Chapter - IV

Reflection of Childhood in
Charles Dickens' Fictional Works
 CHAPTER IV
REFLECTION OF CHILDHOOD IN CHARLES
DICKENS' FICTIONAL WORKS

4.1 Preliminaries

The present chapter is devoted to the analysis of the selected fictional

works of Charles Dickens. In the commencement of the chapter, an
attempt is made to discuss thoroughly the reflection of childhood in
Charles Dickens' fictional works. Dickens' strong imaginative links to
his childhood continued throughout his life and coloured his adult world
and his moral outlook. In this chapter, writer's family background, his
educational, societal and economic backdrop has been examined to
determine how the Dickens' childhood experiences are reflected in his
fictional world. The present chapter examines the famous and the most
appealing novels David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol and Oliver
Twist thoroughly focusing on the childhood.

The analysis also includes the thematic aspects of each novel including
important characters and situations. In each novel, child is treated as a
protagonist and its psychological, social and educational development
has been discussed in detail.

It is the acknowledged fact that novels are based on the social reality.
The relationship between individual and society is reflected in them.
Literature is the mirror of the society and life. The author turns over a
particular illustration of socio-cultural context of his time. The present

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chapter deals with the different situations and background of Dickens"
childhood, education and household troubles.

4.2 Reflection of Childhood in Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist is one of the famous novels by Charles Dickens. It is the

sentimental novel of the underworld of industrial London. The theme of
the novel is the conflict between good and bad. It deals with the realistic
picture of the criminal world. It deals with misery and horror.
Workhouses are the places of poverty, ugliness, a world of brutality and
violence. Oliver is the hero of the novel whose struggle is against his
oppressors. Dickens has depicted the hypocritical attitudes of public
institutions. He has a deep love and respect for the people. He
considered them the salt of the earth. Dickens writes in his preface to
Oliver twist:

"/ wished to show in little Oliver, the principle of Good is

surviving through every adverse circumstance, and triumphing at
last and when I considered among what companions I could try
him best having regard to that kind of men into whose hands he
would most naturally fall; I be thought myself of those who figure
in these volumes. " (P.33)

Dickens attacked the abuses in the society. He has given the evil details
of the downtrodden and the oppressed. Being as a true Victorian, the
main focus of his novel is on the psychology of child and the
responsibilities of both parents and society in general. The reminiscence

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of his own childhood and adolescence experiences have been
fictionalized in his respective fiction.

Oliver is the central character of this novel. He is a parish child and an

orphan. He finds his way through a city where criminals and corrupted
people live. The horrible living conditions of the London slums and the
poor working class people are portrayed by Charles Dickens in his
novels.

Oliver is a fully individualized character. In the opening sentence of the

novel, Dickens describes him as an item of mortality. He is connected
with the workhouse, the crime world and the world of the gentle middle
class people. Dickens wanted to show him an instrument of exposing the
inhumanity and the pitiless, hard cruelty of the workhouse and the
underworld. His deprived woes result from society's unfairness, not his
own failings. Oliver Twist is a challenge to Victorian idea that paupers
and criminals are already evil at birth, arguing instead that a corrupt
environment is the source of the vice. Oliver is forced to participate in a
burglary. Dickens is opposed to say that corruption is inborn in poor
people.

Oliver Twist is the story of the evil of the Poor Houses. The New Poor
Law Amendment Act was passed in 1834. It was under Queen Elizabeth
I the laws were made to provide relief to those poor people who could
not support themselves. Orphans were boarded out and then apprenticed
to a trade. The vagabonds were sent to the houses of correction. It was a
provision for the poor and offered relief to them. Special buildings were
set up to provide work for the poor people under supervision. These

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buildings were known as workhouses. At first, there were separate
institutions for different needs of the children, old people or those who
were mentally or physically sick. By the end of 19th century, the>'
became symbols of under degradation, faced lack of care and
insufficient food.

Dickens criticized the corrupt administration and the individuals. The

novel is an attack on the way the laws are administered. In the 19th
century, the lower classes in Britain suffered the misery and poverty.
The ill-treatment of orphans and paupers, child labour, low wages were
common features of that time. The board had contracted with the
waterworks to lay on an unlimited supply of water for the orphans and
with a corn-factory to supply periodically small quantities of oatmeal
and issued three meals a day of thin gruel, with an onion twice a week
and half a roll on Sundays.

According to the law, poor could only receive government assistance if

they moved into government workhouses. These workhouses were in
poor condition. Food and clothing were rare for them. Workhouses did
not provide any means of social and economic betterment.

The workhouses were in operation on the principle that poverty was the
consequence of laziness. Oliver was bom in a workhouse without
parents. He was unwanted at the start of the novel, but due to his loving,
kind and honest nature, he made many friends. Oliver's good qualities
won the heart of many people. Systems of workhouses were generated
by The Poor Laws. Harsh treatment was being given to the poor people.

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Dickens described the uncaring Victorian society. People were self-
centered and self-satisfied. The lower classes were really miserable.
Dickens criticized the church as it was helpless to help the poor and
miserable people. He depicted the hypocritical system of the church and
its people. He condemned the Church of England.

Charles Dickens used fiction very effectively to show economic, social

and moral discrimination of the society. In Oliver Twist, he explores the
evils of the criminal world in London and the poor condition of children.
In workhouses, children faced prolonged hunger, physical punishment,
humiliation and hypocrisy. For a meal, they were given a single scoop of
gruel. Oliver was severely punished for asking more gruel. These
workhouses failed to give food to the poor and to solve the problem of
poverty.

Mother has a special place in Dickens' novels. He thinks that mother

plays a very significant role in shaping her children. He has been
deprived of his mother's love. He has been abused and neglected all his
life. He has described his fiction from child's point of view. His own life
had made him so sensitive to the plight of the oppressed children. Thus,
Charles Dickens narrated his own childhood experiences. Oliver Twist is
his own portrayal of childhood. It was troublesome. The image of happy
childhood was lacking in his childhood.

