Pros And Cons Of Caleb Williams

In the novel Caleb Williams by William Godwin, prison is depicted as a form of domicile to those dejected by the society, wherein it emphasises the humanity of its dwellers (the so-called others) and the absence of empathy from society. Upon entering the prison, the narrator and protagonist, Caleb Williams, described the place to be something “new” to him with “massy doors, resounding locks, gloomy passages, grated windows” (Godwin 171). The adjectives such as ‘massy,’ ‘resounding,’ ‘gloomy,’ and ‘grated’ are negative connotations, which suggest desolation and hollowness. What is interesting with these adjectives is that they parallel the “characteristic looks of the keepers” whom Caleb described to be “accustomed to reject every petition

and to steel their hearts against feeling and pity” (171). The juxtaposition of the prison’s condition and the guards provide the readers an image of the prison as an opposite of a ‘home,’ where compassion and acceptance are supposedly present.

It is worth noting as well that Caleb describes the “characteristic looks” of the keepers and not their “appearance”; whilst it can be argued that “looks” and “appearance” are synonyms, they bear different connotations, especially with “characteristic” following the former word. “Characteristic,” after all, is mostly associated with identifying things rationally; as per the OED’s definitions of “characteristic,” most of its uses are for identifying something or math-related. Hence, this illustrates how the keepers are one with the prison – they don’t possess empathy at all towards the prisoners, which then emphasises the otherness of the prisoners. Also, “looks” sound similar to “locks” which then reinforce the “steel” hearts of the keepers -- their coldness and lack of

compassion.
Furthermore, Caleb Williams compares the prison to a “mansion” and how “dirty faces in dirty apartments…have nevertheless borne the impression of health and…not distress” (Godwin 171). With this comparison, Caleb is alluding to the “elites” of society, for mansions are typically possessed by the upper class. In doing so, one might argue that the prison is in fact a ‘well-respected home’ because of his comparison to a mansion; however, the use of “mansion” in this context can also refer to “an abode or dwelling place in Hell” (OED). With this context in mind, the prison is then compared to Hell where sufferings and pain are ubiquitous and inevitable. That, living in a dirty “apartment” is a more preferable option despite its filthiness and size because it suggests life as opposed to a “mansion” where, albeit large, is hollow and full of misery. In addition to this, prison, as an embodiment of society and the elites, is described by Caleb as something that “speaks sadness to the heart, and appears to be already in a state of putridity and infection” (171). In this passage, it reinforces again the notion of prison as a place of “filth” and trepidation (“speak sadness to the heart,” when dissected, refers to trepidation, for ‘speak’ is created with the vibration of the lips and “sadness to the heart” is synonymous with ‘agitation’ or worry or sadness; according to OED, trepidation means “tremulous agitation; confused hurry or alarm; confusion; flurry; perturbation”). Also, bearing in mind that the prison represents the elites of the society, the word “putridity,” apart from its meaning as “decay” and “filth”, it also refers to “moral corruption, decadence, rottenness” (OED). With this association, it suggests that the elites of society are “morally corrupted” as evident by their influence to the “keepers” by making them “steel their hearts” and isolating the prisoners from society, which emphasises their “otherness”.
This notion of the prisoners’ otherness, however, is only a façade for in the eyes of Caleb Williams, the other prisoners seem to be human.

For instance, he describes the horse-stealers to be playing cards and teasing each other. What is more interesting is that, he states that “it is a custom among thieves to constitute a sort of mock tribunal of their own body” (Godwin 172). This contends the fact that notion of prisoners as ‘others’ from society is untrue as it suggests that thieves are knowledgeable on some form of legislative hierarchy, to an extent that it is a custom; a custom is a “mode of behaviour or procedure which is widely practised and accepted (and typically long established in a particular society, community” (OED). Hence, this shows how there is a form of humanness in these prisoners and they are no different to “society”. In addition to this, Caleb seems to give life to these prisoners as evident by his remark on the ‘housebreaker’. In his observation, he notices the movements of the housebreaker, such as “threw himself abruptly,” and even describes how this man is sleeping. This indicates that he is “alive” because he is moving and breathing even though it’s hard (172). Hence, conveying once again the fact that these prisoners are humans. Another evidence where Caleb depicts the prisoners as humans is in his description of the “highway robber”. Compared to his other observations, this one is more detailed and seems to have left an impact on Caleb

Williams. Caleb mentions the physical appearance of the “highway robber” and pays attention to his “engaging physiognomy”. Although, what is perhaps the most ‘human’ characteristic of the “highway robber” is that “the meanness of his condition did not preclude him from the pursuit of intellectual cultivation” (Godwin 173). Through this remark, one can infer that Caleb has found a kindred spirit in the highway robber and with this, the highway robber is thus “human” in the eyes of Caleb and by no means an ‘other’. That, despite his status as a prisoner, the “highway robber” is capable of cultivating his knowledge, which suggests that his life is not stagnant and is similar to that of anyone outside the prison – thus, he, too, is alive.
Henceforth, this shows how in the novel, painting the image of another person, transcends one’s observations on the basis of appearance and experience. The way he describes the prison as akin to that of the tyrannical elites of society based on the use of the negative connotation of words, and how it has distinguished the ‘others’ – the prisoners—from society, by inflicting sufferings to them on whatever means. Also, Caleb is able to use language as a means to emphasise the humanity of the prisoners despite how society deems them as the ‘others’. Through the means of words, Caleb is able to give life to these prisoners by using actions and adjectives to signify that their (the prisoners) lives are not stagnant and they, too, are humans.