A Lack of Charity
analytical Essay
1704 words
In Charles Dickens’s books, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, the theme of lack of charity is pronounced. Throughout Oliver Twist, society turns a “cold shoulder” to those in need of help (Miller 30). The Victorian England society prohibits inhabitants of the lower social realms from moving up in society. Rarely do lower class members receive attention, and the attention they do receive is far from par (Reeves). Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character of A Christmas Carol, learns to be charitable through a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas. At the beginning of the book, Scrooge is a grumpy old mad, who only cares about himself, but on Christmas Eve, his visions of ghosts turn his life around (Boan). As a child, Dickens becomes a subject to poverty. When Dickens is twelve years of age, he is sent to work at a warehouse. He is forced to live away from his family for months while his father is in debtors’ prison. Dickens’s life and experiences are his sole inspiration in advocating for the poor ("Charles John Huffam Dickens”). Charles Dickens is responsible for plenty of charitable acts in his lifetime. His books depict his character and his love for people. He is able to sympathize with people struck with poverty because he deals with the same situation in his life. Later in Dickens life, he is gifted with wealth, but never keeps much of the money. He is forced to pay alimony and gives the rest away (Orwell). Oliver Twist is a parody to the Victorian lifestyle. The upper classes do not care about the lower classes because their main concern is money. At this time in British history, laissez-faire capitalist beliefs dominate people’s political views. According to George Orwell, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “…refused to re... ... middle of paper ... ...erary Reference Center. EBSCOhost, n.d. 16 Apr 2011. Miller, J. Hillis. “The Dark World of Oliver Twist.” Modern Critical Views of Charles Dickens. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 29-69. NLT Study Bible. Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008. Orwell, George. “Charles Dickens.” George Orwell: Charles Dickens. Orwell.ru, 11 Dec 2004. 16 Apr 2011. Reeves, Bruce D. “Oliver Twist.” Literary Reference Center. EBSCOhost, n.d. 14 Apr 2011.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the theme of lack of charity is pronounced in charles dickens's books, oliver twist and a christmas carol.
- Analyzes how dickens' life and experiences are his sole inspiration in advocating for the poor. he sympathizes with people struck with poverty because he deals with the same situation in his life.
- Analyzes how oliver twist is a parody to the victorian lifestyle. the upper classes don't care about the lower classes because their main concern is money.
- Analyzes how oliver runs away to find security with a man named fagin, who controls gangs of pickpockets and keeps the boys trapped.
- Opines that a regard for number one holds us all together and must do so, unless we would all go to pieces in company.
- Analyzes how fagin's gang appears harmless and the members seem to be enjoying themselves, but the group’s adhesive is their belief that each member should always look out for himself.
- Analyzes how dickens manipulates mr. bumble's words to destroy the entire principle of the so-called charity in oliver twist.
- Analyzes how the opening events of a christmas carol demonstrate ebenezer scrooge’s original thoughts on charity.
- Analyzes how scrooge is the perfect example for the new capitalistic mindset brought on by the industrial revolution. he enjoys capitalisms and applies the concept to every aspect of his life.
- Analyzes how scrooge doesn't like christmas one bit, not because of the christian values of christmas, but because christmas takes away from business.
- Analyzes how the ghost of christmas yet-to-come delivers scrooge to witness his own death, and he is filled with compassion for bob and his family.
- Opines that scrooge was better than his word. he did it all, and infinitely more. tiny tim, who did not die, was a second father.
- Analyzes how dickens demonstrates the corruption of the victorian society because of a lust for money in both oliver twist and a christmas carol.
- Cites boan, devon's "a christmas carol." literary reference center, ebscohost.
- Describes dickens, oliver twist, and goldstein's "a christmas carol."
- Analyzes how miller, j. hillis, and reeves, bruce d. “oliver twist.” literary reference center.
Related
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- A Tale of Four Novelsanalytical essayFido, Martin. The world of Charles Dickens : the life, times and work of the great Victorian novelist. Vancouver: Raincost Books, 1997. Print.
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- Analyzes dickens' a tale of two cities, which outlines the events of the french revolution through the story of a parisian aristocrat named charles darnay.