4.2.1 Thematic Aspects of Oliver Twist

Oliver is a story of an orphan child. He is the hero of the novel. It is a

journey of orphan and outcast child. Oliver Twist is basically about the

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exploitation of a child. Oliver is bom in a dark workhouse about seventy
five miles north of London. His mother's name is not known. She died
almost immediately after giving birth to the child leaving behind a
locket and a ring as the only tokens of the child's identity. Nobody
knows who she was, but the doctor notices that she wasn't wearing a
wedding ring. The infant's father is unknown. On her deathbed, Oliver's
mother prays:

"God will raise up some friends for her abandoned child. "
(P.150)

Oliver's mother's prayer enacts God's mercy in providing friends for the
orphan. The Maylie, is the old lady who feeds him when he is half-dead
on the road to London. Writer says:

"She took pity upon the poor orphan; and gave him what little
she could afford - and more -with such kind and gentle works,
and such tears of sympathy and compassion, that they sank
deeper into Oliver's soul, than all the sufferings he had ever
undergone" (P.46)

The orphan is brought up at a "child farm" in the country until he is

about eight years old. Dickens draws the attention of the readers towards
the problems of orphan and outcast. Oliver's treatment in the parish is
truly criminal. The novel emphasizes the need for kindness and
compassion, especially in our treatment of children. Dickens illustrates
the .orphaned, working class children in Victorian England. Dickens
addressed the children not by their given names, but rather akin to their

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employment or socio-economic status. Unnamed by his mother, Oliver
is named by Mr. Bumble, the parish Beadle, Mr. Bumble explains:

"We name our foundlings in alphabetical order. The last was a,

s, Swubble, I named him. This was a T, Twist; I named him
• (PP.51-52)

'Oliver' means peace. Dickens has shown the social ranks by clothes of
the orphan children. Dickens has suggested that only clothes can differ
the ranks and positions of the people. He describes Oliver as being an
"excellent example of the power of dress.'* When Oliver was wrapped in
a blanket, he was nameless and could have been the child of a
nobleman.

Oliver became a pauper. Oliver is raised under the care of Mr. Mann and
Mr. Bumble in the workhouse. They are very corrupted. They decide it's
time for Oliver to start working and they send back to workhouse. Child
welfare system in the workhouse was corrupt. The boards of educators
are called wise people. Thus Dickens depicted individual and
institutional follies in the Victorian era. Oliver spends his first nine years
in a workhouse. On his ninth birthday, he is described as being:

"A pale, thin child, somewhat diminutive in stature and steadily

small in circumference? (P.49)

Charles Dickens attacks on the Victorian period where poverty,

starvation and diseases and death were the main problems of the society.
The death rate was high as food was out of rich for the poor.

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Oliver is the victim of a heartless social system. Dickens depicted his
own scarring situation during childhood. Oliver Twist is basically about
the exploitation of a child. He even attacks the inhuman system of
education that dehumanizes man. The following extract is worth
studying:

"Oh, nurse!' says the poor little fellow, with an eager sense that
what he had longed for had come too late; 'what a big bit of
bread this is! Yes, Mr. Baron Piatt, it is clear that it was too
much for him. His head was lifted up a moment, but it sank again.
He could not but befall of wonder and pleasure that the big bit of
bread had come, though he could not eat it. An English poet in
the days when poetry and poverty were inseparable companions,
received a bit of bread in somewhat similar circumstances which
proved too much for him, and he died in the act of swallowing it.
The difference is hardly worth pointing out. The pauper child had
not even the strength for the effort which choked the pauper
poet." (P.24)

There was a Victorian attitude that poor people were criminals only.
Economic and social status was directly related to moral character. The
poor were considered vicious. Money defined class status and public
reputation. Victorian people were busy spending their time for success.
There was a strong prejudice against the poor. When Oliver was hungry
he asked the cook at the workhouse for more gruel. He asks:

"Please Sir, I want some more. " (P.27)

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A member of the board replied;

"Iknow that the boy will be hung" (P.27).

This kind of attitude was towards the poor in the Victorian era. It was
considered a great offense if the boys asked more food. Mr. Bumble
whipped Oliver and threw him into a darkened room. When he asks for
more food he is sold to an undertaker as a punishment. Mr. Bumble is a
corrupt man and very insensitive towards the orphan children. He used
to feed very little. The boys remain hungry. They never dare to ask more
food.

Oliver Twist is the criticism of the society. Charles Dickens criticized

the poor laws and intolerable condition of the middle and upper classes.
He himself had been raised in this condition. He has depicted the
descriptions of the workhouses and slums of London. He has described
the evil effects of poverty and homelessness. With poverty comes
hunger. Crime is the result of poverty. It completely dehumanizes
society. Oliver represented all that is good. He represented the power of
love, hate, greed and revenge.

Parish official named Mr. Sowerberry sold Oliver to a coffm-maker. He

was not treated better there. Mrs. Sowerberry troubled and abused him.
Oliver goes with Sowerberry to fetch the body of the women who died
of starvation. Oliver runs away to London on foot.

Near London, Oliver joins company with John Dawkins or The Artful
Dodger. He buys lunch for Oliver. He tells Oliver to come with him to a

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place where a gentleman will give him a place to sleep and food, for no
rent. Dodger takes Oliver to Fagin. Fagin is criminal. Fagin trains
children to be a pickpocket and he sells off what they steal. The gang of
criminals instructed Oliver to pick pockets. Oliver is arrested for this
crime. He collapses and is taken home by Mr. Brownlow as he feels bad
for Oliver. He cares for Oliver. With Mr. Brownlow Oliver lives happily
but Fagin and his gang are not happy to have lost Oliver. Mr. Brownlow
asks Oliver to return some books to the book seller for him. Nancy,
another criminal from Fagin's gang, keeps watch on Oliver and the gang
kidnaps Oliver.

They take him back to Fagin and try to turn him criminal. They asked
him to rob the house. Oliver is forced to go on a house-breaking with
Bill Skies. He is shot by one of the servants. Skies and other partner run
away. The robbers run off with the wounded Oliver but abandon him in
a ditch. When he regains consciousness in a ditch, he went to the nearest
house. Mrs. Maylie and her beautiful daughter Rose who were the
owner of the house takes the boy in and protects him. She eventually
turns out to be Oliver's aunt. When Oliver gets well she takes him to see
Mr. Brownlow, who has moved to the West-Indies. Fagin and his gang
follow the Oliver. Nancy tells Rose Maylie that Monk is Oliver's older
half-brother. He has been trying to destroy Oliver for the whole property
he will get. Nancy tells Rose and Mr. Brownlow how to find Monks.
Fagin and Skies kill Nancy. Monk reveals the reality and admits
everything. He reveals the true story of Oliver's birth. Skies falls off a
roof and hangs himself accidentally. Fagin is arrested. Mr. Brownlow,
Maylies and Oliver live in peace and comfort in a small village in the
English Countryside.

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Oliver is alone. He is deprived of parental love and care. Industrial
Revolution gave birth to many social evils like poor houses, unjust
courts, greedy management and the underworld crime. Poor children
took to crime and fell into the hands of the underworld. The underworld
is a mirror image of the world itself.

At the time of Dickens, Victorian society was dominated by

industrialization, poor living conditions, poor hygiene and unsanitary
condition both in home and at work. Children lived in misery. Despite
disease and death, Victorians had hope in the future.

In Oliver Twist Charles Dickens throws light on class conflict as far as

children's world is concern. The corrupt social system, the miserable
living conditions, malnutrition and abject poverty are responsible for the
plight of the children like Oliver Twist. The corrupt legal system is also
help responsible for the diseases and death of the Victorian children.
Dickens has satirizes such as farming in the following words: Dickens
satirizes this farm system and says:

"If he could have known that he was an orphan, left to the tender
mercies of churchwardens and overseers, perhaps he would cry
the louder:\?A1)

Oliver is unknowingly thrown into a world of chaos and greed.

