Assistant Professor

English Department

Hiralal Bhakat College

 Nalhati, West Bengal, India 

Abstract

The fathomless hunger for capitals took people to the level of greed that they even did not mind children to push into the soot covered chimneys as well as into the mouse ridden cellar like factories and workhouses.  They talked about humanism, about ethnocentrism, they propagated Eurocentric ideology throughout the world; however, there is a frequently asked question whether their Eurocentric ideology  taught them to inflict inhuman pain on others as well as  on to children. Their capitalist addiction rid no one off their greed. We have heard of laborers working at factories hours after hours with a very meager amount of wage under unhygienic atmosphere. Moreover, children in workhouses, factories were in most dilapidated condition. We have witnessed of their grueling condition at the workhouses where they were treated more abysmally than an animal was treated. They were given very poor quantity and quality of food and were made to work hours after hours under unhygienic atmosphere. This unfortunate childhood of their life did have a great affect in their psychological as well as moral development. Charles Dickens, as many novelists, critics of the time opined to be an author who in his whole life had raised his voice against child abuse as well as the social crimes increased due to these exploitations. The present book chapter is, therefore, dealing with the theme of child exploitation and juvenile crime in the 19^th century England as depicted in Charles Dickens’s novel ‘Oliver Twist '.

Keywords: Child labor, child exploitation, ethnocentrism, humanism,   slum, workhouse, Industrial Revolution, endemic  

Introduction

 In England, Industrial Revolution started in 1750s or 1760s.  The invention of James Watt’s steam engine took the industrial revolution to its peak.  Beside these developed technologies the demand of manpower in factories got increased. And the 19th century urban sprawl in London met the need of this demand of manpower in factories. The imagery of human beings at work keeping pace with the machines is well depicted in Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Modern Times’ which is enough to show the predicament of the labor class people of the 19^th century British society. Beside all these, the images of children at workhouses with thin stature and of being caught committing juvenile crime are more pathetic. The meaning of "child labor" started to evolve once the first rural textile mills were constructed (1769) and young apprentices were employed as the main employees. These workplaces were referred to as "dark satanic mills" by Charles Dickens, while E. P. Thompson labeled them "places of sexual license, vile language, brutality, terrible accidents, and strange manners" (1966, 307). The industrial system came under fire for having rigid rules, severe penalties, poor working conditions, low pay, and rigid work hours. As the factory stripped workers of their independence, dignity, and creativity, it depersonalized the employer-employee relationship and came under fire. These underprivileged young apprentices were kidnapped from orphanages and workhouses; they were sheltered, clothed, and fed, but they were not paid for the long days they spent working in the mill. As Watt's steam engine was created and used, mills no longer needed to be near water or rely on apprenticed orphans; instead, hundreds of manufacturing towns and villages grew in Lancashire, Manchester, Yorkshire, and Cheshire. To labor in these facilities processing and spinning cotton, flax, wool, and silk, the factory owners started hiring young boys from low-income and working-class households. Alfred (1857), Engels (1926), Marx (1909), and Webb and Webb (1898) opined that Children were exploited by industrialists and forced to labor in horrible conditions. Children as young as five and six years old labored for twelve to sixteen hours a day in the "dark satanic mill." They worked six days a week in hot, humid, badly lighted, congested industries for as little as four shillings per week.

