Charles Dickens' The Signalman and A Birthday by Karen Mansfield

In many novels, the society created by the author is surrounded by wealth and corruption. Numerous amount of times these settings are produced based on the life in which the author lives. Charles Dickens is no different. In the midst of most of his novels, Dickens exposes the deception of Victorian England and the strict society that holds everything together. In Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend, a satire is created where the basis of the novel is the mockery against money and morals. Throughout this novel, multiple symbols and depictions of the characters display the corruption of the mind that surrounds social classes in Victorian England.

Charles Dickens own experiences of growing up in poverty in Victorian Era London, are likely to have pushed him to pursue the themes in his novel A Christmas Carol. His father was sent to prison for not paying his debts, which left Dickens the job of producing the family income at the age of 12, giving him a firsthand view of poverty and the struggles that come with it. These events seemingly effected Dickens greatly, and Dickens novels were likely his form of charitable work, as the messages scribed within, brought to light the vast disparity between the rich and poor in this era. Dickens shows clearly that there is a definite class distinction between the poor and the rich through the uses of his characters and their characteristic throughout

Dickens’ experiences of living in abandonment and working in Warren’s Blacking Factory, coupled with his

Coming of age is a recurring theme that is universally known throughout many different pieces of literature. Whether it’s influenced on true experiences, childhood memories, or even based on one’s current juvenile reality, many of theses works have a correlation between them that include many similar ordeals and struggles that the character goes through in order to metamorphosize into taking their first step out of childhood. One prominent theme that often appears is how one experiences and faces a time of tribulation and other walls that stand in one’s path. In effect, hardships mature and enlighten one, causing the loss of something such as childhood innocence. Lastly, these three combined points finally lead to one’s metamorphosis out of childhood. All in all, these three factors take one out of childhood, and slowly allows one step out into the reality of this world.

‘Show me no more!’ Scrooge cries to the Ghost of Christmas Past. What he sees is a punishment to him. ‘But the relentless Ghost pinioned him in both his arms, and forced him to observe what happened next’ (Stave 2). The phantom as literary device enables Dickens to explore the social and moral issues central to his fiction: – poverty, miserliness, guilt, redemption. The ghosts borrow in their appearance from a tradition of allegory. There is the strange child/old man that is Christmas Past, clutching a branch of holly yet trimmed with summer flowers. There is the large and avuncular Ghost of Christmas Present, tinged more and more with age as his visions draw to their close. And there is ‘The Phantom’ that is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shrouded and ‘stately’ and mysterious. Their shapes tell you about author's moral

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.

Richard Wright is the author of numerous short stories and books, two of which include The Man Who was Almost a Man and Big Boy Leaves Home. The first story, The Man Who was Almost a Man, follows seventeen year old David, who one days becomes angered by the way he is treated by older men. The second story, Big Boy Leaves Home, follows four young African Americans who one day skip school. Richard Wright has a very unique writing style, which helps him develop his characters very fast. Author Richard Wright’s short stories are both written to illustrate how one’s decisions can affect their future.

Charles Dickens wrote stories during the L8th century to teach people about the conditions of

Violence and crime have a large influence on the short story, “The Disappeared” by Charles Baxter. Throughout the story Anders, the protagonist, is often affected by the crime in Detroit. He is unaware to how dangerous the city is because of his short time spent he has spent in the United States. “The Disappeared” does well in reflecting what Detroit was like in 1990, specifically in terms of violence and crime. The short story is shaped by how Anders and the other characters are affected by the violence and crime in the city.

Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ presents a warning to society through the representation of characters and the journey and transformation of the notorious miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens warns society of the grim future that awaits humanity if people fail to respond to the plight of the poor. Finally, if Dickens intentions weren’t made clear enough through these examples, his preface says it all. “I have endeavoured in this ghostly little book, to raise the ghost of an idea…May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and

Leadership and management for many go hand in hand, and may be perceived as one in the same. In the book titled, The Servant (1998), James C. Hunter challenged this mainstream view, and literally turned this concept, which so many are coached on, upside-down. The notions of what characterizes a virtuous leader, as well as what it means to serve others, are the primary focal points of Hunter’s book. He did an eloquent job of revealing his theory concerning effective leadership by using an allegorical approach which, made the content easier to digest and much more personable. The Servant deeply resonated with me, and I gained significant value from the attitudes Hunter presented which, I can apply to my schooling, personal life, and future career paths. I was also able to discern what I felt to be applicable elements regarding the mark of a worthy leader, and arrived at my own theories.

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.

Bleak House is a novel, written by the English writer Charles Dickens, which was published in a series of installments between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel explores London’s social problems of that time, such as safety standards in factories and working conditions. As a result, Bleak House has been regarded as a “Condition of England” novel, meaning that it undertakes the countries’s key socio-political problems and questions. But above all, the author centers his attention in London’s inefficient Court of Chancery; a depiction that works as an epitome of the city as a whole. The Court’s state of paralysis and slowly decay is reflected in the city’s contamination, filthiness and labyrinthine layout. Even worse, the characters are

Anne Bradstreet is among the most famous historical American female poets. Her seventeenth century works of writing came at a time when the society was male dominated and the role of women in the society was much more demeaned. Bradstreet is considered a feminist who advanced her feministic ideas through her writings.

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.