Dickens raised his voice against this system of child labour and
suffering of orphanage children of Victorian era. Oliver had lived
through an inhumane system. He had no formal education. Dick is

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another miserable character who suffers due to poor economic
background and being an orphan. Dickens depicts his struggles against
disease and death. Dick is one of the characters who imagine a beautiful
place where there will be no more beating, sickness or hunger. Dick
explains Oliver that he will be better after his death. Dick says:

"/ know the doctor must be right Oliver, because I dream so

much of Heaven and Angles and kind faces that I never see when
I am awake. "(P.96-97)

Dick accepts his fate that after death only he will be happy and free from
struggles. There will be no torture. Dickens defines helplessness of
children in these grim situations. He even defines emotional turmoil of
the child.

Thus, Victorian child was facing inhumane condition. Dickens had feh
abandoned by his own family when his father was imprisoned and his
mother wished to keep him working in the blacking warehouse. His
fiction is true and tolerable picture of a world in which such things could
happen. He has given a true picture of bitter childhood and reflected it
clearly in his fiction.

4.3 Reflection of Childhood in A Christmas Carol

In the preface of the novel Charles Dickens says:

"r/z/5 is a world of action and not moping and droning in ".

"Charity begins at home and justice begins next door. " (P. 12)

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Dickens' life and his literary works are interlinked. His novels and other
works reflect his own life. In the school of life and experience he had to
undergo a severe treachery. As a child, poor and lonely, longing for love
and society, he laid the foundation for those heart-rending pictures of
children which have moved so many readers to unfamiliar tears. He
gained the knowledge of human life as a clerk in a lawyer's office in the
court. He even learnt the trick of racy writing, and of knowing to a detail
that would suit the popular taste. As an actor, he seized upon every
dramatic possibility, every tense situation, and gesture in the people
whom he made and reproduced these things in his voice.

The novella A Christmas Carol celebrates the joy of Christmas.

Christmas carols are hymns which sum up the Christian theme music.
The best Christmas carol is to live a life full of love, kindness, mercy
and charity. This festival establishes the universal fraternity prospering
under the blessings of the Almighty.

Dickens makes an interior attack on the economic system of England.

He disliked the excess capitalism and a mad race for material success.
The Industrial Revolution brought a drastic change in social relation as
they were determined by economic factors. Dickens saw the intense
suffering around him. The widespread poverty of the masses and the
festering slums around London sickened him. The pathetic living in sub-
human condition of the workers made him disturbed. Prisons,
workhouses and factories were terrible experiences in his childhood.

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Between 1843 and 1848 Dickens wrote his Christmas Books including A
Christmas Carol. This is perhaps the most popular of all his works
which shows his belief in human kindliness.

Dickens suffered a difficult childhood. In childhood, he spent important

time for reading books in his father's study. He began to make daily
trips along the Thames to visit his parents' friends when he was ten. The
trips gave him great observation to see the lives of the underprivileged
and poor working class. Dickens suffered both physically and
emotionally from his experiences of the work at Warrens blacking
factory. He spent ten hours a day gluing labels on jars of shoe polish to
create additional income for his family. At the age of twelve, he worked
harder. Through these experiences, he learnt a lot. There is a reflection
of sympathy of children. He has a deep concern for the underprivileged
in most of his fiction. Few of them are A Christmas Carol (1843), Bleak
House (1853) Hard Times (1854), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859).

A Christmas Carol has become an important piece of literature. In all

the work we can see the shadow of the young Dickens. Ebenezer
Scrooge is the protagonist of the novella. It is a story of this ill-
tempered miser. He represents Victorian rich class. His journey from a
penny- pinching person to a generous gentleman transformed into a
generous kindhearted old man. At the end of the novella, he becomes a
good friend and a good master. Scrooge realizes the problems of the
poor people. He is shown as a neglected child with a brutal father. The
story affords clues to the incompatible emotions in Dickens mind.

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A Christmas Carol is a Victorian morality tale. It is a fairly
straightforward allegory. With A Christmas Carol, Dickens hopes to
illustrate how self-serving, insensitive people can be converted into
charitable, caring through religious lessons.

A Christmas Carol explores the value of Christian moral ideals.

Christmas is a festival of love and kindness. It gives the message of
generosity and universal love for human being. Dickens' childhood life
was lonely. His lonely childhood was deprived of parents' love,
affection and care. His unhappy childhood never enjoyed happy
moments of family life.

Scrooge oppressed his downtrodden clerk named Bob Cratchit. He

visited his former partner, Jacob Marley's ghost on Christmas Eve. The
three other ghosts show him three periods of his life, his past, present
and Christmas yet to come. At the end Scrooge turns into a good person.
He becomes generous and responsible. Scrooge is symbolic of the
greedy Victorian rich. But his transformation from a penny-pinching
person to generous gentlemen is possible through his own free will.

The period from 1837 to 1901 showed the dominance of Queen Victoria
over the United Kingdom. Then, London was the most famous city in
the world. Poor families were forced to move into overcrowded urban
neighborhoods due to starvation and unemployment. They were paid
lower salary when they came to work in the industrial workshops in the
big cities.

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The population increased due to the industrial revolution. Pickpockets,
prostitutes, drunks, beggars and vagrants added more problems to the
city. Death rates increased because of poor and unhealthy living
conditions. The child mortality rate was high. Poor families could not
offer to send children to school. "Raged schools" were charitable
schools providing free education. More children remained uneducated
due to the demand for child labour and poverty of the parents. Children
worked as beggars or chimney-sweeper. Dickens realized the value of
education. He was a supporter of ragged school. According to Dickens,
it is the government's duty to provide education to the poor. He severely
criticizes the education system in the country. In the 1840 Victorian
England was affected by the social problems. It was the great struggle of
majority people to earn living. Basic needs were considered as luxury.
The decade 1843 is called "Hungry Forties". Poor people were forced to
leave villages. They held poor jobs. Urban population increased. Grain
prices unfairly increased. Slum area increased due to population.
Starvation forced young children to work in factories. Poverty, poor
public health, housing problems, educational problems increased. Lack
of these facilities the social health of the Brittan were in danger.
Community became greedy and corruption increased as people feared
financial instability. The social conditions became worst as poor were
affected by the ill treatment of the wealthy upper-class. Social and moral
health of the society decreased. Social conditions such as
malnourishment disease and death of the people were common problems
of this age.

In A Christmas Carol, the main character Scrooge is a greedy person.

Money is everything in his life. He is mad for money. He cannot part

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with even a penny for charitable purpose. He eats cold supper in the
light of just one flickering candle. He underpays his clerk Cratchit.

