8. implicitness and ambiguity of the fictional text

In a little district west o f Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken themselves into small strips called “places. ” These “pla ces ” make strange angles and curves. One street crosses itse lf a time or two. An artist once discovered a valuable possibility in this street. Suppose a collector with a bill fo r paints, paper and canvas should, in ti-aversing this route, suddenly meet him self coming back, without a cent having been paid on account!
So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling, hunting fo r north windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics and low rents. Then they imported some pewter mugs and a chafing dish or two from Sixth avenue, and became a “colony. ”
This extract abounds in depicting details which are supposed to create the visual image o f a Greenwich Village. Such details as little district, run crazy, strange angles and curves, without a cent, eighteen-century gables, Dutch attics, low rents, pewter mugs, chafing dish convey to the reader implicit information about cheap and poor dwellings in the suburbs o f New York favoured by poor artists.
Another poetic detail is the description o f the ivy vine:
There was only a bare, dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side o f the brick house twenty fe e t away. An old, old ivy vine, gnarling and decayed at the roots, climbed h a lf way up the brick wall. The cold breath o f autumn had stricken its leaves from the vine until its skeleton branches clung, almost bare, to the crumbling bricks. --
The following inferences may be drawn from this extract and its situational context. Johnsy was hopelessly counting the falling leaves having a presentment that she would die as soon as the last leaf had fallen down. The detailed description o f the ivy vine con­ taining the emotionally negative words (dreary, old, decayed, bare) acquires a symbolic meaning. It shows the emotional state o f mind o f the character and conveys the atmosphere o f depression, hope­ lessness and despair.
Very interesting implicit details are used in the text to characterize old Behrman. These details can be found in the des­ cription o f his appearance, manners and speech:
Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground flo o r beneath them. He was past sixty and had a M ichael Angelo's Moses beard curling down from the head o f a satyr along the body o f an imp. Behrman was a failure in art. Forty years he had wielded the brush without getting near enough to touch the hem o f his Mistress's robe. He had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never yet begun it. For several years he had painted nothing except now and then a daub in the line o f commerce or advertising. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists in the colony who could not pay the price o f a professional. He drank gin to excess, and still talked o f his coming masterpiece. For the rest he was a fierce little old man, who scoffed terribly at softness in any one, and who regarded him self as especial mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio above.
From these portrait descriptions we can infer some implications concerning Behrm an’s social status, way o f life and character: rudeness (a fierce little old man; scoffed terribly at softness in any one)-, drunkenness {drank gin to excess), misery
{earned a little by serving as a model), depravity {head o f a satyr), unluckiness {a failure in art) etc. Though, in this fragment his portrait and characterological descriptions are mostly o f a negative evaluation, one can observe a hidden hint aimed to reveal some positive characteristics o f Behrman. The phrase “had a Michael Angelo's Moses beard" contains two intertextual signals - the name o f a famous artist and that o f a great prophet. The implicit information created by these intertextual inclusions conveys the idea that Behrman was in fact a great man capable o f sacrificing his own life to save the life o f the sick girl, he is a genius o f kindness and nobility. It is w orthy o f note that Behrman being a failure in art was always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never begun it. This desire o f Behrman can also be considered an implicit poetic detail since “the last leaf’ painted by him on the wall was really a masterpiece. It can be regarded as such because it symbolizes the salvation o f human life. It is o f interest to mention that implicit details used to describe and characterize Behrman are given in contrast. His appearance, way o f life, manners o f speech create very negative characteristics o f the man, but his behavior and actions speak o f his very positive features. Due to this contrast Behrm an’s image is seen in quite a new and unexpected light
The analyzed text abounds in stylistic devices, which serve as signals o f implicit information. One o f the most conspicuous stylistic devices here is antonomasia which is defined as substi­ tution o f a proper name by a notional word or vice versa.
In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Over on the east side this ravager strode boldly, smiting his victims by scores, but his feet trod slowly through the maze o f the narrow and moss-grown ''places. "
Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric old gentleman. A mite o f a little woman with blood thinned by California zephyrs was hardly fair game for the red-fisted, short- breathed old duffer. But Johnsy he smote: and she lay, scarcely moving, on her painted iron bedstead, looking through the small Dutch window-panes at the blank side o f the next brick house.
The peculiar feature o f the antonomasia here is its prolonged character, it contain the central image (Pneumonia - Old Gentleman) is developed through the contributory images (icy fingers, fe e t trod slowly) so that the whole o f the utterance becomes one prolonged antonomasia. The stylistic effect o f the antonomasia is backed up by other stylistic devices: periphrasis: a cold, unseen stranger; this ravager; a chivalric old gentleman; red-fisted, short-breathed old duffer; personified m etaphors: stalked about; touching... with his icy fingers; strode boldly; his fe e l trod slowly; he smote.
Other stylistic devices used in descriptive contexts providing information about the personages, the place they lived in, convey implicit information too. So, the whole text full o f different types o f implicates is characterized by a high degree o f implicitness.
It can also be proved by the implicit title o f the story “The Last L eaf’. The title, as is known, in a most condensed form expresses the main idea o f a literary text, the main formula o f the author’s concept. It is a basic conceptual unit o f the text, a frame structure characterized by multifarious connotative and associative links with other conceptual elements o f the text. The decoding o f the title helps to penetrate into the inner characteristics o f a described phenomenon, reveal their deep-lying meanings, thus allowing the reader to recreate the author’s world picture.
The implicit title o f the analyzed story, as our analysis proves, has various multifold implications:
S “the Last L ea f’ on the ivy vine is a symbol o f death and human weakness;
S “the Last L e a f’ painted by old Behrman is his masterpiece and
a symbol o f life;
v' ‘4he Last L eaf’ is a symbol o f Behrm an’s nobility and sacrifice; S “the Last L eaf’ is a symbol o f people’s humanity, kindness and nobleness.
In sum, the following conclusions can be done:

• 
  implicitness is an inherent, generic category o f a fictional text;
  
• 
  an implicate as a verbal unit o f the implicit is presented by a) stylistic devices; b) poetic details; c) implicit title;
  
• 
  the category o f implicitness is closely connected with and de­ pendent on other stylistic categories - imagery, emotiveness, modality.
  

QUESTIONS AND TASKS 8

1. 
   What is implicitness? Speak on the types o f implicitness.
   
2. 
   Comment on the notion o f “ implicate” and its types.