The emdash is an example of punctuation which can be used in print. It is usually formed by two hyphens that are not separated. A dash was traditionally used to signify an abrupt change in thinking. However, this punctuation is informal and can often be used to highlight the point. This punctuation has many uses and functions. Literary realists and naturalists 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 uses the dash as a tool to add to the already rushed atmosphere. However, it also serves to create miscommunications, faulty judgements and suspicion. 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,” echoes James. Gilman uses the dash to respond against a society that treats its women as domestic slaves. Gilman’s stories are often filled with dashes. This is because Gilman’s main character can communicate her frustrations and beliefs from the small statements she makes without fear of being retaliated by her caregivers. The dash is often a sign of a stressed or agitated mental state. The intense combat and associated mortal dangers of armed conflict are what causes the agitation. Crane’s novel is punctuated by abrupt and inconsistent thought. Conversations mimic the reduced ability of soldiers to think and talk on the battlefield. Crane’s dashes capture the emotions of the characters by repeating speech. Henry’s insistence on Jim, the musings and untested soldiers of the soldier, and many other instances, use repetition to portray emotionally charged scenes.
The Turn of the Screw uses the dash for suspense and anxiety. The governess is always the last to finish Mrs. Grose’s sentences when speaking with the other. The governess begins, “Did he see anything?-” and finishes her sentence with, “That wasn’t wrong.” She never did tell me.” Mrs. Grose, James 12. The dash signifies that the governess is afraid of immorality. She is trying find out if Miles has the potential for misbehavior. However, she avoids going over her limits and leaves the question unanswered. This story is ambiguous because Mrs. Grose must finish the statement. Because one person completed the question, the reader isn’t actually present to it. These lines are not the thoughts of one person, but two. Miles interrupts the young governess when she asks Miles, “and those things came around-” Miles finishes her sentence with, “To 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 insecurities for the governess. The governess gets a snide remark from Mrs. Grose when she assures her that Miles won’t hinder her learning about Quint’s inappropriate relationship. 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 and relied only on limited evidence to question Miles’ assertions. There are also hints in the musings of her governess: She had “plunged again into Flora’s special society and there became conscious — it was almost luxury!” She could feel the pain and put her little conscious finger on it (James 33). The governess’ instability is evident in this exclamation. It was propelled by dashes and made within the middle-of-a thought. The governess describes Flora, a very discerning individual who uses it in a devious and clever way. 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 is constantly expressing her feelings, making it difficult to get a sense of the governess’s true motives and character.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses dash in a manner that is reminiscent Henry James’s. She uses it to emphasize mental break in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Gilman also uses dash to criticize Gilman’s husband’s psychological treatments, which in effect critiques the current methods of treatment. Short Stories 75: The main character says that she is afraid of the mansion but doesn’t mind — “I can feel it,” when she first arrives. The dashes indicate that the woman’s mental health is at risk. The woman can sense the character of the mansion and has made a connection with it. Inquisitive, the main character describes their nursery. Wallpaper is used in the nursery to create a dazzling pattern. The dash creates wallpaper with personality and being. The paper begins to take on life thanks to its active qualities — plunging, destroying. This shows that the woman is getting worse. She vividly portrays her mental breakdown by telling wild stories with a matter of fact tone. The nursery’s supernatural details are described as if they were real, which highlights how insane the woman is.
Gilman wrote the story partly as a counter to domesticity and the idea that rest cures are possible. The main character resists her husband’s treatment. Gilman uses dashes for this purpose. “The main character, who is a phosphate or phosphates-taker — whichever it may be… and am prohibited from working until I feel well again,” (Short Stories 74) The main character’s unhappiness is illustrated by her treatment. This statement has a sarcastic tone that is amplified by the addition of a dash. She is completely disinterested in the treatment she is receiving. She is not undergoing the treatment because she believes it will help her husband. The woman states that she takes great care to control herself — at least before her husband, and that it makes her tired. (Short Stories 75). She is not just going through the motions. The dash highlights both the difference between her behavior and how it is perceived by her husband. After the dash, she quickly changes her mind and admits that she does take great care to monitor her behavior and follow her treatment. Her statement becomes conditional by the dash.
Stephen Crane, like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James, uses dashes to present his characters’ mental processes and take an assessment of their emotional state in his novel The Red Badge of Courage. Crane’s novel, The Red Badge of Courage, uses dashes to create short staccato sentences that represent yells or battlefield commands. The captain shouts to his men “Reserve Your Fire Boys — Don’t Shoot Till I Tell You — Save Your Fire — Wait till they get close — Don’t Be Damned Fools” (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 tells Jim, when they meet up, that “Yes — yes” he has told him. (Crane 41). 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 pain is easily identifiable by the sentence structure. The abrupt end of the novel’s thought is also represented by the dash. Henry realizes that he has no choice but to cross the entire lot in battle. “The rest of his idea vanished in the blue haze. One thought can be easily lost in the midst a fierce battle. Henry can quickly disconnect from his thinking process with the dash. The dash ends the thought immediately and causes it to be replaced by a litany curses.
While the dash can be used to indicate a change, connect, interrupt, create uncertainty and other things it is basically a tool for emphasis. 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 as a way to criticize aspects of her society and express empathy for the woman who sinks deeper into insanity. Henry James used dashes as a way to create a complicated portrait of confusion and uncertainty and infuse 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. New York’s Dover Publications published a book in 1996.
Crane, Stephen. Stephen Crane’s novel, The Red Badge of Courage, tells the story of a young soldier’s transformation from a timid recruit to a brave and fearless warrior. Dover Publications of New York released the book in 1990.
James, Henry. The Spin of the Screwdriver. Dover Publications issued a book in New York in 1991.
Strunk Jr. and White wrote a book on English usage. The Principles of Writing. Allyn and Bacon, 2000, was the publisher of a book that originated in Massachusetts.
