The Life and Writing of Charles Dickens Essay

Charles John Huffman Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 to John and Elizabeth Dickens. Dickens went through a difficult childhood that contained a jar full of worries that far transcended of an average boy due to unstable family conditions. (biography.com). As a young child, it didn’t stop him from anything, Dickens found peace and comfort through the use of his imagination. In 1822, the Dickens family moved to a poor neighborhood in Camden Town, London.

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

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.

Charles Dickens was an avid and influential writer from the 19th century and continues to stay alive within classrooms presently. He was exposed to all types of art which allowed him to grow as a future legend in the literature world. Dickens and his ideas, characters and famous quotes have helped mold present day literature. He was born on February 7, 1812 in the city of Portsmouth, England. His favorite works of literature were Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, Arabian Nights and Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. These novels all dealt with adventurous plots playing more into Dickens’ internal character. Dickens first worked in a blacking warehouse and later continued his education at the Wellington House Academy. Dickens grew up with a rough

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.

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,

During the 1800s, Charles Dickens was one of the most acclaimed writers of his time. He did not just write books but he was a journalist, and play write. Many of his experiences and people in his life influenced his books. Because of this he was known as not just a writer but a writer for “the people”. He wrote about the workhouse, poverty, disabilities, social class, and so much more that effected his era.

Married to his mother Elizabeth Dickens, who aspired to be a teacher and a school director.

Dickens is a well-known writer and social critic in England. It is stated in A Study Guide for Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”, “Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England on February 7, 1812. His family moved to London before he was two, but his father had trouble making enough money to feed his large family. In 1824 Dickens’ father was sent to debtor’s prison, along with most of his family.” In the same book, his life change stated like “ By 1843 he had completed four books and was middle of the next, Martin Chuzzlewit, when he took time out in October and November to write A Christmas Carol. He continued to write novels, most of them being published in serial form before being bound as novels.”(n.pag) Also in the book A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas: With Original Art and Narration by Jon Langford “Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is one of the most popular and acclaimed English novelists of the Victorian Era. His novels and short stories are widely read, reviewed, and studied an continue to find new readers with

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

The oldest of eight children, Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. Dickens experienced a very traumatic childhood which included the ordeal of seeing two of his brother pass away. John Dickens, his father, worked as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office, due to his occupation, the Dickens family had to move a lot. Financial problems led to the imprisonment of John Dickens, who couldn't afford to look after all his family. The whole of Charles Dickens' family soon followed in suite, except for Charles himself though. Instead Charles was taken out of school and made to work in a filthy warehouse, sticking labels on bottles of boot-black for long

The French Revolution mainly took place in the city of Paris during the late 1700’s. The Revolution did not only affect the people of France, but also the citizens of England as well. The French Revolution is known as one of the most brutal and inhumane periods of history. If one studied the beliefs and views of the people involved at the time, one would see a reoccurring theme of “ being recalled to life”. Born from the world of literature, Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look at the culture of the late 1700’s, in both England and France. Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to further examine one of the major themes presented in the novel, consisting of the belief of one being

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

Charles Dickens came from a working class background and was taken away from his family to work in a dirty, filthy warehouse. Some of his brothers and sisters died when they were young. He did not have a good childhood. All his work, his novels were based on the main characters being poor, working class, uneducated with some sort of disability.