Who Was Responsible For The Downfall Of Charles Dickens

Throughout Dickens journey through life, the poor laws of Great Britain were closely intertwined. The first major impact that his childhood experiences had on him was his exposure to the factory system. The Industrial Revolution created large urban areas with a central factory that employed most of the area’s people. The factory was full of lower-class people in unsanitary conditions. In the days of Dickens’ factory experience the old poor laws were in effect. This helped Dickens’ situation greatly. His father lived in a fairly nice and sanitary prison, and was given time to find the money he owed. The old poor law system of giving aid to the poor helped to save the Dickens family. When Dickens grew up and was a parliamentary reporter, the new poor laws were about to be passed. Dickens realized that the new poor laws would bring doom to many families. The new poor laws did not help the poor but worsened their condition in order to drive them to work.

INTRODUCTION: Charles Dickens is said to be one of the greatest writers that has ever lived. Before we read one of his works in class, I would like you to spend some time getting to know this man and learning what the world was like as he knew it.

Charles Dickens was a well known, celebrated author of the Victorian Era. Though he was successful, he faced many setbacks in his difficult life. His father was hurled into debtors’ prison when Dickens was young (Bragg 5) and he was left with his mother and six siblings (Rooke 1). Dickens, being the oldest male of the family (Rooke 1), had to go work in a factory during his formative years. Dickens’ rough childhood made him insensitive. (Bragg 1) When Dickens came of age, he began to show interest in writing novels and short stories (Bragg 2). His mother, however, was unsupportive of his endeavors (Bragg 2), and was often after him for his money (Bragg 2). He was said to have lived a depressing, lonely adulthood (Bragg 1) and people used to

Charles Dickens’ classic novella A Christmas Carol, focuses on the social responsibility of the wealthy to help the poor and less fortunate. Dickens, having lived in poverty as a child, knew of the many struggles of the lower class of London. As an author, he made it his goal to reform England as best he could. Many of his works ran in his weekly journal, Household Words, including "Christmas Stories" and Great Expectations. In a Christmas Carol, Dickens stresses the point that the writers of that time carried a special burden to speak out for those who lived in poverty and couldn't speak out for themselves.

His views are expressed most clearly when he shows how uncaring the aristocrats were to the plight of the common people. A specific point of this is when he had the Marque de Evremonde say, after running over a small child, "It is extraordinary that you people cannot take care of yourselves or your children... How do I know what injury you have done my horses." (A Tale of Two Cities 112) Judging from how the aristocrat is portrayed, Dickens continues to support the peasants right up to the beginning of the revolution.While it lasted, the French Revolution was one of the most barbaric periods in the history of the world.

First of all, Dickens wrote the book during the 1840s. During this time many Londoners were in poverty. He worried especially for the health and well-being of children. By writing a novel that promoted the need to help others, Dickens could raise awareness for this dilemma. So, that is exactly what he did. To Dickens, it was important to watch over other people, especially during Christmas time. In fact, he had a taste of living in poverty, himself. Perhaps that is why he cared about child labour so much. Although his childhood was not as difficult as others, his family still had to overcome hardships of their own. His father was unable to pay his debts and was sentenced to prison. Without their father working, their family had to no income. This forced Dickens to stop going to school,

The novel’s opening words (Book 1, Chapter 1) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. . .” Provided, Dickens conveys the relationship between poverty and aristocracy through the use of parallelism, paradox, and other poetic techniques. In addition to, Dickens's technique functions not only to draw opposites, but to reveal hidden parallels.

Around 60 BCE, the ancient Greek writer Diodorus wrote the story of Icarus, in which the son of Daedalus ignored his father’s warnings, and after flying too close to the sun plunged to his death as the wax holding his wings together melted. While the story incorporates themes of human nature and curiosity, it more importantly conveys a lesson of unchecked ambition. Whether it is for wealth or a better future, humans tend to strive for what is best for themselves in life. Unfortunately, unchecked ambition often ends with poor results, as seen in the story of Icarus. Centuries later, ambition remains a prominent theme in literature, and authors have utilized this natural human trait in countless stories and novels. Two authors who do so are Charles Dickens in his book Great Expectations, and M.L. Stedman in The Light Between Oceans. In both novels, unchecked ambition affects different characters negatively.

Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned British writers with well-known and widespread work. Dickens was born in England in 1812 and died in 1870. During this time, Victorian England experienced an Industrial Revolution, which impacted his life tremendously. New factories and industrial machinery changed many lives of the lower class citizens. The family grew up impoverished and struggled to maintain a good lifestyle. The family’s financial situation was strained as John Dickens, Charles’s father, spent money that the family didn’t have. These societal factors were influential in Charles Dickens’s life, and the same themes present themselves in his works. When an author creates a work, frequently themes of their life events are incorporated into the theme of the book, consciously or unconsciously. Victorian Age industrial-influenced strife was a common theme in Dickens’s life and presented itself throughout Dickens’s books.

recollections of early life were centered in Kent and he often regarded himself as a member of that region (Kaste 9). Dickens was sent to work at the age of twelve in Worren's Blacking Warehouse. After his father's release he went back to school.. When school was complete he went to work in an attorney's office. He spent much of his time exploring the busy and varied life of London and decided to become a journalist. He mastered a difficult system of shorthand and by March 1832, at the age of twenty, he was a general and

In Oliver Twist, Dickens wrote “The deep remembrance …………. of the misery it was to my young heart to believe that day by day, what I had learned and thought and delighted in and raised my fancy and emulation up by was passing away from me……… cannot be written.” As a child labour, he would dine on a slice of pudding and for his twelve hour daily labour, receive a meager wage of six shillings a week” (Oliver Twist).

Charles Dickens is one of the most influential writers in history and was “born in Landport, now part of Portsmouth, on February 7th, 1812”(Priestly 5). Despite being the successful writer that he was in life, Dickens had very humble beginnings and because his Father, John Huffman Dickens, “lacked the money to support his family adequetly” , Dickens lived in poverty through out most of his childhood (Collins). Matters only got worse, however, when Dickens’s Father had to “spen[d] time in prison for debt” causing Dickens to have to “work in a London factory pasting labels on bottles of shoe polish” (Collins). It was a horrible experience for him, but it also helped him to no doubt feel pity for the poor, which is

In Hard Times, Dickens presents life philosophies of three men that directly contradict each other. James Harthouse sees one’s actions in life as meaningless since life is so short. Mr. Gradgrind emphasizes the importance of fact and discourages fantasy since life is exactly as it was designed to be. Mr. Slearly exhibits that “all work and no play” will make very dull people out of all of us. He also proclaims that one should never look back on one’s life and regret past actions. Dickens is certainly advocating Sleary’s life philosophy because the subjects of the other two philosophies led depressing and unhappy lives. This is made clear when Louisa realises her childhood of fact without fancy has ruined her, when Tom’s life falls apart after leaving his father’s home in rejection of his strict parenting, and when Mr. Gradgrind himself realises the faults in his own philosophy and devotes the rest of his life to virtue and charity.

Dickens through his books wanted people to realise that children have needs, they need loving homes, not to be hit, gets a education and be allowed to think for themselves. He thought that if he wrote about poor children’s problems then maybe wealthy readers will do something about it.

"Please, sir," replied Oliver, "I want some more." No one will ever forget the simple plea made by the poor hungry little orphan named Oliver Twist. Nobody will be able to omit from his mind the painful blows that Oliver suffered. Nor will anyone cease to recall what it felt like to be young and helpless in a much bigger and stronger world. In an effort to bring the ostracized poverty situation of so many children to the public's attention, Charles Dickens wrote an unforgettable book to touch the hearts of millions. Whether he knew it then or not, he was also bringing a new connotation and worldwide innuendo to the term "child labor".