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Question One

Charles Dickens had led a life conscious of the many immoral actions taking place in London. He wrote on many themes, such as the challenging life for children and those deprived of the necessities of life. The writing Sketches of Boz by Charles Dickens also shows these themes of challenging life for the less privileged and illustrates the lifestyle of the poor in London at the time. Dickens uses many literary devices to convey these hardships and challenges, such as descriptive observations, to reflect his own challenges that he had faced. Sketches of Boz shows the poor living conditions in nineteenth century London through various ways to reveal the unjust nature of these conditions and the effect it had on the children. (Sayre, 1)

In the writing, the lower-class are seen to lack the necessities of life. These include a proper dwelling, hygiene, and food. The lower-class children are shown to undergo many hardships due to this. In addition to this, the lower-class is shown not to have proper clothing at the time, which is a very important aspect of society. Many houses also had broken windows, which were covered with rags and papers, showing the lack of resources that the lower-class had. Due to these things, people’s lives were impacted and often seen to be engaging in negative acts, such as drinking, smoking, fighting, and swearing. (Sayre, 1)

Question Two

The lower-class didn’t lead a positive lifestyle in nineteenth century London due to the deprivation of resources and basic needs. This can be seen largely through the children’s lifestyle. Some children would go onto the streets and look for resources, even going to the extent of begging and searching through thick mud. Furthermore, Liza Picard explains, “Sometimes the children were blinded or maimed, to loosen the purse‐strings of passers‐by” (2). This excessive, harsh treatment would reveal the negative way of life that the lower-class people followed. Due to the lack of resources to survive, the children would go through many injustices and wrong treatment just to obtain the resources required for survival. This would also hold true for women, as many of them led their lives as prostitutes in order to attain the required resources. (Picard, 2)

Other than these options, people could go to workhouses, which would provide housing in exchange for intensive labor. An instance of such manner of labor can be seen when giving physically incapable people tasks which were very challenging. In addition, workhouses were very difficult to get admitted to and would provide bare minimum resources, showing how the lower-class people were given limited opportunities by not receiving enough resources to supply their families in order to survive. (Picard, 2) Even when presented with opportunities, only a selected few could receive the benefits, which would still have to engage in intensive labor. The majority of the lower-class which couldn’t get into a workhouse would live in places known as, “slums.” The houses of the lower-class were largely damaged. Some had fallen roofs, broken stairs, shattered windows, etc. Furthermore, the living spaces were often very tight and dense, with many families living in nearby in different rooms. Hence, this type of housing would provide inadequate shelter for the people, leaving many vulnerable from extreme weather and impacting the lives of many at the time. (White, 3)

Question Three

Charles Dickens is well-known for his use of literary realism in his writings. Literary realism is used to insert realistic descriptions to explain things without exaggerations or figurative language. Through this, the reader understands a greater amount of the description and can visualize the setting and broader picture (SansGuilt, 4). An instance of Charles Dickens implementing literary realism in his writings can be seen through the excerpt of Sketches of Boz. According to Dickens, “Wretched houses with broken windows patched with rags and paper; every room let out [rented] to a different family” (Sayre, 1, p. 923). This example of writing would show great description by illustrating how the living environments were unsuitable. Through this, the reader can visualize the harsh reality of living environments for the lower-class and the challenges that many may have faced.

Dickens largely wrote on topics of human poverty and child labor due to his attempt to change societal ways. In addition, Dickens largely advocated for child rights to make a difference in their lives in mid-nineteenth century London. He was determined and motivated to make the public aware of the desperate living conditions of the low-class people largely due to his own life experiences. Dickens’ family was very poor, resulting in his father being arrested for debt. Due to this, Dickens had to discontinue his education and do labor at an early age to provide enough resources for his family. Despite all these setbacks, Dickens became an established and successful writer who published many famous novels through his sheer determination. As a result, Charles Dickens was able to sympathize with the lower-class families, especially the young children which were impacted tremendously due to the insufficiency of wealth and other needs. By attempting to gain awareness of these living conditions, Dickens showed the significance of the living conditions in London and how he wished for such treatment of children to come to an end. (Biography.com Editors, 5)

Question Four

As one can clearly see, the unyielding economic changes had largely influenced the poor living conditions of the lower-class. These conditions had a very distinct impact on the children and the lifestyle they followed. The lower-class had shelters unsuitable for people, improper clothing, unhygienic practices, and lack of food among other things, which had led many to take jobs such as begging, prostitution, or intensive labor. This had a very negative impact on society, as the upper-class lived a world of luxury whereas the lower-class had to take disreputable or intensive jobs just to support the family. In this sense, the industrialization of London had a profoundly negative impact on the society. Although London may have made some advancements, the most important aspect of society wasn’t administered properly, and this was the condition of human beings.

No matter how many achievements or advancements we make as a society, the most significant and deciding factor would be the treatment of human beings. Our ways of living largely affect the next generation through their mindsets, ethical concepts, their own living conditions, and their effect on the generation afterwards. In addition, we shouldn’t lose hope or courage, but instead stick to our ground and make our stand in order to let our claims be heard and make a difference, like Charles Dickens. Whenever there are aspects of society that need to be fixed or changed, we should bring awareness to this aspect so that others may also know of it and rise as a community to fix this issue. As human beings, we need to learn from our mistakes of the past, such as these living conditions in nineteenth century London, to make a better future for us and the generations following.

Sources

1. Henry Sayre. (2015). The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change, Volume 2 (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

2. Lisa Picard. “The working classes and the poor.” https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/the-working-classes-and-the-poor, October 14, 2009.

3. Jerry White. “Life in 19th-century slums: Victorian London’s homes from hell.” https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/life-in-19th-century-slums-victorian-londons-homes-from-hell/, October 26, 2016.

4. SansGuilt. “Compare and Contrast: The Similarities and Differences Between Realism and Naturalism.” https://owlcation.com/humanities/Compare-and-Contrast-The-Similarities-and-Differences-between-Realism-and-Naturalism, February 4, 2015.

5. Biography.com Editors. “Charles Dickens Biography.” https://www.biography.com/people/charles-dickens-9274087, April 2, 2014.

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