Scrooge's childhood resembled Dickens own childhood. Like Dickens

Scrooge was also sent off to a boarding school and got separated from
his family. There is no reference of Scrooges' mother in A Christmas
Carol. In real life, Dickens mother was responsible for sending the
twelve year old Dickens to work. Even after his father's release from
prison, Elizabeth recommends Dickens to continue working. He was
never able to forgive her as she robbed his childhood. Dickens never had
received the affection and attention from his mother. His relationship
with his mother remained strained throughout his life. She was
responsible for sending the twelve year old Dickens to work. Elizabeth
forced Dickens to continue working. He was apparently never able to
forgive her for the way she robbed him of his childhood. Dickens
expresses all his dislikes. His sister Fanny provided the affection and
love. In Scrooge's life Fran symbolizes Fanny and her significant role in
his life. Dickens' message to his readers is wealthy people can learn
from the poor. It is our social responsibility for the wellbeing of others.

In A Christmas Carol, Marley who is Scrooge's greedy partner died

seven years before. He appears to Scrooge as a ghost. Marley says:

"// is required of every man... that the spirit within him should
walk abroad among his fellow men and travel far and wide; and
if that spirit goes not forth in life; it is condemned to do so after
• death" (??.29-30).

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Here, we can see the Marley's words represented Dickens' own views of
personal responsibility.

Scrooge expressed justification for his harsh behaviour. As a cold-

hearted and selfish person, he changed his attitude and behaviour.
Industrialization brought the rural peasant to urban centers as a result of
which many social problems increased. Dickens' characters are very
close to his family members and friends. In childhood Scrooge faced
many difficulties. Fran represents for Scrooge what Dickens' own sister
represented in his life. Scrooge's childhood greatly resembles his own.

Dickens believed that to fight against poverty, education is the only

way. Dickens realized the value of education. He was the supporter of
ragged schools, which were designed to provide education to the
financially unstable people. In A Christmas Carol, Dickens felt that
knowledge was the only hope for a better society.

A Christmas Carol is his personal views of life. In 1843, this book

became so popular holiday's story and essential part of Christmas. It is a
religious allegory. Victorian adopted to celebrate Christmas. It reflects
the changing identity of the holiday as a time of good cheer and
compassion and not only religious observance.

Dickens raised the social problems of Britain. Urban population rapidly

increased. For the struggling majority, basic everyday needs were prized
luxuries and disease. In 1834, the British Government passed the New
Poor Law Amendment Act. The laws only served to further divide the
upper and the lower classes. The streets were rampant with waste and

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with rats, and since coal was the primary energy resource, London was
one of the most polluted cities in the world.

A Christmas Carol is a shadow of the young Dickens. Dickens created

for Scrooge a childhood that greatly resembled his own. Scrooge was
also sent off to a boarding school and separated from his immediate
family as Dickens was. He wrote mainly for the lower-middle class. He
portrays the lower class in a respectable way. A Christmas Carol,
focuses on the social responsibility of the wealthy to help the poor and
the less fortunate. He had suffered and knew the struggle of the lower
class of London. Dickens was forced to leave school at the age of 12 for
work in a factory. Dickens has depicted the same experiences in A
Christmas Carol.

Dickens contended that the reformation of such a materialistic, shallow

society can be achieved gradually through the spiritual transformation of
each individual. The story is based on a fundamental faith in humanity.
Scrooge transforms from a cruel, bitter miser to kindly humanitarian.
Dickens' emphasizes the values of spiritual growth, not the material
wealth. Dickens' fiction also explored the importance of family and the
soul-freezing effect of greed on the human spirit.

4.3.1 Thematic Aspects of A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (1843) is one of the most popular novella by Charles

Dickens. It is the story of personal transformation of the protagonist,
Ebenezer Scrooge. He is the proprietor of a London country house. He is
a wealthy elderly man.

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A Christmas Carol is the story of Christian moral ideals. The novella
teaches generosity, kindness and universal love for human beings.
Christmas is the most popular festival of the Christians throughout the
world. It is an occasion for merry-making. The singers of the carols sing
for collecting funds for the poor and the needy. Money collected in the
way is used to give surprise gifts to the children. The Christians
exchange gifts on this auspicious occasion. It is a moral duty of the rich
and the fortunate to offer some money for charity purpose. We meet the
protagonist, Scrooge, who is very rich, but selfish and a miserly man
who is not ready to share the joyous spirit of the festival. He takes
special care not to say 'Merry Christmas' to anybody. His nephew; Fred
and his clerk Bob Cratchit wish him 'Merry Christmas', but he is so
rude and arrogant. But with the passage of time, we see that he changes
his outlook and starts feeling for the underprivileged classes of the
society. His character undergoes complete transformation.

A Christmas Carol is a story of a wealthy elderly man. He is the

proprietor of a London country house. His name is Ebenezer Scrooge.
The protagonist of the novella is a miserly, self absorbed, bitter person.
He is very lonely old man. He has no family. He has no wife, no
children. His former business partner, Jacob Marley has been dead for
seven years. He is a strong supporter of the Poor Law of 1834. Money is
the be-all and end-all of his life. He is mad for money. Scrooge cannot
part with even a penny for a charitable purpose. He eats cold supper in
the light of just one flickering candle. He underpays his clerk Cratchit
who is very poor. He has many children to feed. Scrooge has an

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unfeeling heart. He loves money so much that his beloved Belle also
leaves him forever.

Scrooge's nephew, Fred invites him to his home for Christmas dinner.
He calls Christmas as "Humbug". Two portly gentlemen also drop by
and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge suggests that
all poor children should be sent to prison or the workhouses or they had
better die and eventually decrease the population. The two gentlemen
leave empty-handed. The character of Scrooge can be described in terms
of irritable, a killer of joy, a hater of festivities and an anti-social
character. He does not believe in the 'Spirit of Christmas' to share
human values and joy with others. On the eve of Christmas night,' he is
haunted by ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Jacob narrates his
unfortunate story. His soul is weighted down with heavy chains. There
is a great burden of his sin on his soul. The reason is his greed for
money. Marley asks Scrooge to stop being greedy to save his soul. He
even informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him. After this scene ,
Scrooge collapses into a deep sleep.

He wakes before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past. The spirit
takes Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases.
Scrooge revisits his childhood school days. He remembers his
engagement to Belle. He rejected her for money. Scrooge starts crying
when he remembers himself as a neglected boy. The Ghost of Christmas
Present takes Scrooge through London. Scrooge watches the large
Cratchit family prepare a miniature feast in its meager home. He
discovers Bob Cratchits crippled son, Tiny Tim. His kindness changes
Scrooge's heart. Scrooge witnesses the Christmas party to his nephew's

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place. He finds it very delightful. Towards the end of the day, he shows
Scrooge two starved children, Ignorance and Want, living under his
coat.

