The novel's tone is reminiscent, never letting the reader forget that the narrator is delving into his memory in order to write the novel (or autobiography). For example, in Chapter 31, the narrator describes how painful it is for him to recall how Emily ran away with Steerforth:
A dread falls on me here. A cloud is lowering on the distant town, towards which I retraced my solitary steps. I fear to approach it. I cannot bear to think of what did come, upon that memorable night; of what must come again, if I go on.
No matter what is happening in the narrative, it is filtered through the tone of remembrance. The narrator is recounting what was happening at this point in the narrative ("I retraced my solitary steps" back to Yarmouth, where the Peggotys lived). But the way he describes the experience cannot be true to the experience he had at the time. He had no reason to fear his approach to Yarmouth at the time. The fear he describes is only coming up because he already knows what is going to happen once he arrives (he will find out that Emily has run away with Steerforth). His belief that the events "must come again" reveals that the narrator cannot distinguish the experience of remembering from the events themselves. By remembering what happened, he is once more "retrac[ing...] solitary steps" and also feeling the full, retrospective weight of the situation. In fact, remembering this moment is a more intense experience than living it the first time. In this passage, as in many others, the narrator asks the reader to imagine not the salacious details of what happened, but rather the pain it causes him to think back on it and work it into the story of his life.
This reminiscent tone encourages the reader to reflect on what it means to turn one's own life story into a narrative. What must be confronted? Who are the heroes and villains? Ultimately, this novel (which is a fictionalized retelling of Charles Dickens's life) prompts many questions about truth, fiction, and autobiography. It suggests that remembering is a tricky and often painful business that requires a great deal of bravery and care not to lose sight of real life in the present.
