What role does the image of the muffin play in the opening paragraph an expert from dobey and son​

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The role of this image is to make an analogy about how the baby is wrapped like a muffin being put out to bake.

Explanation:

"Dobey and son​" is a novel written by Charles Dickens and presents a darker and more reflective story compared to the other stories by the author. In this novel, we get to know a man who feels overwhelmed by not having a child, which causes him to reject the only daughter he has.

The babies within this narrative are highly valued and in the opening paragraph, we are presented with the image of a muffin. At first, the reader may not understand what this image means, but the reader can see that, as reading progresses, the image makes an analogy to how babies are wrapped in a sheet. The baby rolled up resembles a muffin packaged to bake, as we can see in the lines:

"Son lay tucked up warm in a little basket bedstead, carefully disposed on a low settee immediately in front of the fire and close to it, as if his constitution were analogous to that of a muffin, and it was essential to toast him brown while he was very new. "