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

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

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