The emdash is a punctuation piece that’s “stronger and formal than a comma and less formal than an colon and more relaxed than parentheses.” (Strunk & White 9). A dash, which is an informal symbol for a sudden change in thought, can be used to indicate emphasis and acts as a parenthetical device. This particular punctuation has many functions. Naturalists as well literary realists often use it. The dash is used to indicate mental infirmities, disjointed speech or faltering thought, and to show the characters’ emotional state.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James features an astonishing number of dashes. As the story weaves through complex ambiguities, veiled horrors and other facets, it serves to highlight and accent the mental instability of the young governess. James’s use to dash serves two purposes: to increase the mood and create a sense of urgency, miscommunication and faulty judgement. The dash can be used to reveal mental instability. Gilman uses it in his case to show the latent madness of John’s spouse. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, is a short piece that echoes James. Gilman uses the dash to respond against a society that oppressed its women and covered them in domesticity. Gilman’s stories often contain dashes that elicit a rebellious or sarcastic tone. It is through these small statements that Gilman’s main character conveys her dissatisfaction without fear of reprisal by her caretakers. The dash is often a sign of a stressed or agitated mental status. The intense combat and associated mortal dangers of armed conflict are what causes the agitation. Crane’s novel is punctuated by abrupt, sometimes unplanned thoughts and conversations that imitate, realistically, the limited ability to think and talk on a battlefield. Crane’s dashes capture the emotions of the characters by repeating speech. Henry’s repeated requests to Jim, his musings as untested soldiers and many other instances use repetition to portray emotionally charged scenes.
The Turn of the Screw uses the dash as a way to tell a story that is rich in ambiguity. It also creates a sense of suspense and dread. The governess is always the last to finish Mrs. Grose’s sentences when speaking to each other. The governess begins, “Did he see anything?-” and finishes her sentence with, “That wasn’t correct.” Mrs. Grose (James 11) says that she didn’t tell me. The dash signifies that the governess is afraid of immorality. While she wants to know if Miles has the potential for misbehavior, she avoids going outside her boundaries and leaves the question unanswered. The story is made more ambiguous by the fact Mrs. Grose must finish her statement. Because one person completed the question, the reader isn’t actually present to it. These lines reflect the thoughts of two people. Miles interrupts Miles when she asks Miles if “and these items came around-“; Miles continues her sentence, “To my masters?” James 86. Another interruption blocks communication. Miles must express her thoughts with some supposition, as the governess is still not fully expressed.
This tendency to interrupt and be interrupted is a sign of mental insecurity for the governess. The governess is irritated when Mrs. Grose tells her that Miles “couldn’t stop-” her learning about Quint’s inappropriate relationship with him. I daresay!” (James 35-6). The young woman, who has just arrived in the area and is not familiar with the history of Miles’s family, quickly mocks Miles’ innocence. Her mental instability is evident by her unwillingness to believe certain suppositions and Mrs. Grose’s interruption, which was represented by the dash. The governess quickly interrupted Ms. Grose. She reached a conclusion quickly, using scanty evidence and putting Miles in doubt. The governess’ thoughts also include dashes that provide insight into her character. She had “plunged in afresh to Flora’s particular society and became aware — almost a luxury! She could feel the pain and put her little conscious finger on it (James 33). This exclamation made up of dashes and in the middle or a thought shows the instability of her governess. The governess describes Flora to be a very intelligent individual who uses her talent in a devious fashion. Within the dashes, she praises Flora’s “society”. The dashes in this example indicate one thought that oscillates between approval and praise. This makes the novel more ambiguous and blurs the thoughts of its governess. James’s incessant recitations make it difficult to understand the real motivations and character of the governess.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses dash in a manner that is reminiscent Henry James’s. She uses the dash for mental breakdown in her short tale “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Gilman also uses dash to criticize Gilman’s husband’s treatment. The story effectively critiques the current methods of psychological care during Gilman’s time. Short Stories 75: The main character says that she is afraid of the mansion but doesn’t mind — “I can feel it.” Both dashes hint at further investigation of this house and reveal the woman’s mental deterioration. The woman is able to sense the house’s nature and has made a connection with the mansion. The main character describes her husband’s nursery, rousing curiosity. Wallpaper is used in the nursery to create flamboyant patterns. The dash creates a personality from wallpaper by describing the patterns. The paper begins to take on life thanks to its active qualities — plunging, destroying. This reveals that the woman is becoming more depressed. She vividly portrays her mental breakdown by telling wild stories with a matter of fact tone. The nursery’s supernatural details are presented as if real, showing how mad and deranged she has become.
