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Excerpt
Excerpt from Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty, by Charles Dickens
The late Mr Waterton having, some time ago, expressed his opinion that
ravens are gradually becoming extinct in England, I offered the few
following words about my experience of these birds.
The raven in this story is a compound of two great originals, of whom I
was, at different times, the proud possessor. The first was in the bloom
of his youth, when he was discovered in a modest retirement in London,
by a friend of mine, and given to me. He had from the first, as Sir Hugh
Evans says of Anne Page, ‘good gifts’, which he improved by study and
attention in a most exemplary manner. He slept in a stable--generally
on horseback--and so terrified a Newfoundland dog by his preternatural
sagacity, that he has been known, by the mere superiority of his genius,
to walk off unmolested with the dog’s dinner, from before his face. He
was rapidly rising in acquirements and virtues, when, in an evil hour,
his stable was newly painted. He observed the workmen closely, saw that
they were careful of the paint, and immediately burned to possess it. On
their going to dinner, he ate up all they had left behind, consisting of
a pound or two of white lead; and this youthful indiscretion terminated
in death.
While I was yet inconsolable for his loss, another friend of mine
in Yorkshire discovered an older and more gifted raven at a village
public-house, which he prevailed upon the landlord to part with for a
consideration, and sent up to me. The first act of this Sage, was, to
administer to the effects of his predecessor, by disinterring all the
cheese and halfpence he had buried in the garden--a work of immense
labour and research, to which he devoted all the energies of his mind.
When he had achieved this task, he applied himself to the acquisition
of stable language, in which he soon became such an adept, that he would
perch outside my window and drive imaginary horses with great skill,
all day. Perhaps even I never saw him at his best, for his former master
sent his duty with him, ‘and if I wished the bird to come out very
strong, would I be so good as to show him a drunken man’--which I never
did, having (unfortunately) none but sober people at hand.
Explanation
Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens
This passage from Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ’Eighty (1841) is a digression in which Dickens reflects on his personal experiences with pet ravens, inspired by a comment from naturalist Charles Waterton about the bird’s declining population in England. While the novel itself is a historical fiction set during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, this excerpt serves as a whimsical yet insightful interlude, blending humor, anthropomorphism, and subtle social commentary. Below is a breakdown of the text’s key elements:
1. Context & Purpose
- Source & Setting: Barnaby Rudge is one of Dickens’s early historical novels, blending fiction with real events (the 1780 riots). The raven in the story, Grip, is a central character—a talking bird owned by the simple-minded Barnaby, who becomes entangled in the chaos. This digression, however, is Dickens speaking in his own voice, sharing anecdotes about his real-life ravens.
- Purpose: The passage serves multiple roles:
- Realism: Dickens grounds his fictional raven in personal experience, lending authenticity to Grip’s portrayal in the novel.
- Humor & Entertainment: The anecdotes are comic, showcasing the ravens’ mischievous intelligence.
- Thematic Foreshadowing: The ravens’ traits (cleverness, mimicry, and a darkly prophetic air) mirror themes in the novel—chaos, superstition, and the unpredictability of mobs.
2. Themes
A. Human-like Intelligence & Animal Agency
- Dickens anthropomorphizes the ravens, attributing to them human-like cunning, ambition, and even moral failings:
- The first raven is described as having "good gifts" (a phrase borrowed from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor), which he "improved by study"—suggesting a capacity for learning and self-improvement.
- He outsmarts a Newfoundland dog, stealing its food through "preternatural sagacity" (supernatural cleverness), framing the raven as a trickster figure.
- The second raven excavates buried cheese and halfpence, displaying memory, persistence, and almost archaeological dedication.
- Significance: This blurs the line between human and animal, reinforcing the novel’s theme of instinct vs. reason. The ravens, like the rioters in Barnaby Rudge, act on impulse—sometimes with tragic results (e.g., the first raven’s fatal ingestion of paint).
B. Folly & Self-Destruction
- The first raven’s death is a tragicomedy of curiosity and greed:
- He observes painters, notes their care for the paint, and "burned to possess it"—a metaphorical (and literal) consumption of something toxic.
- His "youthful indiscretion" (eating white lead) kills him, mirroring human vices like gluttony or the pursuit of forbidden knowledge (echoing Adam and Eve or Icarus).
- Connection to the Novel: The riots in Barnaby Rudge are similarly self-destructive, fueled by misplaced passion and ignorance.