The Juvenile crimes committed in Victorian England

These inhuman atrocities on children had a traumatized impact and devastated their psychological as well as moral development which in industrial England of Queen Victoria caused an another bitter social issue called juvenile crime. Novels like Oliver Twist have familiarized us with Victorian child burglars. Oliver Twist's success may be attributed in large part to the stinging sarcasm and astute societal insights contained inside its pages. Dickens paid special attention to the suffering of workhouses, the morally corrosive effects of poverty, and the deterioration of life in Victorian slums. The novel's main topic, however, is crime, which is most clearly shown in the actions of Fagin's band of nimble-fingered child-thieves. Now the point to be discussed is that what juvenile crimes led him to create Fagin’s band. After 1800, sensational tales of crime and violence dominated the popular press, with information about adolescent criminality appearing in publications including pamphlets, broadsides, and newspapers. Reports on the antics of 'lads-men' were commonplace. They were criminal lords who allegedly taught young boys how to steal, then bought their stolen items and eventually sold them. In 1817, Thomas Duggin, for instance, was a known "thief-trainer" who toiled in London's notorious St Giles slum, and as late as 1855, Charles King, the leader of a band of professional pickpockets, was the subject of reports in The Times newspaper. A 13-year-old youngster called John Reeves was a member of King's gang and he stole more than £100 worth of goods in only one week.  In a similar vein, Isaac "Ikey" Solomon, a notorious receiver of stolen goods in the 1810s and 1820s who was detained several times and once managed to escape, was also a well-known offender. Because of his similar Jewish origins, Solomon was mistakenly thought to have been the model for Dickens' Fagin for a while after becoming famous for training young thieves. Throughout the first part of the century, the police frequently checked on "flash-houses."These establishments were bars or inns where stolen goods were "enclosed," and the police and magistrates referred to them as "nurseries of crime." [2] A report from 1817 claimed that flash-houses were home to "distinct parties or gangs" of young boys, and a police witness from 1837 recalled that one London lodging house had "20 boys and ten girls under the age of 16" residing there, the majority of whom were "encouraged in picking pockets" by their "captain." [3] For instance, in 1824, a 15-year-old lad named Joseph Mee, who the judge referred to be a "hardened and uncaring" criminal, was accused of stealing pockets at a public execution that was taking place at the Old Bailey. [4] At Greenwich Fair in 1835, a police officer discovered 13-year-old Robert Spencer stealing a handkerchief from a man in the crowd's pocket. Later, in 1840, another constable testified in court about seeing 11-year-old Martin Gavan and another boy "try several pockets" before stealing a man's handkerchief among a crowd gathered around a traffic accident. [5]

Methodology and Objectives:

At first to entail comprehending events surrounding the development of the novel Oliver Twist, the historical approach is applied. Undoubtedly, studying Dickens' life and experiences is seen as the only way to fully understand the child psychological victimization phenomenon and examine the fact that Oliver Twist's famous themes and characters provide evidence that poor children and orphans are primarily victims of psychological exploitation and abuse in the Victorian era. These exploitations ultimately had a traumatized affect on children which became the reason for many social crimes in 19th century England. Next the sociological approach is applied to entail analyzing the social context of the novel. Based on this, the novel can only be adequately understood through an analysis of the society in which it was written. The sociological method can be utilized to provide a thorough understanding of the social and psychological maladies and issues that the author observes in society, conveyed in his or her own manners. This helps us to investigate the social and psychological issues addressed by Charles Dickens in his literary work Oliver Twist, such as child victimization. Moreover, this approach seeks to discover the meaning, extent, and size of a social problem through literary works that educate about topics concerning children, families, society, socioeconomic classes, and religion. Finally, the analytical research approach is utilized to analyze the adopted the phenomenon of child psychological victimization and how this phenomenon caused many social as well as juvenile crimes in the Victorian England as well as today too.  Based on this approach, the novel itself, characters, and themes, as well as secondary resources such as relevant literature works and articles, will be analyzed to obtain a complete picture of the ills of child psychological victimization and provide evidence that poor children and orphans are primarily victims of psychological exploitation and abuse in the Victorian era.

