Through dark imagery and the figure of the horse down, Hueffer shows London more monstrous than people would have assumed from a distance. Hueffer senses that people outside of London picture this perfect city, "…with colour everywhere" and "…the glint of straws blown from horse's feeds…"(Hueffer 257). Hueffer explains the way one might imagine feeling when crossing the streets of London.
From the "…indissoluble muddle of gray wheel traffic…"(Hueffer 257) to the …"pallid church wavering into invisibility"(Hueffer 257), Hueffer shows the darkness of the City of London. With the words "pallid, "wavering," and "invisibility"(Hueffer 257) describing the church, Hueffer shows the reader how the ethics of the Londoners have disappeared. With the words "gray," "mud." and "muddle" describing the streets of London, Hueffer shows the reader how colorless the city is with imagery.
Instead of supporting people's glorious view of London Hueffer explains the "truth" about the "monstrous" streets of London. To him the things you should "avoid" looking at, like the "…horse down in the sticky streets with its frantic struggles…"(Hueffer 257). To him there is nothing more horrifying to look at in the streets of London than this "ghostlike" figure of a horse down. Hueffer paints a picture for the reader by explaining, "the frantic struggles," "the apparition of great teeth," and "lying still of the horse" (Hueffer 257). As the Horse lays there in pain, the people of London take a quick glance and think nothing more of this Horse. Their disregard for the horse shows that the Londoners are emotionless.
The people outside of London not knowing about this "monstrous" city, show that the outsider must not know about the carelessness of the Londoners during this Victorian era. Once the outsiders do know, they won't again picture London with its, "…paving stones almost opalescent…" (Hueffer 256). Instead they will imagine the "sticky mud," the "frantic struggles," and the "lying still of the horse"(Hueffer 257) of London. Hueffer wants the reader not to let their city, outside of London, get to be what London is during this Victorian era.
Hueffer, Ford. "The Soul of London: The Survey of a Modern City." In The Secret Agent. Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Editions, 2009. Print.
"Monstrous" |
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