- Analyzes how dickens uses the imagery of demons to describe the festivities that the citizens are partaking in and he alludes to the evil manner in which they are approaching revolution.
- Analyzes how shakespeare's hamlet has many parallels with a tale of two cities, including the theme of man’s search for power.
- Analyzes how ken kesey's one flew over the cuckoos nest shows the struggle between the powerful and the powerless just as the citizens in a tale of two cities struggle.
- Compares george orwell's 1984 and a tale of two cities, in which the citizens are entertained by the executions of fellow citizens and prisoners of war.
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- Explains dickens, charles, and andrew sanders. a tale of two cities. oxford: oxford university press, 1998.
- Explains that fido, martin, the world of charles dickens : the life, times and work of the great victorian novelist.
- Explains that dickens, his character, comedy, and career, was published by harper & bros.
- Reviews shakespeare, william, barbara a. mowat, and paul werstine's the tragedy of hamlet, prince of denmark.
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- Cites barickman, richard, susan macdonald, and myra stark. dickens, thakeray, trollope, collins and the victorian sexual system.
- Analyzes how pip is the protagonist and the narrator of great expectations. he is passionate and has a great conscience.
- Analyzes how the main motif in great expectations is the motif of characters that serve to reveal both the effects of social class and the presence of common human traits in vastly different people.
- Analyzes how great expectations can be seen as a feminist form of criticism. the females in the novel are the dominant gender, and all the men succumb to their will.
- Explains hobsbaum, philip, and lii, thereaa. defining characters by their chosen environment. brown university. weiss, zoe.
1347 wordsRead More - Resurrection in A Tale of Two Citiesanalytical essayGross, John. "A Tale of Two Cities." Dickens and the Twentieth Century. Ed. John Gross and Gabriel Pearson. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962. 187-97.
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- Describes how dr. alexander manette's daughter, lucie, helps him regain his sanity after being imprisoned in the bastille.
- Analyzes how sydney carton's life is made meaningful by the hope that he receives from lucy manette.
- Analyzes how sydney carton saves charles darnay, first from prison and then from death.
- Analyzes how the characters in a tale of two cities all play significant roles in each other's lives. resurrection is a predominant theme throughout the book.
- Analyzes how the central heroine, lucy manette, is responsible for the resurrections of sydney carton and dr.
- Explains that dickens and the twentieth century. ed. john gross and gabriel pearson. london: routledge & kegan paul, 1962.
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In this essay, the author
- Declares that this study is their own and does not contain any unacknowledged work from any source.
- Explains that one can't be happy in marriage if one's intention is to change their counterpart. breaking this last principle can lead to terrifying consequences.
- Opines that any accession to their number was doubly welcome under the pressure of pecuniary difficulties.
- Analyzes how ms.micawber had a wise approach to her husband's personality, showing dickens the essence of women’s wisdom. any husband would appreciate hearing such words from his wife.
- Analyzes dickens' moral delivered to the reader by illustration of micawber's family.
- Analyzes how dickens' "david copperfield" evoked emotions and emotions in the reader. the theme of family was important for the writer.
- Concludes that dicken's formula of happy marriage is a case where the above mentioned principle is observed by both parties.
- Analyzes the relationship between david copperfield and dora in dicken's novel.
- Analyzes how david felt his second year of marriage was happier than the first. dora loved him and was eager to make everything so that her "boy" was happy. dicken's warning appealed to the young generations.
- Analyzes how dickens depicts david's desire for support and acceptance in his marriage to a dainty little dora.
- Analyzes how dickens portrays david's ideal of perfect marriage. agnes, the perfect woman, has all the virtues that dora has not, but probably not so much of her fascination.
- Analyzes how dickens is trying to show us that there is a difference between falling in love and real love.
- Analyzes how the marriage of mr. murdstone and clara copperfield is a complete opposite to dickens' ideal of happy marriage.
- Analyzes how dickens' character, micawber, is a good-natured, active creature about everything but his own affairs. his weakness is his inability to get or keep remunerative employment.
