This week, we looked at A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, spending a considerable amount of time working with the various illustrations by John Leech. I found it really informative and helpful going over the images as a class and talking about how Leech used the images to create his own interpretation of Dickens’ words. I am definitely not well-versed in the world of art, so analyzing illustrations like we did today in order to find some deeper meaning was really difficult for me. I’m used to spending lots of time looking at word choice and placement, but it was brand new for me to do the same type of analysis using object placement and colour choices and so on. I’m glad we went over all of the pieces together because that really helped me find my footing in regards to how to talk about images and illustrations like that. 

One thing that really intrigued me in the illustrations themselves is the different tactics Leech used to emphasize themes prominent in the text. For example, in the image “Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball,” Leech puts far more detail and colour in the drawings of Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig than he does in the poor workers. This highlights the disconnect between the upper and lower classes that Dickens emphasizes throughout that scene as well in a completely different way. This visual representation of the same theme helps illuminate it in a subtle way.