Unique technique in this story is that he tells the plot of the whole story in one sentence, “the man, under pretense of going a journey, took lodging in the next street to his own house, and there, unheard by his wife or friends, and without the shadow of a reason for such self-banishment, dwelt upwards of twenty years” (Hawthorne 75).
Imagery
Images of Death:
Imagery of death is the major literary techniques which Hawthorne uses to develop theme and characters. In the opening paragraph, Hawthorne says that Wakefield not returns home until he realizes that death is waiting for him; his name is fade away from memory, and he leave his wife so long that now she becomes a widow. His fear of death, especially lonely death, pushes him to go back to his place. Imagination of his wife when he is absent so long pictures her haunted memory. His images of the last glimpse after he leaves still stick in her mind, as she dreams that he is looking pale and frozen in the coffin, or in a heaven. Although just an imaginary, those phantom pictures of him, whether live of death, provides readers a perception of darkness. If considers literary meaning of the words “wake” and “field”, they suggest meaning of the field which consists of something wakes. In this case, they give an image of zombie graveyard. Moreover, his action refers to imagery of ghostliness, while he is in the shadow, waiting for souls of the dead people, as he wonders to his wife, when a physician walks into the house, “will she die?” (Hawthorne 78).
Images of the city: dark and busy London
At the beginning of the story, Hawthorne mentions that the story is set in London. London is an urban city, which Hawthorne chooses to emphasize the compatible between his setting and characters. London gives an image of busy day, smell of rotten flesh. Its grey sky also suggests some sort of tragedy. As a story going on, the setting provides a sense of loneliness, even though among the crowd of people, foreshadowing occurring of misfortune events. In addition, the great mass citizen of London allows him to disappear easily.