C. Mimicry & Performance
- The second raven mimics stable language and "drives imaginary horses", performing for Dickens’s amusement.
- The landlord’s suggestion that the raven would "come out very strong" if shown a drunken man implies:
- Ravens (like humans) imitate what they see, absorbing the chaos around them.
- The novel’s rioters are likewise mimetic, swept up in collective madness.
- Dark Humor: Dickens’s aside—"(unfortunately) none but sober people at hand"—mockingly contrasts the raven’s expected environment (a rowdy tavern) with his own domesticated life.
D. Mortality & Loss
- Dickens’s tone shifts from amusement to melancholy when describing the first raven’s death ("I was yet inconsolable").
- The second raven’s exhuming of the first’s buried treasures becomes a macabre yet poignant act—almost a funerary ritual, suggesting cycles of life and replacement.
3. Literary Devices
| Device | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropomorphism | Ravens have "genius," "study," and "virtues." | Makes the birds relatable, blurring human/animal boundaries. |
| Irony | A raven—symbol of wisdom—dies from stupidity (eating paint). | Highlights the gap between perception and reality. |
| Hyperbole | The raven’s "preternatural sagacity" terrifies a large dog. | Exaggerates the bird’s intelligence for comic effect. |
| Allusion | Reference to The Merry Wives of Windsor ("good gifts"). | Elevates the raven to a Shakespearean character, adding literary weight. |
| Dark Humor | The raven’s death by poison; the landlord’s drunken-man suggestion. | Undercuts sentimentality with grotesque or absurd details. |
| Juxtaposition | The raven’s burial/exhuming of treasures vs. human grief. | Contrasts animal instinct with human emotion. |
| Foreshadowing | The ravens’ chaotic, mimetic nature mirrors the novel’s rioters. | Hints at the mob’s irrational, destructive behavior. |
4. Significance in Barnaby Rudge
- Grip the Raven as a Symbol:
- In the novel, Grip is Barnaby’s companion, often uttering cryptic phrases (e.g., "I’m a devil!") that seem to prophecy doom. This excerpt explains why Dickens chose a raven—a bird associated with death, omens, and mimicry (cf. Poe’s The Raven).
- The real ravens’ cleverness and unpredictability parallel the novel’s themes of fate vs. free will and the uncontrollable nature of crowds.
- Social Commentary:
- The ravens’ behavior—stealing, mimicking, and self-destructing—mirrors the mob mentality of the Gordon Riots, where people act on impulse without regard for consequences.
- The paint poisoning can be read as a metaphor for societal corruption—consuming something alluring but toxic.
5. Tone & Style
- Conversational & Digressive: Dickens’s tone is chatty and personal, as if sharing stories over tea. This breaks the fourth wall, inviting the reader into his confidence.
- Shift from Whimsy to Pathos: The passage begins playfully (the raven outsmarting a dog) but ends on a somber note (death and disinterment).
- Dickensian Wit: The humor is dry and observational, e.g., the raven’s "stable language" or the landlord’s odd request for a drunken man.
6. Broader Connections
- Dickens’s Love of Animals: Dickens often wrote about animals (e.g., Oliver Twist’s Bull’s-eye, David Copperfield’s donkeys), using them to reflect human traits.
- Gothic & Supernatural Undertones: Ravens are omens in folklore (e.g., Norse mythology, Poe). Their presence in the novel adds an eerie, prophetic atmosphere.
- Victorian Attitudes to Nature: Waterton’s comment about ravens’ extinction reflects 19th-century anxieties about industrialization and the decline of the natural world—a theme Dickens touches on in Hard Times and Bleak House.
Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters
This excerpt is more than a quirky anecdote—it’s a microcosm of Barnaby Rudge’s central concerns:
- The duality of intelligence and folly (ravens are brilliant yet self-destructive, like the rioters).
- The power of mimicry (both ravens and mobs absorb and repeat what they encounter).
- The fragility of life (the first raven’s tragic end foreshadows the novel’s violent climax).
Dickens uses humor and pathos to explore deep themes, making the passage a masterclass in blending the comic and the tragic—a hallmark of his style. The ravens, like many of his characters, are both ridiculous and profoundly human.
Final Thought: If Grip the raven is a mirror to the novel’s chaos, then this digression is Dickens winking at the reader, saying: "Pay attention to the birds—they know more than we do."