Rabbit Trail: Blueflies
Estimated Time: 5 minutes
In Book The Second, Chapter 3, Dickens writes, "a buzz arose in the court as if a cloud of great blue-flies were swarming about the prisoner..." Charles Dickens uses a unique comparison to capture this moment in the courtroom.
To fully appreciate what Dickens is doing with this imagery, we're going to learn a bit about blow flies, the "great blue-flies" mentioned. These flies are not just any ordinary flies; they have a particular significance and presence in nature. Understanding a bit about these creatures will help us see why Dickens might have chosen them to represent the atmosphere in the courtroom.
Blow fly | insect
Blow fly, (family Calliphoridae), any member in a family of insects in the fly order, Diptera, that are metallic blue, green, or black in colour and are noisy in flight. With an average size of 8-10 mm (0.3-0.4 inch), they are slightly larger than houseflies but resemble them in habits.
What is Dickens trying to say with the use of the "blue-flies" in this chapter?
0 comments