Charles Dickens Research Paper

Child Labor: The Horrors and the Consequences Child labor was a major problem in The Victorian Age. These children had little say and were forced to work. They were young and vulnerable so they were exploited for money. The conditions for these children were tragic and unbelievable. As a response, British authors wrote about the topic. Their goal was to spread awareness and illustrate the terrors of child labor. These authors included Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Browning and Charles Kingsley.

The Victorian Age, from 1819 to 1901, was a time of rapid change and developments in every sphere. This rapid transformation affected the country; and during the Victorian era, work and play expanded. The expansion and increase of factories triggered the

Dickens was one of eight children, and Dickens’ family had problems financially since their family was too big. He withdrew from school at age eleven and started working at a factory when his father was send to prison. Dickens’ childhood affected him by leading him into depression and terror. (Cody) Dickens’ novels portrait the children and the child labor in Victorian England. He emphasized the tragedies in fictional books such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. Oliver Twist is about an orphan in 19th century London who falls in with a gang of pickpockets who steal for their master. Dickens’ wanted to show the truth behind child labor during the Victorian Era. (Baker) An example from the book would be, "'So you'll begin to pick oakum to-morrow morning at six o'clock,' added the surly one in the white waistcoat. For the combination of both these blessings in the one simple process of picking oakum, Oliver bowed low by the direction of the rough, hard bed, he sobbed himself to sleep" (Dickens 37) where Mr. Bumble came to get Oliver from his previous living arrangement and now he is forced to work. Just like Dickens’, he is miserable because he is treated unfairly and doesn’t want to work. This was the case for many children in the Era. Another writer was Elizabeth Browning with “The Cry of the Children”. (“Oliver

He was also known as a social reformer and Christian socialist. The reason Kingsley wrote the ‘The Water Babies?’ was for his son. Even though it had themes of prejudice and hardship, Kingsley wrote the novel to express his disagreement of child labor treatment. (Uffelman) The Water Babies is a novel about a young boy who is an apprentice as a chimney sweep in England. He struggles though his experiences with his master; he is barely fed and always getting beaten. Social justice was on of Kingsley’s main themes. He wanted others to know how bad the working conditions were. He argued for the justice of the laborers during the time. Tom in the story is an illustration of children in the Victorian era. ("Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies.") One part of the book says Tom was “as much at home in a chimney as a mole is underground” (Kingsley pg. 84), which is a good example of the children’s conditions. They worked all day every day, the chimneys became their homes. This book is a perfect representation of a chimney sweep boy during the Victorian