A comparison of the condition of the workers of the 19th century in London

in the Novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens with the condition of workers
during the Industrial Revolution

AMITHAB SANKAR
1477
SEMESTER V

The novel ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens clearly depicts the life of the poor and working
class during the Industrial Revolution in England. The Industrial Revolution began in
Britain in the 1700s and had a profound impact on the world.  One of the main impacts it had
was how it changed life for working-class people.  First, the workers were exposed
to horrendous working conditions in the factories and mines that emerged in the early years
of the revolution.  These factories and mines were dangerous and unforgiving places to work
in.  The working conditions that working-class people faced were known to include: long
hours of work (12-16 hour shifts), low wages that barely covered the cost of living,
dangerous and dirty conditions and workplaces with little or no worker rights.  The next issue
that working people had to face was the equally horrible living conditions in industrial towns
and cities.  The living conditions in the cities and towns were miserable and characterized by:
overcrowding, poor sanitation, spread of diseases, and pollution.  As well, workers were paid
low wages that barely allowed them to afford the cost of living associated with their rent and
food. Another impact was the drastic increase in child labour. In 1860, perhaps only half a
children in London who actually had any schooling. Many children worked 16-hour days
under atrocious conditions, as did their parents. As more people commuted to town to work,
the demand for clothes and food grew. There were more things needed as the cities grew.
More and more machines were beings built in factories and with that, the companies needed
cheap labour. Children of the poor were forced by economic conditions to work, some kids
were even used as commodities.

The novel is focused on an orphan named Oliver Twist who, for the early years of his life,
has to live in a workhouse set up for children by the church.  Dickens uses Oliver's life in the
workhouse to point out the flaws in the workhouse system.  The children in the book were
forced to work very long hours and were always left hungry.  When Oliver asks for more the
people in charge of the workhouse are so appalled that they beat him and make him an
example for all the other children so that they never do the same thing.  This perhaps shows
that Dickens believes people during this time were shocked when they were confronted with
the issues of hunger and abuse and, rather than confront it, they simply ignored it.  

Another way which Oliver Twist is connected to the Industrial Revolution is through the
multitude of orphans.  This shows the problems facing society in England at this time, too
many people were having children and couldn't afford it.  People would abandon their
children and some, like Oliver, would end up having to work in a workhouse until they were
kicked out or died.  Other abandoned children frequently turned toward crime as a way of
surviving.  The rampant crime in London during the Industrial Revolution is seen through
Dickens' gang of thieves including Fagin, the Artful Dodger, Charley Bates, and Bill Sikes.
Fagin is an old man that provides food and shelter for the children as long as they go
pickpockets for him so that he can sell the goods they can collect.  This creates a layer of
complexity as the children have no other options, it's either crime or die.  This highlights the
problem of all these poor children facing society, they had no options to improve their lives,
which created a circle of poverty and crime. In all these way Charles Dickens through his
novel Oliver Twist has delineated the time of industrial revolution.