CHAPTER III: ANALYSIS
B. Child Labour Reflected in Dickens’s Oliver Twist
3. Undertaker Boy/ Shop boys
them. Even they have to work in any condition to earn money and support the workhouse official.
etc out in the streets. (Online,
http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vindust.html, accessed on
March, 25th 2007)
This condition has become a common thing in England at that time. The use of child labour will give more profit to the factory. But, how is the condition of these children? No body care about it. The condition of these children is lack of social security, health security, and they work under bad condition. There is a lot of violence happens to the children; even they will be hit by the overseer if they try to escape.
In Dickens’s Oliver Twist, he used the fact of reality happened at that time and pictured in his novel. When Oliver failed to apprentice as a chimney-sweep, he offered by Mr. Bumble the Beadle to Mr. Sowerberry the undertaker and he works as the servant on Mr. Sowerberry’s shop.
Oliver, having taken down the shutters, and broken a pane of glass in his efforts to stagger away beneath the weight of the first one to a small court at the side of the house in which they were kept during the day, was graciously assisted by Noah: who having consoled him with the assurance that "he'd catch it," condescended to help him. Mr. Sowerberry came down soon after. Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Sowerberry appeared.
Oliver having "caught it," in fulfilment of Noah's prediction followed that young gentleman down the stairs to breakfast. (Oliver Twist: 77)
Poor Oliver he has to work in such place. Common children has to have time to have fun and do not have to think about problem that bring sadness. But Oliver is still nine years old and has to work with funeral man and take care of dead body. This is not a proper think for children like Oliver.in this case, Dickens wants to show how hard living as a child at that era. As a child they worked in an inappropriate condition, without social security and proper health condition.
At Mr. Sowerberry’s place, Oliver’s condition is not even better than in the workhouse. He always annoyed, he has to eat the dog’s food, and sleep under the counter among the coffins. He also has to receive cruel treatment from Noah Claypole the senior in that shop. Furthermore Mrs. Sowerberry and her maid Charlotte also hate Oliver.
"Then come with me," said Mrs. Sowerberry: taking up a dim and dirty lamp, and leading the way up stairs; "your bed's under the counter. You don't mind sleeping among the coffins, I suppose? But it doesn't much matter whether you do or don't, for you can't sleep anywhere else. Come;
don't keep me here all night!"
Oliver lingered no longer, but meekly followed his new mistress.
(Oliver Twist: 74)
One day, Noah annoy Oliver, said that Oliver’s mother is a regular right down bad woman, and she is a prostitute. Oliver can not control his emotion; this is making his blood boiling so that without any further consideration about the consequences he beat Noah up and threatened Noah in such a way that latter make Oliver mad with terror. Oliver prefers to be condemned to any suffering rather that hears anybody insulted his mother. But since the member of the family hate Oliver, thus all the mistaken is given to Oliver, even Mr. Sowerberry who like Oliver, forced to punish Oliver and beat Oliver up. Then for the rest of the day Oliver locked in small dark room.
For the rest of the day, he was shut up in the back kitchen, in company with a pump and a slice of bread; and, at night, Mrs. Sowerberry, after making various remarks outside the door, by no means complimentary to the memory of his mother, looked into the room, and, amidst the jeers and pointings of Noah and Charlotte, ordered him up stairs to his dismal bed. (Oliver Twist: 95)
The uses of children as child labours give no positive affect to the
children, this tends to torture and break their hope and also their dream. Children should have fun and learn much, but because of the condition in 19th century, with the industrial revolution, children forced to work and worked by people who have power on them, even parents who can not pay their life also forced to sell their children to the factory that they will stay alive and spared from sturfing.
Dickens pictures the condition of child labour at that time that is
represented by Oliver Twist in his Oliver Twist. The description above is the proof that Dickens really understands the social conditions that exist in 19th century England. And it becomes his inspiration of his works. Dickens implicitly wants to protest about the use of children as child labour, and stop the violence toward them.
In this part, the writer would like to explain as Hammods ((In Reed, online, http//www.literaturenotes.com, accessed on May, 21st 2006) has described;
that child labour differ into two: first is free labour. Free-labour children were those who lived at home but worked during the days in factories at the insistence of their parents or guardians. Private factory owners could not forcibly subjugate
“free-labour” children; they could not force them to work in conditions their parents found unacceptable.
Second is an apprenticed child. Apprentice children were under the direct authority and supervision not of their parents in a free labor market, but of
government officials. Many were orphans; a few were victims of negligent parents
or parents whose health or lack of skills kept them from earning sufficient income to care for a family. All were in the custody of Parish authorities.
Oliver is including into Apprenticed and Noah Claypole is the examples of free labour since he still have parents and he works to aiding his family income.