Chapter 5

• "The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city, where the lamps glimmered like carbuncles."

  • Personification – The fog is described as if it were a living creature, resting above the city. This eerie stillness adds a dreamlike, oppressive atmosphere, hinting that the city is trapped or suffocated. Fog literally and symbolically obscures truth and identity.
  • Metaphor – Suggests that the fog has submerged the city, like water would in a flood. This metaphor creates a sense of helplessness, a world engulfed in secrecy and moral decay.
  • Simile - A carbuncle is a red gemstone, but also a term for a boil or sore – creating a dual image reflecting the theme of urban decay and hidden evil in Victorian London.
• Stevenson creates a sinister atmosphere using personification and metaphor. The fog “slept on the wing” above the “drowned city,” portraying London as lifeless and submerged under a suffocating force. The simile comparing the lamps to “carbuncles” is particularly disturbing – the image suggests not only dim, blood-red lights, but also illness and corruption. This reflects the novel’s Gothic tone and reinforces the theme of hidden evil beneath the surface of the city.