Dickens and Industrialism
In Dickens’ account of his visit to Newgate Prison, we are reading about the first encounter with the effects of urbanization—the extremely rapid changes in culture combined with the social Darwinism popular in his time. Many people believed at the time that to be poor was reflective of having no morals, not that poverty was the result of a mix of ideals and practices set forth by various Institutions, like law, the church, or education. If you look at whom Dickens sees in the prison, you come across men and women of all ages, but none of high social class (I don’t think there was such a thing as a middle class then, but I could be wrong). It was believed that since the poor were themselves to blame for their condition and criminality, then it was easier to “get rid” of them than rehabilitate, like the fourteen year old condemned for stealing bread; there was very little public aid available then; that which was was for widows and the disabled.
Newgate prison is built in a fairly respectable section of town, along the colleges and marketplace, but all those that pass by it are “utterly unmindful.” The overcrowding of cities has made people disregard that which does not immediately concern them. Instead of knowing your neighbors and helping each other, in the cities, everyone struggles just the same, and if someone else is in trouble, at least it is not you. Dickens’ description of the inside of the prison is that of a bleak fortress, where one is ushered through gate after gate; the sheer size of it alone must be overwhelming. Prisoners are crowded into rooms without any privacy. Both the men’s and women’s rooms were described as light and spacious; the women kept their pottery clean and were provided with texts of scripture; they also were given work to perform, which must have at least made the time go by faster, if not providing some source of self-worth. I was surprised to see no evidence of the men having any work to do. Maybe, because of society’s view on acceptable forms of work for men and women, there was nothing “worthy” for the men to do, despite their prisoner status. This lack of work for men must have surely contributed to their apathy.
When Dickens gets to the boy’s section, he is amazed that many of the boys line up as if they are pleased, or if they had “done something excessively meritorious in getting there at all.” He calls them “hopeless creatures of neglect.” There were uncountable numbers of orphans on the streets in those times, and orphanages were hardly more than workhouses. Again, we see how the overcrowding of cities without proper planning or aid to the poor results in more crime and more prisoners.
When he gets to the section where he describes the prison chapel and “death row,” we get a great idea of the dehumanization and psychological intimidation that inmates went through. The chapel itself is composed of “mean appointments—bare and scanty pulpit…” dingy benches, dusty and damp. Maybe this is the most depressing of all the rooms, because as we read from the testimonies of the two factory worker girls in our text, the people in the prison probably had little or no training in religion. The religion of the State, or of the Rich, had little comfort to give to the poor or condemned, as it was used as justification for not helping the poor. Why should they be interested? Considering that at one time the prison wardens would put those about to be executed in the front pews—specifically labeled for the condemned--next to their own coffins for one last sermon, what spiritual comfort could possibly be derived from such a stark, bleak atmosphere? We see examples of this disregard for religion in the condemned cells, where the Bible evidenced “no tokens of its having been in recent use.”
The combination of industrialization, overcrowding, and attitudes toward the poor—in lack of resources and opportunities—had dehumanized the majority of the population, and also those in power. As Dickens states, “they have entered at once upon the stern realities and miseries of life, and to their better nature it is almost hopeless to appeal.”
Being so many, the masses were a commodity and a hindrance to the upper classes, who viewed them as deserving of their condition.
In Dickens’ account of his visit to Newgate Prison, we are reading about the first encounter with the effects of urbanization—the extremely rapid changes in culture combined with the social Darwinism popular in his time. Many people believed at the time that to be poor was reflective of having no morals, not that poverty was the result of a mix of ideals and practices set forth by various Institutions, like law, the church, or education. If you look at whom Dickens sees in the prison, you come across men and women of all ages, but none of high social class (I don’t think there was such a thing as a middle class then, but I could be wrong). It was believed that since the poor were themselves to blame for their condition and criminality, then it was easier to “get rid” of them than rehabilitate, like the fourteen year old condemned for stealing bread; there was very little public aid available then; that which was was for widows and the disabled.
Newgate prison is built in a fairly respectable section of town, along the colleges and marketplace, but all those that pass by it are “utterly unmindful.” The overcrowding of cities has made people disregard that which does not immediately concern them. Instead of knowing your neighbors and helping each other, in the cities, everyone struggles just the same, and if someone else is in trouble, at least it is not you. Dickens’ description of the inside of the prison is that of a bleak fortress, where one is ushered through gate after gate; the sheer size of it alone must be overwhelming. Prisoners are crowded into rooms without any privacy. Both the men’s and women’s rooms were described as light and spacious; the women kept their pottery clean and were provided with texts of scripture; they also were given work to perform, which must have at least made the time go by faster, if not providing some source of self-worth. I was surprised to see no evidence of the men having any work to do. Maybe, because of society’s view on acceptable forms of work for men and women, there was nothing “worthy” for the men to do, despite their prisoner status. This lack of work for men must have surely contributed to their apathy.
When Dickens gets to the boy’s section, he is amazed that many of the boys line up as if they are pleased, or if they had “done something excessively meritorious in getting there at all.” He calls them “hopeless creatures of neglect.” There were uncountable numbers of orphans on the streets in those times, and orphanages were hardly more than workhouses. Again, we see how the overcrowding of cities without proper planning or aid to the poor results in more crime and more prisoners.
When he gets to the section where he describes the prison chapel and “death row,” we get a great idea of the dehumanization and psychological intimidation that inmates went through. The chapel itself is composed of “mean appointments—bare and scanty pulpit…” dingy benches, dusty and damp. Maybe this is the most depressing of all the rooms, because as we read from the testimonies of the two factory worker girls in our text, the people in the prison probably had little or no training in religion. The religion of the State, or of the Rich, had little comfort to give to the poor or condemned, as it was used as justification for not helping the poor. Why should they be interested? Considering that at one time the prison wardens would put those about to be executed in the front pews—specifically labeled for the condemned--next to their own coffins for one last sermon, what spiritual comfort could possibly be derived from such a stark, bleak atmosphere? We see examples of this disregard for religion in the condemned cells, where the Bible evidenced “no tokens of its having been in recent use.”
The combination of industrialization, overcrowding, and attitudes toward the poor—in lack of resources and opportunities—had dehumanized the majority of the population, and also those in power. As Dickens states, “they have entered at once upon the stern realities and miseries of life, and to their better nature it is almost hopeless to appeal.”
Being so many, the masses were a commodity and a hindrance to the upper classes, who viewed them as deserving of their condition.
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