Liudmyla Rokishchuk
Kamyanets-Podilsky Ivan Ohiienko National University
Scientific Supervisor: M.V. Matkovska, Senior Lecturer
STYLISTIC FEATURES OF DESCRIPTIONS IN THE NOVEL “THREE MEN IN A BOAT” BY JEROME K. JEROME
Jerome K. Jerome’s novel “Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog”) is renowned for its stylistic peculiarities in descriptions, which lend the work uniqueness and humorous charm. He adeptly employs literary techniques to create vivid pictures that help the reader visualize scenes and details [1].
One of the key elements of the descriptive style in the novel is the use of irony and humor. Jerome skillfully combines comic situations with lively descriptions, making the reading captivating and entertaining. For instance, various episodes depict the clumsiness of the main characters during their attempts to learn the art of boating or their failures in fishing, creating a comedic contrast with their ambitions [1; 3].
Another stylistic feature is the masterful use of details in descriptions. Jerome meticulously crafts images, providing the reader with precise and vivid descriptions of both individual characters and their surroundings. He can convey the smallest details that help create a realistic picture. Additionally, the author employs his characteristic rhythm and ease of speech. He avoids complex sentence constructions, endowing the prose with simplicity and clarity. This makes the text accessible to a wide range of readers and adds freshness and lightness to it [2].
In the novel, Jerome uses unusual imagery and comparisons that make the descriptions particularly vivid and memorable. For example, in one of the descriptions, he compares the boat to “a big, colossal swan,” giving the scene unexpected imagery and originality [3].
The author sometimes inserts intertextual references to other literary works or cultural phenomena into the text, adding depth to his work and making it more intriguing for readers. For instance, in the description of river boating, one can notice an allusion to classic adventure novels.
Jerome K. Jerome’s skillful use of stylistic elements in “Three Men in a Boat” contributes to the novel’s enduring popularity and its status as a classic of humorous literature. Through his vivid descriptions, humorous anecdotes, and intertextual references, Jerome creates a rich and engaging narrative that continues to delight readers across generations. Jerome often incorporates interactive elements into the text of the novel, addressing the reader directly or posing rhetorical questions. This creates the impression of direct communication with the author and engages the reader’s attention. Another stylistic feature of Jerome’s style is his own linguistic fingerprint, manifested in characteristic turns of phrase, idioms, and expressions. This lends the text originality and individuality. Jerome is known for his unique humor and irony. He often employs ironic comments or sarcastic remarks to underscore the absurdity of situations or the foolishness of characters’ behavior.
Dialogues in Jerome’s works also have their own charm and expressiveness. They are often filled with sharp remarks, jokes, and humorous situations. The author skillfully uses dialogues to highlight the characters’ personalities and create amusing situations.
Jerome often gives his descriptions a picturesque quality, using numerous images and comparisons. For example, in “Three Men in a Boat”, the author describes river landscapes with such metaphorical beauty: The river stretched out like a rich eternity, and rushed straight ahead, as if in a hurry [2; 3]. Jerome K. Jerome’s adept use of interactive elements, linguistic quirks, and vivid metaphors enriches “Three Men in a Boat” with humor, irony, and visual imagery, making it a timeless classic of humorous literature. For example: “… the year seems like a fair young maid, trembling with strange, wakening pulses on the brink of womanhood [2; 3, VI].
Jerome is an adept at turning ordinary or banal situations into comic and unpredictable ones. He often transforms everyday events into unexpected or funny moments, making his work particularly appealing to the reader.
Although the novel “Three Men in a Boat” is predominantly dedicated to comedic situations and humor, it also contains allegorical elements and symbolism that may have deeper meanings. For example, the boat as a symbol of adventures and journeys, or the river as a symbol of life and its unpredictability [2; 3]. Jerome skillfully combines different genres, such as comedy, adventure novel, and psychological drama, which add richness and interest to his work for the reader.
In the Jerome K. Jerome’s stories, the elements of the fiction and non-fiction do not simply interact and are often difficult to differentiate; this interpenetration itself becomes the most important means of creating a comic. So, for example, in the novelette “Three men in a boat”, those features inherent in fiction are declared to be the dignity of literature as a whole, and the main advantage of Jerome’s story is its credibility – quality immanent in documentary journalism: “A documentary work is not always reliable, but it is always a work to which the requirement of reliability, the criterion of reliability can be applied” [1].
So, to sum up, Jerome K. Jerome’s novel “Three Men in a Boat” is a vivid example of humorous literature with rich stylistic features. Its descriptions, dialogues, and characters make the work unique and extremely interesting for the reader, while the depth of character development makes it more multifaceted and meaningful in the modern literary context.
REFERENCES
- Humour devices in the book “Three men in a boat” by Jerome K. com. URL: https://prezi.com/yiaolkgdjb9p/humour-devices-in-the-book-three-men-in-a-boat-by-jerome-.
- Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome: Summary and Review. Friends of Words. URL: https://friendsofwords.com/2022/06/28/three-men-in-a-boat-jerome-k-jerome-summary-review/
- Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog). Free eBooks | Project Gutenberg. URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/308/pg308-images.html