Weibo Yang

Mrs. Hawkins
English 8
19 November 2015
The True Story of Charles Dicken
Charles Dicken is the man who invented Christmas. He was born in Portsmouth, England
on February 7, 1812. His father was sent to a debtors prison and when he was only 12 he was
forced to work in a shoe polish factor and earned only six shillings a week. After Dickens paid
off the debts he continued his education and became a journalist, court reporter, and also covered
many political campaigns. In the political campaign, his first success was The Pickwick Papers.
When he was 31, he was deeply in debt because of overspending. He contemplated giving up,
and was very unhappy man, but he also hated corrupt politicians and had greed and poverty. The
book, A Christmas Carol that later became famous was thought up when Dicken took a
midnight walk. In the Victorian Era December 25 was not a celebrated holiday and the church
persecuted the people who would celebrate it. The book took him six weeks to write and at first
publishers rejected it, so he decided to self publish his book. The book then sold out and set sales
records. Later December 25 became a major holiday. He was later the most successful English
author second to Shakespeare. He later died on June 9, 1870 was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Dickens left 15 novels and a legacy of charity and goodwill toward men.