- Analyzes how dickens shows that one of the essential women's needs is assurance that she is loved and mr.micawber did his best to let her know that all the time.
- Analyzes how ms. micawber's wise approach propped spiritual unity with her husband in times of despair. dickens was realistic in portraying this family.
- Analyzes how peggotty, like ms. micowber, showed her women's wisdom and quick witness.
- Concludes that dickens' novel "david copperfield" is not only a life-story of the main hero, but is also brilliant guide in questions of marriage.
4652 wordsRead More - Charles Dickens, an English writer and social critic, lived in England from 1812 to 1870 (Cody). Dickens usually critiques topics important to him or those that have affected him throughout his life. He grew up poor and was forced to work at an early age when his father was thrown into debtors prison (Cody). As he became a popular and widely known author he was an outspoken activist for the betterment of poor people’s lives (Davis). He wrote A Tale of Two Cities during the 1850s and published the book in 185...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how charles dickens uses satire, symbolism, and irony to emphasize the social/economic inequality between the wealthy and the poor.
- Explains that charles dickens, an english writer and social critic, lived in england from 1812 to 1870. he critiqued topics important to him or those that have affected him throughout his life.
- Analyzes dickens' satirical portrayal of the monsignor of chocolate and marquis evrémonde.
- Analyzes how dickens vilifies the upper class through the marquis evrémonde, who runs over a child without another thought, and the carriage he rides in symbolizes wealthiness of the rich while also symbolizing the destruction and havoc they bring upon the poor.
- Analyzes how the wine cask scene symbolizes the breaking point of the people after being oppressed by the upper crust.
- Analyzes how dickens personifies saint antoine and gives it a "collective identity." the restless mood signifies the people's need for retribution and violence.
- Analyzes how the aristocracy of the 1850s created even worse conditions for the idea of revolution by making the peasants worse. the power shifts from the upper class to the lower class immediately after the revolt.
- Analyzes how charles dickens illustrates the unequal condition between the poor and the rich through satirical description of the aristocracy.
- Explains colle, john, and the yale-new haven teachers institute's "teaching a tale of two cities."
- Analyzes how dickens saved poor children and cleaned up the slums. davis, matthew.
- Analyzes douglass, frederick, and ashland university's teaching of american history.
- Explains that griffith, george, "a tale of two cities" is a novel by sheryl ciccarelli and marie rose napierkowski.
- Opines that rulo, kevin, wrote dickens's a tale of two cities and rene girard. christianity and literature 59.1 (2009): 5+.
1868 wordsRead More - Great Expectations - Clothing Does Not Make the Mananalytical essayPorissien, David. "Literature's 'Eternal Duties': Dickens's Professional Creed." The Changing World of Charles Dickens. Ed. Robert Giddings. New York: Vision P, 1983.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how charles dickens explores the perception that the value of a man increases with his attainment of material wealth. pip's quest for material gain is conducted without regard for the kind of man wearing the suit.
- Analyzes how pip, seven, pays remembrance to his deceased family members, then moves towards a concept of his own small place in the world.
- Explains that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and the low leaden line beyond, the river;
- Analyzes how dickens emphasizes this with magwitch's brutal behavior, his threats of death if pip does not do his bidding.
- Analyzes how pip is introduced to a class of people deemed superior to his own only by virtue of their wealth. from them, he learns to judge others by the quantity and quality of his material possessions.
- Analyzes how pip is blinded by material consumption when he meets estella, who raises the concept of class stratification in him by criticizing his thick boots.
- Analyzes how dickens tells us that worldly riches do indeed blind us, that the brilliance of wealth, status, and possessions can outshine all else to the point where we can no longer see simple truth.
- Analyzes how dickens gives us many clues as to what kind of man joe is. from early on in the story we know that joe seems a different person altogether in his sunday clothing.
- Opines that you and me are not two figures to be together in london, nor anywhere else but what is private and beknown, and understood among friends.
- Analyzes how pip's pride has severed his friendship with joe, and argues that the denial of human connection is a curse of the upwardly mobile victorian society.
- Analyzes how dickens used his gift of language to comment on the conditions of human existence in his time.