Child Dickens at Warren’s Blacking Factory:

 Dickens, as we all know, when he was just twelve years old, his father was arrested for debt, and the young Dickens was sent to work in the Warren’s Blacking Factory to support his family. The work was grueling, and the conditions were terrible. Dickens worked for ten hours a day, six days a week, sticking labels on bottles of shoe polish. He endured poverty, hunger, and abuse at the hands of his employers. Dickens described this period of his life as a time of humiliation and distress. The Warren Blacking Factory, according to his memoirs, is "a wild, tumbledown house with crumbling floors and stairway, unclean and decaying, with rats swarming down in the cellar." After several months of working in the factory, Dickens's father was released from prison and could afford to take him out of the factory. But shortly after, Dickens's family hit rock bottom once again, and Dickens's mother and siblings were forced to move into the Marshalsea Debtors' Prison. Dickens, however, was left to fend for himself. Dickens was unable to return to school, so he joined the workforce as a law clerk's assistant. But his experience in the Blacking Factory and his family's descent into poverty had a profound impact on him. He became deeply aware of the inequities of society and the plight of the poor, which would later influence his writing. 

‘Oliver Twist’-Analysis:

Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist is a harrowing tale that tells the story of its eponymous orphan hero who ends up becoming entangled in the dark and dangerous world of child exploitation. The novel was first published in monthly installments between February 1837 and April 1839. The novel provides a vivid representation of the inhumanity and cruelty that young children were subjected to during the Victorian era in Britain. This book chapter will explore how Dickens represents child exploitation in Oliver Twist and the impact this representation has had on modern awareness of child exploitation.

Oliver Twist is set in a world where poverty and despair are endemic, and children fall prey to unscrupulous adults. It tells the tale of the protagonist's journey through life and the difficulties he faced in his early years. Dickens was particularly sensitive to matters involving children. He was unable to stand by while the weakest group in society—children—were treated unfairly. Agnes Fleming, Oliver's mother, was taken to a workhouse to give birth to her kid. She was impoverished and had no one to care for her, so she was accepted into the workhouse as a charitable act. An intoxicated midwife attended to Agnes. Regrettably, Agnes died not long after Oliver was born. Like Agnes, he was an illegitimate kid.

Oliver got Mrs. Mann, the keeper of the baby farm, and Mr. Bumble, the caretaker of the workhouse, in the form of his foster parents. They were actually responsible for increasing his distress. Oliver's bad luck persisted for a long time after it began to follow him at birth. Oliver was robbed of everything he needed for a happy upbringing, including emotional safety, love, food, and clothing. Oliver's predicament was shared by the entire underprivileged class of society. Small children were condemned to endure the severity since they were powerless to resist in any way.

Oliver spent nine years in that baby farm which according to Dickens, a "wretched home where one kind word or look had never lighted the gloom of his infant years". He became "a pale thin child, somewhat diminutive in stature and decidedly small in circumference" as a result of the horrific experiences he had at the workhouse. Oliver, then, was sent from the baby farm to the workhouse on his ninth birthday by Mr. Bumble, who would give him a slap on the back and the top of his head with a stick to get him going after making him walk for kilometers. Oliver was crying because of Mr. Bumble's odd behaviors. Arriving at the workhouse a question- Was he an orphan?- to Oliver by one of the members of the board would determine his destiny. 

Oliver Twist's already troubled mentality found no peace in the workhouse because the torture meted out to him was on a par with what he had been going through since birth. The lads at the workhouse were malnourished and poorly fed; in fact boys of the workhouse were given so meager amount of meal that half of the day they had to spend in starvation.  Besides, they were not allowed to show their daring in claiming a little more food for them. This led those boys to play straw pulling game on which Oliver pulled the shortest straw and hence was in charge to demand an extra little more food for them on the next day mealtime on behalf of every working child of the workhouse.

“Please, sir,” replied Oliver. “I want some more.” 