Scrooge notices a dark figure coming towards him. The Ghost of

Christmas yet to come leads Scrooge through a sequence of sences. He
sees the businessmen discussing the dead man's achievements and the
poor expressing relief at the death of their creditor. Scrooge begs to
know the name of the dead man. Scrooge finds himself in a churchyard
and is shocked. Tiny Tim is dead. The Cratchits are bankrupt and
Scrooge himself is dead with no one to mourn him. He asks the Spirit to
change his fate. He promises to honour the Christmas with his heart. He
suddenly finds himself on his bed. He was grateful that he has been
returned to Christmas turkey to the Cratchit house and attends Fred's
party.

As the years go by, he holds true to his promise and honours Christmas
with all his heart. He treats Tiny Tim as if he were his own child. He
treats his servants and office members kindly and generously.

He develops with the passage of time and becomes a devout Christian.

The glimpse of his past, present and future fill him with remorse. He
becomes generous, loving, noble and philanthropic. Now, he starts
loving others in the true sense of the word.

The story of the Scrooge's life is psychological and moral paralysis. It is

a story of Ebenezer Scrooge who is ill-tempered and in misery. He
rejects his nephew Fred's wishes for a merry Christmas. For him

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Christmas is not a mere old ritual, but as a reminder of Christ's
teachings. For Fred, Christmas is:

''Kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know

of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem
by one consent to open their shut- up hearts freely. "(P.9)

Dickens created the character of Ebenezer Scrooge as a human failing.

He unnecessary spends and maintains a coldness of heart and hearth. He
loves money so much that his families, a fiance have been pushed aside
in his quest for wealth. He has lost his sense of humanity. Scrooge
avoids family and friends. This results in something of psychological
and moral paralysis.

Victorian England in the 1840's was affected by greed and its corollary
poverty. Dickens portrays the characters that best exemplify the damage
done by the absolute fear of the English aristocracy.

Dickens uses Tiny Tim's symbolism to connect religious values to his

real social issues. The Cratchits who are poor and hardly have enough
money to feed, to shelter, and to clothe their family, are at the mercy of
Scrooge. Dickens was a supporter of social responsibility.

In A Christmas Carol three spirits take Ebenezer Scrooge on tours of his

past to show him where he went wrong. Scrooge's unhappy childhood is
considered as the major cause for his present loneliness and
misanthropy. The children of Bob Cratchit, especially Tiny Tim are
examined as examples of innocence. They are happy even when their

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circumstances are difficult. Bob Cratchit is Scrooge's clerk. He is
underpaid; gets just fifteen shillings a week. He has a large family to
support.

Tiny Tim is a symbol of innocence, hope and faith. He is Bob

Cratichit's youngest son. He is crippled child. He is like a fairy
character. He is kind and loving. His father Cratchit gets low salary,
though they are happy and love each other, they are religious and
optimistic. Tiny Tim knows enough of the cruelty of the world around
him. Crippled children were not common during the Victorian period.
They were treated differently and harshly. Tiny Tim comes from a
working class family. He is undernourished child. Scrooge suggests,
such people die and to decrease the surplus population. At the end of the
novella, Scrooge understands the less fortunate people like Tiny Tim
and Bob Cratchit.

Bob Cratchit is an honest and industrious man. He is contented and loyal

to his employer, Scrooge. Though his master treats him harshly, he
drinks to his health. He is forgiving and is thankful to Scrooge for his
bread butter. He is a true Christian who has faith in God and His mercy.

Dickens' own formal education was sparse and changeable. He knew

the value of education and recognized literacy's direct impact on his life.
He was the supporter of Ragged Schools, which were designed to
provide education to those who were poor. He clearly conveys in the
novella, that knowledge was the only hope for a better society, one that
might fulfil its destiny as an agent of Christian goodness.

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A Christmas Carol is Dickens's commitment to diagnose individual
moral failings and institutional reflections of those failings. Dickens had
feared the details of all personal records. His books would speak for
him. There is no understanding of life without the works, nor the works
without life. Dickens suffered through a difficult childhood filled with
worries that far surpassed those of an average boy. Even as a young
child, Dickens found comfort and peace through the use of his
imagination. He used to spend his valuable time in his father's study. He
was pitted to work at Warren's Blacking Factory, where he spent ten
hours a day gluing labels on jars of shoe polish in order to create
additional income for his family. He suffered emotionally and physically
from the experience. He worked longer and harder than any twelve-year
old child and was left with no time for normal childhood activities. His
experiences as worker contributed to the writer. Most of his fictional
writing is the constant concern for the underprivileged children. Dickens
himself knew how harsh debt could be. He worked from childhood to
assist his own, "struggling family". Tiny Tim is a disabled child. He is
so courageous and cheerful in spite of his poverty and disability. He is
the happiness of the society. His character is more significant. His fairy-
like quality makes him memorable. Being poor and handicapped, he is
still optimistic. Victorian society was suffering from poor living
conditions, poor hygiene and unsanitary condition. Tiny is more
optimistic even in his family's miserable condition.

A Christmas Carol is about the true meaning of Christmas and the

proper manner of treating fellow human beings. Christmas is time for
emotions. It is used as a device for depicting Scrooge's attitude towards
people. It is about Christian charity and love of one's neighbour.

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Christmas Eve is spirits in the supernatural religious and emotional
senses. Marley's ghost is the first visitor of the night. He presents
Scrooge's present state of mind acting as a sort of mirror. He represents
a human being. The ghost of Christmas past is a different one. This
spirit represents Scrooge's youth. It shows how lonely Scrooge as a boy
was spending Christmas alone. Christmas past represents suppressed
memory.

Dickens's portrayal of the social costs-prisons, workhouses, increased

mortality, the creation of ghettos and slums, the miserable state of both
wealthy and poor-a like clearly makes a case for morality and social
justice on a larger scale. Scrooge suffers from the weaknesses of human
nature. His father is revealed as having been a cold, heartless man
during Ebenezer's childhood. The miserly Scrooge rejects the love and
companionship of others and lives a miserable life. Ebenezer is lonely at
school where he loses himself in books to avoid the pain of being
isolated. His only friends are fictional characters who seem as real to
him as other human beings.

4.4 Reflection of Childhood in David Copperfield

Being a poor child, Dickens learned about poverty followed by misery,

shame and catastrophe. He had suffered in his early life. These
experiences were unforgettable. Dickens comments (1844):

"/ have great faith in the poor; to the best of my ability I always
endeavour to present them in a favourable light to the rich; and I
shall never cease, I hope, until I die, to advocate their being made

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 as happy and as wise as the circumstances of their condition in its
utmost improvement , will admit of their becoming". (Letters I,
589-90 to Staples, 3''' April 1844).

The present novel is the most autobiographical novel. It is said that

Dickens often dipped his pen in his own blood. In David Copperfield
David's experiences are Dickens' experiences. It is his creative and a
fictionalized autobiography. The experiences depicted in the novel are at
times realistic and at other time, they are unrealistic. Some events are
deliberately fictionalized by the writer to enhance the artistic quality of
the novel. The incidents depicted in the novel make the readers aware of
the miserable conditions in which the children lived.

