Dickens' Criticism of the 1834 Poor Law in Oliver Twist
Dickens criticised the 1834 poor law in many different ways within the first five chapters. He does this firstly by cleverly portraying the
Victorians attitudes towards the poor. He does this in chapter 1 by referring to Oliver as 'the item of mortality' suggesting how lowly his position in society is. Also the difficulty of Oliver's birth and the fact his mother dies, gives us some idea of the dangers of child birth in Victorian society and the amount of negligence his mother receives from the surgeon. Another way he shows the attitudes towards the poor is by describing the unfeeling and clearly drunk nurse who was 'tasting in the corner' instead of taking care of Oliver and
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He describes her as nothing but a common thief that steels money from children. The care she gives is described by Dickens sounds more like abuse as he lists cases of infants dying from hunger or sheer neglect. His criticism extends from the actual carer to the authorities that are supposed to keep check on how the new law is implemented , but their reports amount to nothing. Dickens also describes Mr Bumble with apparent glee as this pompous, fat and self important man who is literally living off the poor. The significance of Oliver?s characterisation is important because he is described as ?reckless with misery? suggesting that his life and possibly other peoples lives are so awful that they could be convinced to do anything e.g. go to the workhouse.
Dickens? use of black humour is also part of his criticism of the poor law. He uses black humour well in the fifth chapter where he describes how Mr Sowerberry and Mr Bumble just sat by the fire and read the paper with the clergy man whilst the grieving family sat outside in the rain waiting for them. Another example of black humour is in the third chapter where the board and Mr Gamfield are haggling over
Thoughtful laughter is a technique used frequently in satirical pieces in literature. It allows for the audience to enjoy the wittiness of a work, later ponder on the meaning, and then apply the message to reality. Thoughtful laughter is often an inner experience that can only be achieved by authors who write meticulously. Two examples of satirical works in literature that display this concept explicitly are Voltaire’s Candide and C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. Both authors explore the depths of satire and simultaneously deliver an important message to readers through skillful technique.
He saw the results of poor parenting and he himself had witnessed the wretchedness of poverty. Several of his novels draw on these experiences and they include boys living through vindictive and humiliating experiences. One of these was "Oliver Twist," this was written to express Dickens feelings towards society and how it needed to be changed so that there was no difference between the rich and the poor and that we are all human beings. "Oliver Twist" was published in chapters or episodes for a magazine so the reader will want to read on. Dickens also did reading tours where he read extracts to a audience and because he had written the novel himself he captured the tones and the accents of the characters brilliantly.
Here, Dickens focuses on the word “suffering”, to reinforce the idea that being wealthy, which is related to being better than other, a materialistic view of society is not what gives happiness, but the surroundings and
Charles Dickens born February 7th 1812 – 9th June 1870 is a highly remarkable novelist who had a vision to change wealthy people’s scrutiny on the underprivileged and by fulfilling the dream he writes novels. Furthermore, I think that Dickens wrote about poverty as he had experiences this awful incident in his upbringings.
Charles Dickens is a famous novelist who was born on February 7TH 1812, Portsmouth England. His novel ‘Oliver Twist’ had been serialized and to also show Dickens purposes, which was to show the powerful links between poverty and crime. The novel is based on a young boy called Oliver Twist; the plot is about how the underprivileged misunderstood orphan, Oliver the son of Edwin Leeford and Agnes Fleming, he is generally quiet and shy rather than being aggressive, after his parents past away he is forced to work in a workhouse and then forced to work with criminals. The novel reveals a lot of different aspects of poverty, crime and cruelty which Dickens had experienced himself as a young boy in his disturbing and unsupportive childhood, due to his parents sent to prison so therefore Charles, who was already filled with misery, melancholy and deprivation had started working at the age of twelve at a factory to repay their debt.
After being very ill Pip realises that being a gentleman means more than having money and an education. Many of Dickens books are about childhood difficulties. Perhaps this is because he was drawing on the experience of his own difficult childhood and his own desire, like Pips to become a gentleman. Dickens books are also about the class struggle, cruelty, inequality and injustice. Punishment was harsh such as deportation to do hard labour in Australia for small crimes or public hanging.
Charles Dickens was a man who suffered from poverty, which led him to expose the cruelty, injustice, and disadvantages that the poor encounter on a daily basis. Dickens was born into a low class family as many other authors of his time were. Ironically enough the restrictions that he faced living a hard and cruel life with his family, encouraged him to think outside the box of social norms. He began his career by doing some journalistic work and then worked his way up to becoming a newspaper reporter. The main focus of his works were the ignorance of the poor and child labor, both topics seemed to effect him on a personal note. Dickens’ attitude toward child labor and the poverty of the masses was exposed through his writings, which awakened the s...
Charles Dickens’ novels criticize the injustices of his time, especially the brutal treatment of the poor in a society sharply divided by differences of wealth. He lived through that world at an early age; he saw the bitter side of the social class system and had wanted it to be exposed, so people could see the exploitation that the system rests on. But he presents these criticisms through the lives of characters, Pip and Magwitch.
Charles Dickens’ (1812-1970) father had great financial difficulties. The boy had a rather miserable childhood, and the lad spent much of his time in poorhouses and workhouses. Did poverty overwhelm Charles Dickens? Was his negative environment to blame for an unproductive and fruitless life? No it wasn’t. Dickens retreated into his imaginary world and incisively wrote about the need for social reform in what later became such literary classics such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield.
Our Mutual Friend, Dickens' last novel, exposes the reality Dickens is surrounded by in his life in Victorian England. The novel heavily displays the corruption of society through multiple examples. These examples, that are planted within the novel, relate to both the society in Dickens' writing and his reality. In order to properly portray the fraud taking place within his novels, Dickens' uses morality in his universe to compare to the reality of society. He repetitively references to the change of mind and soul for both the better and the worst. He speaks of the change of heart when poisoned by wealth, and he connects this disease to the balance of the rich and the poor. This is another major factor to novel, where the plot is surrounded by a social hierarchy that condemns the poor to a life of misery, and yet, condones any action that would normally be seen as immoral when it occurs in the aristocracy. It expands on the idea that only an education and inheritance will bring success in society, with few exceptions. Lastly, Dickens expands his opinions of society through his mockery of ...
Dickens uses Hard Times to criticise how the education system was and
hungry, jobless men, women, children with few if any prospects reduced to a fate not only marginal with respect to its "socioeconomic" character but also with respect to its very humanity. 575. The 'Standard' is a 'Standard'. As a result, an ideological dichotomy is created within Dickens that reveals a more liberal stance towards crime in his fiction, than in his non-fiction writing. If there is one common thread between his fictional and non-fictional writing, it is a deep obsession with crime and law.
Some people thought of Dickens as the spokesman of the poor, as he represented the awareness of their troubles.
...e poor rioting against the rich. It adds realism to an otherwise foolish conversation and is a signature of Wilde’s humour.
... to the many children who have gone through life unheard, opening society's eyes to the inhumane conditions that the poor children are forced to live through. Dickens does so by writing a "story of the routine cruelty exercised upon the nameless, almost faceless submerged of Victorian society" (Wilson 129). Dickens' work of social reform is not limited to Oliver Twist for "a great and universal pity for the poor and downtrodden has been awaken in him which is to provide the