Charles Dickens 1812-1870

Industrialism was a time described as the most fundamental transformation of human life in the history of the world. A change, most people were not ready for. One aspect of industrialism that was rejected at first was the moving in of the railways. People saw it as disrupting their community as evident in Charles Dickens work, Dombey and Son." Also, in his novel, "Hard Times," Dickens portrays industrial Manchester as "Coketown" because of the coal residue that blackened the city. Both these pieces portrays the point of moving out of the old and moving into the new.

In "Dombey and Son," I liked the way the author gives you a visual picture of what was happening by the coming in of the railway. Even though this was not an earthquake, but as described on page 296, "The first shock of a great earthquake had.........houses were knocked down, streets broken through and stopped; deep pits and trenches....buildings that were undermined and shaking, propped by great beams of wood" it seems as if the entire place was in turmoil to accommodate the building of the railways. These lines brought back childhood memories when the government was building a highway to connect two major cities. We had to relocate from where my family had lived for decades and those houses which the government were not able to relocate were knocked down all in the name of progress. The government wanted to build a highway and once you were in the proposed path you had to move. It was sad, stressful and depressing. The author continued by stating that the, "Chaos of carts, overthrown and jumbled together, lay topsy-turvy at the bottom of a steep unnatural hill" (page 496) to show how the carts were laid among the piles of dirt. It was as if piles of dirt were everywhere creating as the author had described it "unnatural hill." It is amazing how the author brings the reader to the scene. In these lines, "Everywhere were bridges that led nowhere....Babel towers of chimneys, wanting half their height; temporary wooden houses and enclosures.....giants forms of cranes, and tripods straddling above nothing," gives you the feeling as if you were standing there looking at the massive railway construction among the torn down house, the mounds of dirt, and the chaos that was everywhere. The author paints a sad picture of what was happening in the words, "If the miserable waste ground lying near it could have laughed, it would have laughed it to scorn, like many of the miserable neighbors" (page 497). However, despite the sadness and the mess the builders of the tavern and eating shops were going to prosper regardless of what was happening around them.

In, "Hard Times," Dickens used similar effect of visuals to give us an idea of what was happening. He provided lots of details that gave you a true sense of what was really going on in this city. "It was a town of red brick, or brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but, as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage" (page 497). In these lines the author calls the town an unnatural place, that was awash in industrial pollution. The bricks were no longer red but black caused by air pollution by these factories. The author described the place as the appearance as like a "savage," which clearly shows his feelings. He was not happy with what was happening to this city due to the pollution. The author went on to state that, "It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever....It had a black canal in it, and the river ran purple with ill-smelling dye" to point out that pollution was everywhere, including the rivers.

The factory hands work long hours in oppressive conditions, who lived monotonous lives as stated in these lines, "Who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound...to do the same work....to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next." I really liked this line that the author had used, "Coketown did not come out of its own furnaces, in all respects like gold that had stood the fire" (page 498) to seal his point that the town had changed because of industrialism. This was not like gold that is unchanged no matter what you have done to it. Coketown had changed. However, amidst all this pollution, there was a place of exception , New Church; "a stuccoed edifice with a square steeple over the door" (page 497). Also, you had your prosperous individuals just as you did in Dombey and Son. In Hard Times, it mentioned two individuals by the names of Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby. On page 498 it emphasized their elite standings, “…they lived upon the best, and bought fresh butter, and insisted on Mocha coffee, and rejected all but prime parts of meat.” These individuals were much like the individuals that built the tavern and eating shops in Dombey and Son. The author was not very fond of these gentlemen. Were they taking advantage of the poor, which was the majority, of Coketown? One can only speculate as to why this was the case.

I really enjoyed both readings. It was not stated in "Dombey and Son" how the people reacted when the railway was completed. However, we will assume that some welcomed it while others were still against it as is the case with every new invention. One thing was evident in these pieces was that the lower class were placed as it were on back burners all in the name of progress. This was the Industrial period and the lower class was able to work factory jobs but they still suffered. The lower class suffered more than the upper class. It seems as if history is repeated itself in many part of the world. The lower class is working for minimal wages while businesses are reaping the rewards.