David Copperfield is a portrayal of Charles Dickens' early sufferings. It

is a story of a child at the age of twelve who is forced to take
responsibilities of the adult world. Dickens has narrated the injustice of
the child being deprived of his childhood.

David Copperfield is written in the first person. The growth of David

from infancy to maturity is the primary subject of the novel. It is based
on the recollection of childhood memories. David's emotional growth is
expressed in this novel.
David says:

"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or

whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages
must show. " (P.49)

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Dickens always values humanity and asserts the religious belief in the
dignity of human beings. He has expressed the class conflict and
exploitation of the poor and helpless creatures of the order. David
Copperfield is the exploration of Dickens' own childhood and youth.
Dickens' painful past is represented through David Copperfield. He
depicts his own childhood experiences. Dickens own life made him so
sensitive to the plight of the problems. Dickens has identified child's
mental and physical ill-treatment. He has projected neglected children
and their feelings of shame, inadequacy and guilt. It is a favorite book of
Charles Dickens because David's story is often very close to the history
of his own life. It was his favorite novel. Charles Dickens has expressed
clearly (1850):

"Of all my books, I like this the best. It will be easily believed
that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy... but like many
fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favorite child and his
name is David Copperfield.

I do not find it easy to get sufficiently far away from his book and
talked of personal confidence and private emotions in it."
(Preface)

There is great similarity of many episodes between Dickens' own life

and David Copperfield, the main protagonist. Dickens looks back in his
childhood as he has great sympathy for the children. Later on, he
observes each event and tries to define it with authenticity and reality.
He is nostalgic to recall his childhood memories as regrets how his
childhood passed. He had rough upbringing. Dickens was a highly

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sensitive and imaginative boy, suffered, but overcame the adverse
circumstances of his Ufe. It was his fate to suffer injustice and
malnutrition.

Being a good storyteller, David's presentation of his life story is

amazing. He himself is seen commenting upon his younger life. David
has clearly mentioned all his life as a good reflection. He was a good
and wonderful imaginative child. David's own life, the people he
encountered and the vivid experiences in his life is the fundamental
subject of this novel.

David's childhood memories and boyhood experiences are clear and

vividly presented. David's overall past experiences affected him as he
was sent away from home. His school experiences and his working
experiences were horrible. He draws on his own experiences as a child
to describe the violence of child labour, debtors and prisoners.

He narrated his childhood experiences in Warren's factory. He felt stress

and anxiety. He narrated his childhood experiences, full of hard ship in
Warren's factory. The factory where Dickens worked becomes a symbol
of a physical and psychological torture for the growing child. To add
insult and injury, his mother also did not protect him emotionally. The
estranged relations between a mother and child did an irreparable
damage to the boy's personality. His mother's death symbolizes his
emotional death also because he was deprived of love from his mother.
Therefore the motherless child gets disturbed in his life.

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Dickens explores his own experiences. He cares so much for the
children who were forced to hard labour in the workhouses from such
young age as twelve. A high percentage of young children were forced
to work to make sure that their families and they did not die of
starvation. There was a well-known prison called the "The Morshelsea".
It became known in the 19' century due to Dickens writing. His father
was in this prison in 1824 for a debt of £40 and 10 shillings. Dickens
was forced to leave school at the age of twelve for work in a factory.

Dickens depicted the same experiences in David Copperfield. By being

a poor child, Dickens learned about poverty. His interest in the poor
increased. He was familiar with the pity and the pain of the poor. In all
his fiction, he depicted the status of the miserable.

Charles Dickens' early sufferings have been portrayed in David

Copperfield. He has given exposure to exploitation, maltreatment,
neglect and dehumanization of the kids. It is psychoanalytical novel.
Charles Dickens has projected his own childhood experiences and
events through David and other characters.

There is similarity of Dickens' personal life and David Copperfield. Just

like Dickens, David was forced to work miserably in a warehouse. This
episode in his life was unbearably painful for him to recall. It is evident
from his inability to talk about it to anyone, even to his wife and family,
although he refers to Warren's often in his novels and re-created the
experience in David Copperfield. In 1847, Dickens wrote an
autobiographical fragment for John Forster that expressed the pain he
felt at what he saw as his parents neglect. Dickens says (1847):

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 "It is wonderful to me how I could have been so easily cast away
at such an age.... No words can express the secret agony of my
soul as I sunk into this companionship; compared these everyday
associates with those of my happier childhood; and felt my early
hopes of growing up to be a learned and distinguished man
crushed in my breast. The deep remembrance of the sense I had
of being utterly neglected and hopeless; of the shame I felt in my
position; of the misery it was to my young heart to believe that, a
day by day, what I had learned, and thought, and thought, and
delighted in, and raised my fancy and my emulation up by, was
passing away from me, never to be brought back any more;
cannot be written. My whole nature was so penetrated with the
grief and humiliation of such considerations, that even now,
famous and caressed and happy, I often forget in my dreams that
I have a dear wife and children; even that I am a man; and
wander desolately back to that time of my life. "(PP.21-23)

The above extract throws light on Dickens' childhood memories which

was painful and horrible. He was neglected by his parents.

Dickens was twelve years of age as he had been taken away from school
and"a comfortable home. He had been put to work for a few months in a
London blacking warehouse. His mother wanted him to be kept at work.
This was the most painful experience of his life which he had never
forgotten. Thus, Dickens family background affects his writing very
much as he has used the autobiographical elements effectively while
narrating David's story. David's wicked stepfather, Murdstone puts him
to work, at the age of ten at a place where he suffered from the

158
humiliation of having to mix with boys. David's going to work at ten
has an autobiographical background. When Dickens was about eleven,
he himself had to earn his living by labeling and blackening pots in a
warehouse.

David went to a school rather like Dickens and worked for some time in
a lawyer's office and later on became a parliamentary reporter. One of
the characters Dora is the replica of Charles real life beloved. London
was totally different at the time of Dickens. It was changed due to
industrialization. London developed, but crime flourished. The growth
of the cities created many problems like poor housing, crime and poor
education.

David's past is also shocking like Dickens. His unforgettable

experiences shadowed his entire life. David's boyhood experiences are
the main story of David Copperfield. He looks back on his childhood.
The first part of David Copperfield is the life story of the writer's past
unhappy incidents. Dickens has great sympathy for the children. He
understands their needs.

Charles went to work at the warehouse where he stayed for six months.
These six months were the most painful years of his life because he was
away from his family. This insecure feeling always shadowed his life. It
was a shameful and humiliated experience for him to work in the
warehouse. There was a lifetime impact on him. Dickens has depicted
the autobiographical elements in David Copperfield because he never
escaped the influence of his father's imprisonment. In his fiction, he has

159
narrated the scene of prison or the fear of prison. He has considered the
ugliest episode of his childhood.