- Analyzes how dickens underscores the meaninglessness of pip's pursuit in his relationship with estella.
- Explains that poverty was rampant in victorian england and was compounded by the popular belief that it was a result of sloth and wickedness.
- Explains that englishmen looked at poverty and found it morally tolerable. a preacher could spend his life surrounded by the squalor of a manufacturing town without feeling any twinge of socially radical sentiment.
- Analyzes how estella's disdain for pip illustrates the attitudes of classism on a whole. if poverty is deemed sin, then the accumulation of material wealth is morally correct.
- Analyzes how the occasion of mrs. joe's death illustrates the deep schism within pip.
- Analyzes how dickens is not through for pip attempts the same sort of metamorphosis he believed possible for himself upon magwitch. he purchases new clothing in an attempt to create a new man.
- Analyzes how the fugitive's clothes made it hopeless to attempt to disguise him. the more they dressed him, the more he looked like a slouching
- Analyzes how dickens illustrates the disparity of a system of values, which values men by material appearance despite obvious flaws in their behavior and values.
- Compares magwitch's appearance with that of compeyson, who was "all what a gentleman," with his curly hair, black clothes, and white pocket-handkercher.
- Opines that when the defence come on, then i see the plan plainer; for, says the counsellor for compeyson, "my lord and gentleman, here you has afore you, side by side, two persons as your eyes can separate wide."
- Analyzes how magwitch's partner in crime, compeyson, received lighter sentences for reasons of appearance — he was given certain advantages in life, not privy to. dickens reminds readers not to judge a book by its cover or by his clothes.
- Explains porissien, david, and robert giddings' the changing world of charles dickens.
2915 wordsRead More - Great Expectations by Charles Dickensanalytical essayCharles Dickens, born February 7th, 1812 in Portsmouth, England was one of eight children. He was unfortunately born into a low social class and in the English society that often meant you were the rag dolls for the rest of the country. Although his father didn’t solicit an abundance of money he spent it as if he did. They lived entertaining lives but as a result of their frequent spending they...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how charles dickens utilizes his life for inspiration for the protagonist pip in his novel great expectations. they both struggle with their social standing.
- Explains that charles dickens, born february 7th, 1812 in portsmouth, england, was born into a low social class and in the english society that often meant you were the rag dolls for the rest of the country.
- Narrates how charles dickens was forced to work in marshalsea in london, southwark, when his schooling stopped and the working began. after three years, he returned to school.
- Describes how dickens became tired of working as a court reporter at the age of 16 and began experimenting with acting and stage management.
- Describes how dickens' connections with magazines and newspapers allowed him to publish his thoughts and fiction novels.
- Analyzes how dickens went to america in january, 1842, and left in june. he recorded his impressions of the trip in american notes, expressing his displeasure with slavery, business practices, journalism and people's manners.
- Explains that dickens' personal life is not to be forgotten. he married catherine hogarth, his co-worker's daughter, in 1836.
- Describes how dickens' public readings were profitable but exhausting physically. he had a mild stroke in 1865 and by 1870 he knew that there wasn't much left in his tank.
- Explains that pip's life in great expectations is similar to dickens' and it is evident that he used himself as inspiration.
- Describes the similarities between dickens and pip's great expectations. oprah’s book club. 6 december 2010.
996 wordsRead More - Charles Dickens' Great Expectationsanalytical essayRawlins, Jack P. "Great Expectations: Dickens and the Betrayal of the Child." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. 23 (1983): 667-683.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how dickens' great expectations develops through the novel following pip, a young "common boy" who grew up in the countryside.
- Analyzes how pip's orphaned sister, mrs. joe, was the only confidant and friend he had in his childhood.
- Analyzes how dickens made estella an almost identical copy of frankenstein: trained to perform specific tasks for the pleasure of their guardian.
- Compares the restrictive upbringings of pip and estella and the way in which the pocket children are raised.
- Analyzes how dickens' portrayal of child characters in the novel, great expectations, demonstrates how adults rarely, nor adequately provided for these particular needs that children have.
- Explains that perdue's charles dickens page is available at http://www.fidnet.
1146 wordsRead More