plot but also by the use of appropriate patterns and metaphors. The author of the novel uses a number of appropriate literary devises to develop a cohesive plot. In doing this, he develops a number of realistic conflicts among the characters in the novel. Furthermore, he succeeds to resolve the conflicts a feature that sustains the plot to a conclusion. Throughout the plot, the author employs artistic use of the literary techniques in developing a conflict that manages to portray the panoramic social landscape of England as the discussion below portrays. Wells uses various literary techniques strategically to enhance his portrayal of the social classes and their effects on the characters. Key among the techniques is the first person narration technique. Wells develops and positions George Ponderevo as the lead character in the novel. Ponderevo, therefore, narrates the story from his point of view. In doing this, the character describes his experiences thereby telling the story. The author of the novel positions the character at the center of the action in the story. His experiences portray the effects of the class struggles as his lowly family struggles to earn a decent living. Ponderevo’s interaction with other characters including Mrs. Mackeridge, Beatrice, and his uncle portrays the effects of the unique system of social stratification. The first person narration technique heightens the conflict among the characters as the lead character narrates his experiences. The author of the novel remains fixated with the description of the social landscape of the country at the time. He remains conscious of the social class system that stratifies the society. He acknowledges that he belongs to the class of servants and must, therefore, interact with other characters, especially those from a higher social class with respect. George Ponderevo is the son of a housekeeper. He limits his interactions with other characters by observing the social classes. Mrs. Mackeridge among other characters in the novel is always quick to remind such characters as Ponderevo and his ilk of their low social class, when “Mrs. Mackeridge told you it was a fine morning, she seemed also to be telling you, you were a fool and a low fool to boot” Wells 3.” As such, Ponderevo remains conscious of his lowly social class. This shows Wells attempt to describe the social division in the society. The story is a perfect blend of comedy, erotic tragedy, a naturalist love story, and humanist threnody. The plot consists of intriguing conflicts, love affairs and deaths of some of the important characters. Wells manages to develop such an interesting story by following the life of a young bot as he comes of age. Through the systematic first person narration, Ponderevo expresses his disappointment and humiliation as he interacts with other characters in the story. His greatest source of regret, for example, is his failure to achieve his childhood dreams. Wells divides the novel into four books. Such is a strategic technique that provides the author with the opportunity to traverse the various social and economic problems the boy faces as he comes of age. The four books have distinctive features, thereby providing the perfect fusion of a tragedy, a humanist story and threnody as explained earlier. A tone of regret overrides in the four books as Ponderevo continues to review his life. his inability to live up to his childhood and youthful dreams torment him and influences his interactions with some of those closest to him key among whim is his uncle. The story of George throughout the plot is one of the lost illusions and dreams that materialize. This occurs in his love life, success in life, marriage, and business among others. When he leaves Bladeshover and relocates to London, his first impression of the city shows the class struggle. He describes the grayness of the city, congestion, and slums. This shows his entrapment in the lowly social class a feature that sustains his bitterness even as he interacts with other characters. However, he settles given the similarity of the life in the city to his countryside home. He, therefore, makes friends and learns ways of the city. The author uses a number of literary techniques to show the disillusionment of the lead character. Key among such techniques is dialogue and vivid description. George develops an opinion about most of the characters he interacts with throughout the book and is, therefore, quick to describe them (Page and Farnham 76). He, for example, describes Mrs. Mackeridge as snooty to show the fact that she often attributed to her superior social class thereby maintaining a condescending tone when addressing George and his ilk. Dialogue, on the other hand, refers to the conversation between the characters in the novel (Richard and Baton 91). The author uses dialogue to break the monotony that arises from a series of proses. Dialogue is, therefore, an effective way for the author to engage the audience. Additionally, the author employs a logical way of presenting suspense in the