His father sends him in an academy of the Hampstead Road near

Euston. The same school experience has appeared in David Copperfield
as Mr. Crackle's school. When Charles was fifteen, his family was again
in trouble. In 1827, Charles went to work in the solicitor's office in
Gray's Inn. Charles learnt shorthand due to the boredom of the
solicitor's work. It was slow rise in his salary. In David Copperfield,
David also became a reporter at Doctor's Commons.

Dickens always believed that it was his own memory of childhood

misery and adversity that opened his heart and imagination to the
sufferings of others. The traumatic incidents of Dickens' life are
constantly being replayed within his work. His childhood feelings of
being unwanted and being rejected by his parents could not get enough
affection or love. The image of happy family was lacking in his
childhood. He wanted to create the old atmosphere of his childhood for
psychological relief He has depicted the child as a figure of starved,
mistreated and delicate child to show the dejected period of his life. His
childhood world became sorrowful and so he was neglected and
isolated. David Copperfield is based upon Dickens' own character and
experiences. Dickens' poured out his dreams and frustrations through
this main character. He has given artistic validity to his childhood
memories and humiliating adolescent experiences.

David faced many ill fortunes like Dickens in his real life. Lack of
sympathy from companion, the burdens of debt, the burden of clerical

160
work, the frustration of unhappy marriage were all depicted in the
author's own life. Society as a whole became his subject.

We can find out the similarity in David Copperfield and Charles

Dickens' life. Many comparable episodes like warehouse, London life,
school life, worked in a lawyer's office and became a parliamentary
reporter are reflected in the present novel. Dickens uses fairy tale
imagery to depict the child's highly charged view of the world with the
same interest and energy. Dickens describes children. He has great
psychological understanding of the child's mind. When David finds his
mother dominated by her new merciless husband.

Mr. Creakle, the headmaster of Salem House is another story character.

He humiliates the students and separates them from their fellow
students. David is made to wear a sign warning that he bites. Jane is
accused of lying and is set apart on a stool. This unjust and humiliating
treatment is given by the school authority. Children are locked away in
smaiU rooms. Dickens explores the reasons why some children fail to
grow up. The harsh treatment and rigid discipline made child weak.
Dickens describes the exploitation, abuse and neglect of the adults.

4.4.1 Thematic Aspects of David Copperfield

David Copperfield is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. His

childhood and adolescent period of his life is depicted in the novel.
Though he suffers abuse as a child, he remains innocent and trusting. He
is idealistic, reckless, loving and honest. His childhood is troubled.
David narrates his story as an adult. He relays the impressions he had

161
from a youthful point of view. Dickens conveys the wisdom of the older
man through the eyes of a child. David is trusting and kind. The novel is
a story of the narrator's life from early childhood to maturity. The book
is the powerful blending of fiction and autobiography.

David Copperfield's father had died before his birth and his mother died
when he was twelve years old. David becomes an orphan in the wide
world at an early age. The orphan person wants warm love, affection,
security and wisdom.

Charles Dickens is able to write David so strongly because his own life
had made him so sensitive to the plight of the oppressed children. It is a
psychoanalytical novel. Unconscious aspects of David's mind are
projected by Charles Dickens. This novel explores the growth of
David's psyche. Some of the events of Charles Dickens life are very
close to David Copperfield. His aunt Bestsey Trotwood arrived in
Blunderstone on the same night, but she had expected a girl child so she
was not happy as he was born. David's mother, Clara Copperfield was a
very loved mother. David's early childhood was quite happy. David also
loved his kind nurse Peggotty. She took David on holiday to Weymouth.
When David returned home, he came to know that his mother had
remarried Murdstone. Both Murdstone and his sister Jane were very
cruel to Clara. After David's mother had married Murdstone, he was
lonely. He was forced to pass his time alone. He was fond of reading
books. Instead of going to play, he used to sit and read the books in the
little room upstairs. This habit was very useful to him in later life in two
ways; he could easily learn shorthand and finally he became a writer.
This childhood love for books remained with him all his life. He worked

162
very hard when his aunt Bestsey was ruined. He worked as secretary to
Dr. Strong and at the same time studied shorthand and worked as a
parliamentary reporter. Murdstone's cruel behavior made him more
sensitive.

David was sent away to Salem house, a school run by a harsh, cruel
headmaster named Creakle. The headmaster treated the school children
very badly. In fact, they were given ill treatment by the headmaster.

David was sent to London in Murdstone's warehouse. There he faced

poverty, depression and loneliness. David without money had walked all
the way to his aunt Betsey in Dover. She was very kind to David. She
arranged him to live in Canterbury with her lawyer, Mr. Wickfield Uriah
Heap was Wickfield's sinister clerk. Uriah was a very wicked person.
After completing his education, he became a part time secretary to
Doctor Strong. He started taking lessons for shorthand. He also became
a reporter in parliament. David became a successful writer. He became a
famous novelist and married to Agnes.

He had a sense of gratitude which made him very dutiful. David was
honest, kind and meticulous. David's wicked stepfather, Murdstone put
him to work, at the age of ten at a place where he suffered from the
degradation of having to mix with boys. David's going to work at ten
had an autobiographical background. Sensitiveness sometimes affected
him deeply.

David's personal charm and good nature won for him the affection of
those who happened to meet him-nurse Peggotty, Steerforth, Ham,

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Emily Wickfield, the Micawbers, Traddles, Agnes, Dora Bestsey and
Dick. David was true and sincere everywhere as a nephew, as a friend
and, as a husband. He proved to be the most faithful son of his aunt
Betsey. David's story is his boyhood experiences. He looks back on his
childhood. He latter on recollects each event. Many other memories
from Dicken's past found their way into the novel David Copperfield.

In David Copperfield, Mr. Murdstone breaks in his happy world. He is a

cruel stepfather. Mr Murdstone is evil by nature. He is very cold. He is
very harsh towards David and his mother Clara. It is the lust for money
and power that Mr. Murdstone marries Clara Copperfield. He destroys
the happy world of David. The writer has dramatized the relationships
between parents and children. Mr. Murdstone tortures him physically
and mentally. He is very harsh towards David.

Murdstone has monsters qualities. David Copperfield suffered at the

hands of society. He had a very happy life in his early childhood when
he enjoyed the love and care of his mother and nurse. He recalls his
home, going to church with his mother and Peggotty. Mr. Murdstone
appears like a devil in the David's contented world. Murdstone's torture
is unbearable for David and his mother. David writes:

"He beats me then, as if he would have beaten me to death.

Above all the noise we made. I heard them running up to stairs-1
heard my mother crying out- and Peggotty. Then he was gone;
and the door was locked outside; and I was lying, fevered and
hot, and torn, and score, and raging me my puny way, upon the
floor. " (P. 28)

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Murdstone beats him and David bites his hand. He is kept in his room,
disgraced, for five days and then sent away from home to a school near
London. David learns about the boys, the school and the cruelty of the
headmaster. Dickens, thus, wants to draw attention to the lack of love
and affection.