Mr. Bumble and the board members thought it was perverted of an orphan to be so brazen. The keepers of the workhouse were shocked by Oliver's plea for extra gruel because it was the worst offence to criticize their organization and control. This made Oliver to face a greater obstacle in his life. He was confined in a dark room where there left no one to hear the yelling of his cry except the walls that echoed his crying. Dickens wrote, “…when the long dismal night came on, he spread his little hands before his eyes to shut out the darkness, and crouching in the corner, tried to sleep; ever and anon waking with a start and tremble, and drawing himself closer and closer to the wall, as if to feel even it's cold hard surface were a protection in the gloom and loneliness which surrounded him”. (Oliver Twist- Ch. III)

Oliver was forced to perform his morning and evening rituals in the frigid water of the pump in the winter since the hardships heaped upon him knew no bounds or limits. He was taken to the dining hall each day to serve as an example and discourage other guys from acting disrespectfully. The nine-year-old youngster was subjected to torment that adults would find horrifying. His appeal was viewed as a rebellion against a system and a culture that had little regard for the needs of the misfits. Oliver's response was confinement in a stuffy, dark chamber. The young youngster was overcome with claustrophobia and terror, which caused him to feel utterly alone and depressed. Eventually, the board's wise members decided that Oliver needed to go, and a sign offering five pounds to anyone who would take him was posted outside the workhouse. Mr. Grimwig, a chimney sweep, would have carried Oliver away, but the kind-hearted old magistrate noticed Oliver's pale, fearful face.  Oliver immediately declined when the man asked whether he wanted to travel with Mr. Grimwig. Oliver's sorrowful scream evoked feelings of sympathy and compassion in the elderly man, preventing him from signing the documents. Mr. Bumble was told to treat the boy with kindness and the indenture was cancelled. He was afterwards transferred to the undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry.

Oliver's troubles did not finish at the undertaker's home; there, Noah Claypole, the charity-boy at Mr. Sowerberry's, beat and abused Oliver. Oliver served as a "mute mourner" at the undertaker’s home. The pain he endured turned the nine-year-old's entire persona into something miserable.  Due to the knowledge of his parents, Noah Claypole believed he was superior to Oliver. He would not give Oliver the least chance to be traumatized because he is the "meanest of individuals" himself. The harsh Victorian society put enormous pressure on the waifs, which led to the young boys becoming juvenile offenders in the end. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist presented a dark and disturbing depiction of child exploitation in Victorian England. The novel's vivid portrayal of the physical and psychological harm inflicted on young children is shocking and thought-provoking. Dickens also conveys the psychological effects of child exploitation on young children. Oliver is portrayed as a helpless victim of circumstance, forced to endure the indignities and horrors of life in a criminal gang. The novel shows how such experiences can shape a child's perception of the world and lead to lifelong trauma. Oliver's story is a reminder that child exploitation robs young children of their childhood and leaves them vulnerable to long-term psychological harm. This is how, the novel’s impact is still felt today, and the representation has encouraged many people to campaign against child exploitation. Through his work, Dickens highlighted the need for social justice and the importance of speaking out against inhumane practices, and his legacy continues to inspire anti-exploitation movements around the world. The novel has been used to raise awareness of child exploitation and to campaign for change. It reminds us that child exploitation is an insidious and harmful practice that needs to be eradicated.

Bibliography:

1.     Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print. 

2.   Heather Shore, Artful Dodgers. Youth and Crime in Early Nineteenth-Century London (London: Royal Historical Society, 1999), p. 24. (This is Heather Shore’s paraphrase though the term was being used commonly by the mid nineteenth century).

3.    First Report from the Committee on the State of the Police of the Metropolis (London, 1817), p. 429; The Times, 28 June 1837.

4.     The Times, 1 December 1824.

5.  Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.1, 15 February 2014) May 1835, trial of Robert Spencer (t18350511-1325) [accessed 1 April 2014]; Old Bailey Proceedings Online, March 1840, trial of Martin Gavan (t18400303-902) [accessed 1 April 2014] 

6.     Wheeler, Michael. English Fiction of the Victorian Period 1830-1890. New York: Longman, 1994. Print

7.     Richardson, Ruth: Charles Dickens and the Workhouse: Oliver Twist and the London Poor.

8.     Dickens, Charles, Oliver Twist. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999

9.   Roy, Mengham: Charles Dickens. Atlantic Publishers,2001.Print.