plot. Suspense is an element in literature that sustains the audience besides enhancing the development of conflicts in the plot (Arun and Peruvalluthi 43). Wells portrays his literary genius by dividing the plot into sections. He introduces some of the conflicts in one section of the book and promises to resolve it in the other. This way, the author manages to maintain a central conflict in the book as he strives to present the panoramic social landscape in the society. In book one for example; George lives a miserable life in the countryside alongside other characters who often remind him of his lowly status. He moves to the city where he plans to study science. Book one ends with his uncle introducing “Tono-Bungay” a product that he believes would earn him immense profitability and success. The book, therefore, ends in suspense as the author make the audience anticipate the development of the plot. Once in London, George matures rapidly, meets and falls in love with Marion. The two would later have a failed marriage. His frustrations with his studies coupled with his lack of financial stability are some of the factors that torment him given the fact that Marion requires a facially stable man. Such is a strategic inclusion in the novel as Wells strive to show the difficulty in overcoming the social class system of stratification. George had hoped to complete his studies in science and become a financially stable man who would then live a morally upright lifestyle with his family. Such are some of his childhood and youthful dreams that do not materialize thereby sustaining the social class struggle with George and his ilk remaining poor throughout the plot. George supplants his moral uprightness with the desire for financial stability in order to impress Marion. He joins his uncle in the sale of “Tono-Bungay”, a patient medicine, that he believed had no value but was enjoying immense success owing to the effectiveness of the marketing strategies his uncle employs. In the book, Wells portrays his ability to use vivid description coupled with dialogue to present the power of advertising. Uncle Edward is a marketing genius that easily turns a medicine that has not substantial value into a sellable and valuable product. He explains that George that marketing has revolutionized the world and given him the power, to sell non-valuable substances “He takes something that isn’t worth anything — or something that isn’t particularly worth anything, and he makes it worth something” (Wells 55). The subsequent books in the plot maintain the melancholic mood in George owing to the failures he encounters in life. The money from the sale of the medicine makes him stable enough to marry Marion but they soon become deplorable again as the drug fails. George begins to smuggle quap in order to help his uncle given his poor financial state. However, his endeavor fails after he kills a man and the quap rots a section of the ship thereby causing a wreck. The book ends in a tragedy for Uncle Edward who dies pathetically in France. George, on the other hand, has a happy ending when he floats in the Thames river with a destroyer he succeeded in building. Despite such, George does not achieve the financial stability he craved throughout the novel. Conclusion In retrospect, Wells develops a systematic plot that blends a number of classes of literature including tragedy, love story and adventure among many others. He succeeds in doing this with the plot by employing a number of strategic literary techniques. Suspense, dialogue and vivid description help present the story in the plot thereby permitting the natural presentation of the conflict among the characters. The same is the case with the first person narration, which he employs in telling the story. George narrates his experiences thereby making the conflicts humanly possible. However, the technique presents the story with a degree of bias as George judges the other characters (Arter and Tregidga 07). Despite such, the author succeeds in telling the story of George, a young man who comes of age. George accepts his status in the society after a number of failed attempts. Through the story of George, his failures and unhappiness, Wells tells the story of the panoramic social landscape of the society at the time. Works cited Arter, Nick and Tregidga, Helen. “Storytelling Beyond the Academic Article: Using Fiction, Art and Literary Techniques to Communicate”. Journal of Corporate Citizenship. 2014, Issue 54, p5-10. 6. Print. Arun, C, and Peruvalluthi, V. “Narrative techniques in O. Henry’s short stories”. Language in India. 2013, Vol. 13 Issue 5, p67-79. 13p Page, Michael and Farnham, R. The Literary Imagination From Erasmus Darwin to H.G. Wells : Science, Evolution, and Ecology. London: Ashgate, 2012. Print. Richard, Lehan D. and Baton, Rouge. Literary Modernism and Beyond: The Extended Vision and the Realms of the Text. New York: Louisiana State University Press, 2012. Internet resource. Wells, H G. Tono-bungay. Lanham: Start Classics, 2013. Internet resource. Read More