What Do We Learn About the Treatment of Children in Dickens’ Novel?

2635 Words6 Pages

What Do We Learn About the Treatment of Children in Dickens’ Novel?

“Oliver Twist” was written in 1837, in the wake of the great change in society, brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Factories were introduced to Britain, which created lots of jobs for many working class citizens. This in turn created vast overcrowding in many cities and towns; most people wanted to be closer to their jobs. The huge numbers of people living closely together resulted in the standards in which people were living in dropping. The little they were paid wasn’t enough to support, in most cases, a family, or to make up for these terrible conditions, and many ended up faced with living on the streets. The only choice for them was to enter the workhouse.

The workhouse was a feared institution; families were split up and in most cases, were never reunited. Their time was mainly spent working, doing jobs such as picking oakum, smashing rocks or working on the treadmill. They were fed little to nothing, and many people died from either exhaustion or starvation.

Charles Dickens wrote “Oliver Twist” to show people that, even with completely different backgrounds, and irregardless of class, children were being mistreated. He also gives insight into the brutal reality of the workhouse.

Comparing the time in which Dickens lived to that of which we live in today, we can see how noticeable the change in society is. From the way we treat children, how we treat the poor, our view on social hierarchy, to our perception of the way we live. People in Dickens’ time were happy with their way of live, and didn’t see that anything should be changed. Their treatment of children was not deemed as wrong; it was the general view that children did not deserve the s...

... middle of paper ...

...o properly put the issues raised into perspective. І didn’t know much about Dickens’ time, and so reading around the main plot of Oliver’ѕ story into the issues surrounding it was quite difficult, and it is quite hard to relate to. І didn’t like the writing style, and felt there wasn’t enough of a story, or it at least took a while to get a grip of the story. The detail in description does, however, allow the reader to vividly see the story played out in their heads. Whether readers actually like the story or not isn’t really the point, and at least wasn’t what Dickens was aiming for. The treatment of children, poverty, and society have all been written in a way that shows the general views of many people at the time, not what Dickens necessarily agreed with. In my opinion, this is a good thing, as you can see all viewpoints, and still have your own take on the story.

Open Document