Victorian London Essay Example for Free

Victorian London Essay Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, but spent most of his time in London and Kent. He grew up not being particularly wealthy, especially after his father was arrested for debt when dickens was nine years old. Charles Dickens knew poverty, especially poverty in London, and wanted to better himself through his writing. However he also wanted to educate the educated. At that time the only people who could read were the upper and middle classes as they were the only people who could afford to go to school. But most of London and indeed the countrys population were made up of poor, uneducated people. Dickens wanted to show the wealthy people what others suffered and wanted to tell them what life was really like for the poor. However, Dickens had to be very careful not to alienate his readers. If he produced a story that was too harsh then his readership simply wouldnt believe it. He had to tell them gently otherwise he would fail. I am going to examine whether dickens was successful in his aim of educating his readership, and whether he was accurate in his description. We meet the character of scrooge immediately, during dickenss description of Marley, scrooges ex-business partner. We can tell two things from the quote, even Scrooge was not particularly cut up by the sad event [Marleys death], but that he was an excellent man of business. The first thing we can tell from the source is that scrooge is a man of business and therefore of the middle class. The second is scrooges lack of heart; he does not care very much about Marley, his business partner and friend. Dickens is telling us that scrooge is representative of the middle classes. Dickens then describes scrooges personal characteristics. He is a tight fisted hand at the grindstone. We are being told how much of a heartless person he is through a vile description of his character and when scrooge talks about Christmas he is shown to be even more heartless. Not even Christmas could warm his spirit. This is inferred to us through the quote, no warmth could warm him, no wintry weather could chill him. His clear distaste for Christmas, every idiot who goes out with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding with a stake of holly through his heart. This makes dickens readers realise that scrooge has to change. Dickens then moves on to give his first, albeit brief, description of the life of the poor in Victorian London. A man arrives at scrooges office collecting money for charity. Scrooge is surprised and asks the man if there are any prisons. The man replies that there are. Scrooge then asks if there are any Union Workhouses. The man replies that there are. Scrooge asks finally if there are the treadmill and Poor Law in full vigour. The man replies that they are very busy. In Victorian times there were very few places the poor could go to get help. They would steal or get involved with other crime or go to a workhouse where they would labour for gruel (a kind of porridge) and a space on the floor to sleep. Families were split up and children sent away. Scrooge is happy with these solutions and does not care if they are inhuman or not. Scrooge then sums up the attitude at the time by saying, but besides I dont know that. Just because scrooge does not know acknowledge the dreadful conditions he feels that he has no need to want to change them and rejects basic provisions for the poor. However at the time his was not an extreme view, especially in the middle classes. They had mostly worked their way up the social ladder and feel that if they did it then others can do it -why should they have to pay through higher taxes and charity. The basic message is that the middle class doesnt want to pay, mainly because they think that the existing system is fine. Another view of scrooges is represented in the quote if they had better die they had better do it quickly and decrease the surplus population. Scrooge clearly thinks that these poor people are a waste and it is their fault for having too many children, a system is in place and if they dont like it then tough. Dickens wants his readerships attitude to change and he has decided to do it through four ghosts, and four lessons. This is because he cannot tell them himself or he would never have got the book published as it would have been too risky, and so he got around this by using a third party the ghosts. The ghost of Marley appears and confronts scrooge. Scrooges way of judging people is by how good a businessman they are, just as Marley had done. In death Marley realises this is wrong, the first lesson. In order to change he has to receive three ghosts otherwise he cannot hope to shed the path I [Marley] tread. Not only is dickens telling his character to listen to the ghosts and learn the lessons, he is saying it to the readers as well. The first ghost, the ghost of Christmas past, visits Scrooge and shows him up to a point where he could have chosen to go down a different path. Immediately after seeing how a simple act can make people happy Scrooge changes and wishes to say a word to Bob Cratchit and apologise. Scrooge is then shown what he has lost. He sees Bell who had left him because he spent too much time at work. Bell is married with children and he sees what he could have had and then what he has been missing out on Christmas celebrations. Scrooge is then met by the ghost of Christmas Present. At first Dickens describe the houses as black enough, and the windows blacker, showing the poorest part of London for what it really is. But then he changes showing the shops in London full of food, as if the poor have no problem getting all this food in a happy congruously festive atmosphere. The sentence, steeples called good people all, to church and chapel. Dickens even throws in the idea of going to church to appease his readership and make them feel more charitable if the poor were seen as good Christians like they believed themselves to be they would feel more charitable towards the poor. He even talks about the bakers ovens cooking geese, almost saying they arent that poor because they can afford geese and implies that everyone is the same and generalises the poor. This is before we consider the poor living conditions. Dickens then further identifies the poor with the Cratchits by establishing the identity off Tiny Tim. Scrooge is the introduced to his nephews party and scrooge enjoys being there so much he doesnt want to leave. This is the first real clue as to how much scrooge has changed. The ghost then produces the hideous figures of want and ignorance. To make the blow hit harder they are depicted as children. They are Dickenss way of telling his readers what actually goes on in the perversion of humanity. They are not actually real, rather symbolic representations like cartoon characters and they are different from what scrooge is being told about them. Dickens tells his readers through the ghost to look out for them, particularly ignorance but at the same time he cannot tell his readers the truth. The last ghost appears and shows scrooge his own funeral, but scrooge fail to appreciate the meaning of it. Then the ghost shows scrooge his own grave. Scrooge then tells the ghost that he is a changed man, but is uncertain if the future can be changed. We are also shown the picture of Bob Cratchit weeping over the loss of his son Tiny Tim. Even in death we are not shown a picture of Tiny Tim suffering, there is no illness. Dickens uses this sentimental effect to show how he will be missed. When scrooge wakes up the change is immediately noticeable. He visits his nephew to reunite the family; again this is something his readers will approve of, and makes the Cratchits lives happier. The main message of the book is be charitable and give money to the poor. Dickens is so aware of his readership, however, that he has to insert the mechanical point telling his readers that Tiny Tim did not die. In conclusion Dickens does not describe the social conditions of the poor in London adequately. The proof of this is in Mayhew, who described the social and other appalling conditions in London for the poor. It shows that dickens is not being truthful. He shows the poor homogenously, grouping them together but there is a substantial between dickens version of Victorian London and reality. Dickens needs to get his point across about changing but he can only do so if he provides a sanitised version for his readers. In reality the Cratchits are very well off for people of their class, they have a respectable home and Bob Cratchit has a good job that pays fifteen shillings a week, which is a huge amount for a poor family. I think that dickens wanted to show London as it truly was for the poor but he couldnt do that because people were too sensitive about their own position and standing and felt vulnerable so he inserts pictures such as going to church and no suffering whilst alerting his readers to the problems. To a certain extent he is successful as he shows that there are problems in London but he does not go far enough to show the reality and alienate his readers.