Gilman’s story was written partly to rebut the rest cure, and the idea that domesticity. She uses dashes in Gilman’s story to show how the main character resists her husband’s treatment. Short Stories 74. The main character receives phosphates (or phosphates — whichever it may be) and is forbidden from “working” until she recovers. This statement is sarcastic in tone, and accentuated by the flippant attitude effected by the addition of a dash. It demonstrates the unhappy state of the main character’s treatment. She is completely disinterested in the treatment she is receiving. The woman is seeking treatment to please her husband. She does not believe the methods are helping. The woman tells us that she struggles to control her emotions — even before her husband, which makes it clear that she is just doing the bare minimum. The dash shows the contrast between her behavior towards her husband and her attitude toward others. Although she initially claimed that she took great care to monitor her behavior and follow her treatment instructions, that quickly changed when she used the dash. She now says that her husband is her only authority when she is there. Her statement becomes conditional by the dash.
Stephen Crane’s short novel, The Red Badge of Courage, is similar to Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James. He relies on dashes for his characters mental processes and their emotional state. Crane’s novel, The Red Badge of Courage, uses dashes to create short staccato sentences that represent yells or battlefield commands. The captain orders his men to “Reserve fire boys” (Crane 24-). These dashes are used to group words together in small bursts. They are representative of military commands. The dash and repetition serve to emphasize the captain’s wishes. It communicates clearly through simple, repetitive language what the men should do. The dash is used to indicate the emotional state of Crane’s characters. Henry promises Jim that he will care for him when he meets up with him. The dashes of Henry’s struggle to care for his wounded companion can almost be described as gasps in the air, as if he is trying to breathe. Henry’s words alternate between gulping and faltering, staggered, and strained. Henry’s anguish is clearly recognizable in the sentence construction. The abrupt end of the novel’s thought is also represented by the dash. Henry realizes that he has no choice but to go through the entire battle. The rest of Henry’s idea vanished in a blue fog of curses.” (Crane 80). A thought can be easily lost in the midst a battle. Henry can quickly disconnect from his thinking process with the dash. The dash ends the thought immediately and replaces it by a litany curses.
The dash, which can be used in many ways, is essentially an emphasis tool. Although dashes can connect, interrupt or indicate a change, create uncertainties, and many other things, a dash is essentially a tool of emphasis. Charlotte Perkins Gilman used dashes in her criticism of elements of her society to express sympathy for a woman who is sinking deeper into madness. Henry James used dashes as a way to create a complicated portrait of confusions and ambiguity that imbued the entire piece with a sense dread. Stephen Crane used dashes to portray the battlefield frenzy of soldiers on the battlefield and capture their emotions. The dash has been used by many authors as a central punctuation piece. Its utility is what makes it so appealing.
Works cited
Ward, Candace. Great Short Stories from American Women. Dover Publications released a book in New York in 1996.
Crane, Stephen. Stephen Crane’s novel, The Red Badge of Courage, tells the story of a soldier’s experiences in the Civil War. Dover Publications (1990) published a book in New York.
James, Henry. The Turning of the Screw is a novella by Henry James about a governess who is hired to look after two children in a country estate and finds out that they are haunted by two ghosts. Dover Publications, 1991, published in New York.
William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White collaborated on a book. A classic manual on English usage, The Elements of Style outlines the fundamentals of grammar and syntax. Allyn and Bacon published Massachusetts in 2000.