At the time of industrialism, many parents had to work very hard and
there were bad working conditions in the factories or workhouses. In
David Copperfield main important characters are orphans. David
himself becomes an orphan in the wide world at an early age. Emily,
Treaddles the Orfling, Mrs. Copperfield, Martha Endell and Rosa
Dartle are some of the characters who are orphaned. The orphaned
person wants love, affection, security and understanding. The bad living
conditions of the lower classes in factory cities, the automation of
industry and the huge birth surplus in the country were the problems
throughout Great Britain.

At the time of industrialization child labour was a brutal problem. It is

due to poverty, many parents did not have enough money to make ends
meet and children often had to earn in addition, so that the families
could afford food and accommodation. The children, however, were
often very young, the work was difficult and the wages low. This often
resulted in physical and mental damage as it was no longer possible for
the children to develop themselves freely.

Children were treated brutally in the factories and warehouses. These

warehouses reveal to us the unhealed wounds of his early life. Dickens

165
has painted the hard facts of life. Childhood was full of pain and agony.
Dickens remembers the grief and disasters of childhood vividly.

Dickens exposes the evil system of his age. He reveals the terrible
condition of the warehouse. Dickens points out the evils of prison life.
He depicts the evil of the criminal world. Population is the main cause
of poverty of his time.

Industrial revolution introduced machine production. The factory

became the center of the work. Population grew rapidly. Towns and
cities became overcrowded and this created many social problems like
poor living conditions, crime, bad sanitation, poor education, disease,
poverty and so on. Daily life was very hard. Housing was often
overcrowded. Wages were low. In large families, even women and
children were forced to work. In addition, the poor women were forced
to become prostitutes by the male dominated society in England. The
poor children and prostitutes were the victims of the capitalist system.

Even before David's mother dies, David is sent away to "Salem House",
a boarding school near London by his stepfather Mr. Murdstone. He has
a quarrel with him and bites his hand, so Murdstone is in a rage and
sends the boy away to get rid of him.

School life was full of bitter experiences for David. Salem House was
exploiting children. David's schoolmates were unfriendly with him.
David was the victim of Crekle and Tungay. David says:

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 " No words can express the secret agony of my soul as I sunk into
this companionship; compared these henceforth everyday
associates with those of my happier childhood- not to say with
Steerforth, Traddles, and the rest of those boys; and felt my hopes
of growing up to be a learned and distinguished man, crushed in
my bosom. " (P.210)

The children were given merciless treatment by the schoolmaster. Mr.

Nell is the first teacher David meets. Mr. Murdstone put a placard on
David's back that reads:

"Take care of him. He bites. " (P.l 1)

Salem House can be seen as a representative of many schools at the time

of Dickens. The child suffers from a great mental strain. Mr. Creakle is
the owner and Principal of Salem House and the distress of the pupils as
well as teachers. The first time he enters the classroom, he announces:

^^I come fresh up to the punishment. " (P. 12)

The writer is very didactic in teaching a lesson to the children who do

not performing their duties as students. That time "spare the rod and
spoil the child" philosophy was in full swing. Reward and punishment
became handy tools those days therefore Dickens' indirectly suggest
how the educational system was responsible for running the careers of
children. He became the victim of the educational system.

167
This demonstrates his willingness to give his pupils a hard time. He uses
a cane to beat disobedient students. He is very strict during lessons. He
finds cruel pleasure in making the children suffer by hitting their hands
with a ruler. He is very much resembles the cruel and inefficient
headmaster of the Willington House academy where Dickens was sent
when he was fifteen. The writer is very didactic in teaching a lesson to
the children who do not perform their duties as students. That time
"Spare the rod and spoil the child", philosophy was in full swing.
Reward and punishment become handy tools those days. Therefore
Dickens indirectly suggests how the educational system was responsible
for ruining the careers of children.

A huge contrast is witnessed between the higher and the lower social
classes, and this contrast becomes evident in the novel especially in the
Steerforth's family and the Peggotty family.

Crime had been a very dominant issue in the days of Charles Dickens.
The bad living conditions, desperate situations, utter poverty and
deprivation of human rights led an individual to commit crimes. Thus,
David Copperfield shows the reader a variety of different social-critical
elements.

The novel is the personal history of the author. He tries to show

happiness and faith in the essential goodness of the human soul. He
always values humanity. He is always interested in giving punishment to
his villain characters. Overall, he always maintains faith in the dignity of

168
man and gives social justice to his characters that are unjustly cursed by
social evils.

Victorian age was full of reforms and improvements. There was class
conflict and exploitation of the poor, helpless and miserable people in
the society. Dickens had great sympathy for the hardworking poor
people. Dickens speaks through the mouth of a child. Social and
economic exploitation of women and children at work is the main theme
of his novels. Throughout the novel, Dickens criticizes his society's
view on wealth and class as a measure of a person's value. Dickens uses
Steerforth who is wealthy, powerful and noble to show that these traits
are more likely to corrupt than improve a person's character. Steerforth
is treacherous and self-absorbed. On the other hand, both Mr. Peggotty
and Ham, are poor, are generous and sympathetic characters.

Dickens draws on his own experience as a child to describe the

inhumanity of child labour and debtors. David starves and suffers in a
wine bottling factory as a child. As his guardian Mr. Murdstone exploits
David as a factory labour because the boy is too small and dependent on
him to disobey. David Copperfield presents himself with the help of his
experiences and people who shape his personality. Dickens succeeded in
recreating the mind of a child and a young man in an unsurpassed
psychological portrait. He is concerned with the problems of
contemporary English society.

He dramatizes the relationships between parents and children, husband

and wives, friends and business partners. David Copperfield dramatizes
the relationship between childhood and adulthood.

169
He drew upon his own negative feelings of his childhood as a cathartic
tool. Dickens attacked the abuses in the society. He gave the evil details
of the downtrodden and the oppressed. The novel's main focus is the
psychology of the child and the responsibilities that both parents and
society in general have to their children.

4.5 Conclusion

In the present chapter, an attempt has been made to analyze the novels
Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and David Copperfield keeping in
mind the reflection of childhood. The child characters, their qualities
roles, social and religious dimensions have been the focal point of
discussion in the chapter. All the tree novels are reflection of Charles
Dickens' childhood. The author himself had to undergo humiliating
treatment by the capitalistic forces during the industrial revolution in
Great Britain. The miseries of childhood are vividly described by
Charles Dickens' in his own unique style. He has also portrayed
poverty, poor slum conditions, and economic problems in a realistic
way. Especially, the suffering of the innocent children is the focal point
in all the above mentioned novels. The chapter thus is a great
contribution to the body of knowledge in English literature.

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