Dombey and Son · Chapter
Preface of 1848 explained
Dickens bids farewell to his readers, acknowledging their warm sympathy throughout the story and expressing hope that the sorrowful incidents of the tale have created a bond between author and audience.
What happens
Dickens bids farewell to his readers, acknowledging their warm sympathy throughout the story and expressing hope that the sorrowful incidents of the tale have created a bond between author and audience.
Key passages
“I cannot forego my usual opportunity of saying farewell to my readers in this greeting-place, though I have only to acknowledge the unbounded warmth and earnestness of their sympathy in every stage of the journey we have just concluded.”
I cannot pass up my customary chance to bid goodbye to my readers here, even though I only have to thank them for their immense and sincere support throughout the entire story we have just finished.
Dickens expresses gratitude for the readers' engagement with the novel.
“If any of them have felt a sorrow in one of the principal incidents on which this fiction turns, I hope it may be a sorrow of that sort which endears the sharers in it, one to another.”
If any reader has been saddened by a major event in this story, I hope that sadness is the kind that brings those who share it closer together.
Dickens reflects on the unifying power of shared emotional experience.
“This is not unselfish in me. I may claim to have felt it, at least as much as anybody else; and I would fain be remembered kindly for my part in the experience.”
This is not a selfless wish on my part. I can say that I have felt that sorrow as much as anyone, and I would like to be kindly remembered for my role in this shared experience.
Dickens acknowledges his own emotional investment and desire for a lasting connection with readers.