Free Trade :: essays research papers

American Political Science Review Vol. 94, No.2 June 2000 "Free to Trade: Democracies, Autocracies, and International Trade" The central question that is explored in this article is what kind of political regime is best for free trading in domestic or international commerce. At the same time it address the variation between democracy and autocracy, not on variation within either regime type. Some of the major articles discussed in the author's review of the literature are the actors and their preferences; such actors as the chief executive and legislatures in a democracy and a unitary actor in autocracy. Also mentions one of the major aspect of trade, the noncooperative trade barrier settings. Which usually happens when countries do not agree to mutual trade settings. The other article in the literature tends to compare the level of trade barriers and regime type. It does this by looking at the level of trade barriers across the three types of regime pairs; if trade barriers are lower with in democracy pairs than pairs composed of an autocracy and a democracy. The principal hypothesis the authors seek to test is "the ratification responsibility of the legislature in democratic states leads pairs of democracies to set trade barriers at a lower level than mixed country-pairs." The major independent variables used in this article are political economy of trade policy, domestic political institutions and commercial policy. The dependent variables are foreign policy of the involved countries and the chief executive. In order to collect data and analysis, the authors used the national income and population of both trading partners, as well as the geographic distance between them. They also looked at the competitiveness of the process through which a country's chief executive is selected, the openness of that process, the competitiveness of

Discussion of the Great Gatsby Setting

Setting is one of the important elements and crucial parts in any literary pieces. It tells much about the world where the characters exist in. Moreover, it is important because it is the basis for the readers to judge the believability of the novel (Morgan). The author added that the â€Å"the type of world†¦ will determine the reactions and behaviors of your characters. † The setting will also reflect the social mores of a particular culture.The setting is a very important tool in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby because it exposes the characters. Moreover, the setting emphasizes the character traits and themes which give meaning to the critical events. The novel has four settings. These are the West Egg, East Egg, New York City and the valley of ashes. Subsettings also exist within these major settings. East Egg is the more fashionable area of Long Island where the rich live. West Egg, on the other hand, is the less fashionable area of Long Island.The Valley of Ash es is a desolate wasteland while New York City is the place symbolizing America during the 1920s: anything goes in New York City. This is where affairs and parties are held These four major settings give the readers an idea about the values of the people who work or live there. For example, Nick ended up in West Egg because he did not have the money to purchase a house in East Egg. Gatsby is also in West Egg because his present credentials are not acceptable in East Egg.As a result, Nick left and Gatsby was ruined. The novel’s major settings correspond to a particular type of character or theme. For instance, West Egg is like Gatsby. It symbolizes the new rich and the aristocracy during the 1920s. East Egg is like the Buchanans, who enjoy high social status, are wealthy and powerful. The valley of ashes, on the other hand, is like George Wilson, desperate, without hope and reflects the American’s society’s moral decay. New York City is chaos, with its parties an d affairs.

Personal Affect Of New Tattoo Policy - 1391 Words

Personal Affect of new Tattoo Policy SGT Carter, Christopher 91L30 EN ALC CL#004-14 Abstract The tattoo policy has always been part of the Military, to keep a clean and professionalism appearance. But how much do tattoos really matter in today’s world? It is getting harder and harder to find soldiers that are in the Military that do not have a tattoo, to some it is a way to show what they have been through, a story that tells there life and time in the service or from experiences overseas. There are still some Tattoo’s that should not be allowed in the military whether it be a sexist, racial or extremist tattoo, that could offend or start rivalry’s within today’s army if they were allowed. The New revised regulations in AR 670-1†¦show more content†¦There are regulations for a reason, which can be understood. But the way the world is becoming tattoo’s, are being acceptable for almost any job. According to the regulations the placement of tattoo’s is going off of the wear of the summer PT uniform which is a short sleeve shirt , and shorts, which is usually worn a few hours out of the day. The Army Combat Uniform (ACU) is worn 90 percent of a soldier’s time in the military, this has Long sleeves which cover your arms, and pants which cover your neck. The new revisions should tailor to the uniform that is worn the most. There has been word of AR 670-1, and DA PAM’s 670-1 Policy being revised for soldiers that may have tattoo’s on their arms or legs so they can go warrant officer, or officer if they so choose. This will not pertain to new soldiers enlisted or officer candidates that joined after the revision of the policy. Personal Affect of new Tattoo Policy The tattoo Policy has always been a part of the Military. It has changed a few times in accordance with AR 670-1, and DA PAM 670-1. At times of need for the Army they have allowed waivers so soldiers that do not meet the standards can join the Army in a time of need for more soldiers. The policy on tattoos as of all policies that are in the Military should be followed, but have a big affect on today’s