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Varieties of speech presentation in the novel
Task D - Our answer
Gerrty Westerby's remarks get the Direct Speech (DS) treatment. The quotation
marks, and the fact that all the deictics and lexical forms are appropriate
to the character makes this clear. This DS form is appropriate for Gerry's
'in your face' character, and it foregrounds the crucial detail which
is so important for the novel's plot.
Smiley's response, on the other hand, is in the FIS form. It has the
subordination of a reported clause to a reporting clause which is typical
of IS, and the past tense and third-person pronouns are also appropriate
for that form. But the interactive response form 'yes' (just as we saw
in the Little Dorrit extract in Task C) and the adverbial 'so far'
are forms one would have expected Smiley to say if he had been given DS.
This IS/DS mixture produces FIS, with its 'mixture' effect of vividness
and distance. Unlike the Little Dorrit extract, the distancing
effect does not produce irony, however. Smiley is the 'hero' of the novel.
Here, the distancing effect is (a) consistent with his reserved character
and (b) also appropriate for the 'hidden world' of espionage, where facts,
and the fact that you know facts, are not usually revealed unless it is
absolutely necessary. In looking at the contrasting characterisation of
the two men in the extract, it is also interesting to note that in the
novel as a whole, as here, the narrator consistently refers to George
Smiley with his last name form 'Smiley' also helping us to feel somewhat
distanced from him, but Gerry Westerby, the spy with the simple, open
character, is usually referred to by the narrator as Gerry.
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