3.03b Charles Dickens

Dickens life was quite tough for him when he was a child. At a young age Dickens went to a Grammar School until his father went bankrupt due to some bad investments. After this unfortunate event Dickens was taken out of his grammar school and he was forced to work at a blacking factory which is where they made shoe polish. Dickens had to go live with his dad in prison and eventually his family and dickens after a lot of work paid off the bankruptcy. Dickens father was then freed. Dickens now knew what it felt like to be

Dickens had several real life experiences of poverty and abandonment in his life that influenced his work,

During Charles Dickens’ childhood, a set of circumstances revolving around his father’s imprisonment forced him to enter the workforce at the age of twelve. This experience caused Dickens to feel that his innocence and childhood was stolen, as he had to sacrifice his family’s love to provide for them financially. The loss of his childhood has a large effect on his novels, especially A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. In these novels, Charles Dickens argues against avarice, and advocates for love, by expressing similar themes of greed, redemption, and love, through exampling and varied characters.

INTRODUCTION: Charles Dickens is said to be one of the greatest writers that has ever lived. Before we read one of his works in class, I would like you to spend some time getting to know this man and learning what the world was like as he knew it.

It is said that right before someone dies, they see their life flash before their eyes. They are said to see the things most dear to them. However, no one on their deathbed regrets the amount of money that they have. In the moment of clarity, most realize that a number on a paycheck is not as important as emotional and mental possessions. People always tell each other that money can not buy happiness, yet most end up spending every waking moment thinking about money. Why do people waste their time and energy pursuing something that is not what they truly need? Often, they use social class to fill a void in their lives that can not be filled by materialistic possessions. Many people realize this, but it is often too late. Charles Dickens demonstrates the effects of social climbing in his novel, Great Expectations. This novel explores the connections and effects of human nature and society, which are the two most powerful forces that guide people’s decisions. Some may say that social climbing is good, but as will be proven, pursuing social class for the wrong reason can result in disastrous consequences. The motivation to obtain higher social status leaves those who pursue it dissatisfied with reality and with a wider void in their lives as shown by Pip, Estella, and Magwitch.

Charles Dickens was an avid and influential writer from the 19th century and continues to stay alive within classrooms presently. He was exposed to all types of art which allowed him to grow as a future legend in the literature world. Dickens and his ideas, characters and famous quotes have helped mold present day literature. He was born on February 7, 1812 in the city of Portsmouth, England. His favorite works of literature were Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, Arabian Nights and Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. These novels all dealt with adventurous plots playing more into Dickens’ internal character. Dickens first worked in a blacking warehouse and later continued his education at the Wellington House Academy. Dickens grew up with a rough

I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of these times was very short in duration, and at night. She was hired by a Mr. Stewart, who lived about twelve miles from my home. She made her journeys to see me in the night, travelling the whole distance on foot, after the performance of her day 's work. She was a field hand, and a whipping is the penalty of not being in the field at sunrise, unless a slave has special permission from his or her master to the contrary--a permission which they seldom get, and one that gives to him that gives it the proud name of being a kind master. I do not recollect of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone. Very little communication ever took place between us. Death soon ended what little we could have while she lived, and with it her hardships and suffering. She died when I was about seven years old, on one of my master 's farms, near Lee 's Mill. I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial. She was gone long before I knew any thing about it. Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of

The French Revolution was difficult to escape on the grounds that the aristocracy abused poor people, making them rebel. Tyranny on a large scale results in anarchy, and anarchy fabricates a police state. One of Dickens' most grounded feelings was that the English individuals would flare up at any time into a mass of bloody revolutionists. It is understandable today that he was wrong, but the idea was firmly planted in his mind, as well as in the minds of his peers. Dickens also feels bad for the poor but he does not agree with the violence that was used during the war.

Charles Dickens, an author, an editor, an illustrator, and a great mind. There are many words we can associate with Charles Dickens, but most importantly Charles was a creator. He created many famous stories that are shared with the world like A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist. A Tale of Two Cities is a novel that is reflected back to Charles' life, from a child through adulthood. Charles' life influenced A Tale of Two Cities because of where he lived, how he grew up, and how he grew as a writer.

The Victorian era was time of epic growth. There are lots of things to talk

This novel shows Dickens’ belief in the possibility of resurrection and transformation, and it is shown to the readers on both a personal and societal level. The very beginning of the

Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned British writers with well-known and widespread work. Dickens was born in England in 1812 and died in 1870. During this time, Victorian England experienced an Industrial Revolution, which impacted his life tremendously. New factories and industrial machinery changed many lives of the lower class citizens. The family grew up impoverished and struggled to maintain a good lifestyle. The family’s financial situation was strained as John Dickens, Charles’s father, spent money that the family didn’t have. These societal factors were influential in Charles Dickens’s life, and the same themes present themselves in his works. When an author creates a work, frequently themes of their life events are incorporated into the theme of the book, consciously or unconsciously. Victorian Age industrial-influenced strife was a common theme in Dickens’s life and presented itself throughout Dickens’s books.

Charles Dickens is one of the most influential writers in history and was “born in Landport, now part of Portsmouth, on February 7th, 1812”(Priestly 5). Despite being the successful writer that he was in life, Dickens had very humble beginnings and because his Father, John Huffman Dickens, “lacked the money to support his family adequetly” , Dickens lived in poverty through out most of his childhood (Collins). Matters only got worse, however, when Dickens’s Father had to “spen[d] time in prison for debt” causing Dickens to have to “work in a London factory pasting labels on bottles of shoe polish” (Collins). It was a horrible experience for him, but it also helped him to no doubt feel pity for the poor, which is

In Hard Times, Dickens presents life philosophies of three men that directly contradict each other. James Harthouse sees one’s actions in life as meaningless since life is so short. Mr. Gradgrind emphasizes the importance of fact and discourages fantasy since life is exactly as it was designed to be. Mr. Slearly exhibits that “all work and no play” will make very dull people out of all of us. He also proclaims that one should never look back on one’s life and regret past actions. Dickens is certainly advocating Sleary’s life philosophy because the subjects of the other two philosophies led depressing and unhappy lives. This is made clear when Louisa realises her childhood of fact without fancy has ruined her, when Tom’s life falls apart after leaving his father’s home in rejection of his strict parenting, and when Mr. Gradgrind himself realises the faults in his own philosophy and devotes the rest of his life to virtue and charity.

Dickens through his books wanted people to realise that children have needs, they need loving homes, not to be hit, gets a education and be allowed to think for themselves. He thought that if he wrote about poor children’s problems then maybe wealthy readers will do something about it.