Charles Dickens and the ‘little people’
When he died he said he wanted to be buried as an “ordinary man” near his home in Rochester. But such was the fame and success of Charles Dickens that he was buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey. And today, 200 years after his birth, descendants, admirers and royalty gathered in the Abbey to lay a wreath on his grave.
Readers including Claire Tomalin, Ralph Fiennes and the Archbishop of Canterbury paid tribute to Dickens’ talent as a writer. His gift for comedy, his imaginative yet accurate descriptions, and, of course, his colourful characters – who may often appear extravagant but are always intensely human.
Dickens’ social conscience was also celebrated – as was his work to highlight poverty, inequality and injustice. And this, for many people, is perhaps the most fascinating area of his work to look at in 2012. Because if we continue to read Dickens in our millions, and continue to insist on the contemporary relevance of his writing, does this mean that little has changed since the mid-19th century? And if Dickens was trying to bring about social change through his novels, as he did when the Yorkshire schools were closed down following the publication of Nicholas Nickleby, does their continuing resonance today mean that ultimately they failed?
The truth is that Dickens was a social reformer and did enjoy some notable successes in this area. But as a novelist he was trying to make people think, to reconsider their place in the world and re-evaluate their social prejudices. No-one can doubt that he succeeded here – and continues to do so in 2012.
It was also one of his stated ambitions to convince people through his fiction that the ‘little people’ at the bottom of society could be as interesting and just as worthy of our attention as those at the top.
Now his work might not have eradicated all our social problems. But bringing these little people to the foreground of popular culture is at least one area in which he’s enjoyed huge influence since his death – as any glimpse over the content of 2012′s most successful films, TV dramas, plays and novels can prove.
Perhaps this will ultimately be his most lasting legacy.
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There are 6 comments on this post
Great piece. Try this as a creative reflection on the ‘little people’ of the world: in the political sense that is…
http://excessbrain.tumblr.com/post/17207822470/m-i-a-born-free-powerful-stuff-the-article
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Yes, Dickens is very much on peoples minds as we undergo the most drastic change to our Welfare system to occur for many years.
What would Dickens have to say to our drastic cuts to the disablement benefits that is due to take effect in April 2013? Would he not be angry at our drastic cutting back at the expense at one of the most vulnerable groups of society.
Our quibbling as to which disability a child has whether it be deafness or blindness is more worthy of our coppers and which is not would surely make him furious.
To make such advances in provision for the sick and disabled and then to take them away, claiming the nation is in poverty and cannot afford to maintain it any longer, yet find 1 million pounds for a firework display would confirm in his mind that the government needed its head examining.
In Dickens time housing for the masses was appauling with no sanitation. For decades Housing Associations have been building wonderful homes for the nation, promised by successive governments that housing sick and disabled people in larger accomodation than they needed, but which met their physical needs would be paid for by the Gov.Thousands of sick & disabled people moved into these homes trusting they would be taken care of. Now,from April 2013 they will each be expected to find an extra £11-£14 pw so that they can live in their homes.
For decades successive governments have known the population was living longer, that there was a greater need for 1 bed roomed homes, but they failed to build.
If Housing Associations do not receive this extra money from tenants then the quality of the service will rapidly deteriate. They won’t be able to afford to do repairs.Homes will deteriate as a result.
Can you really see a Judge granting a Housing Association or Council permission to evict an elderly disabled person,or a little old lady who has had her home adapted for her disabilities, but does not have this extra £11-14 perweek to pay the housing association or council.
I live on a housing estate where there are scores of sick and disabled living on the breadline. What will happen to all these people when their disablement benefits are slashed or removed completely and they cannot pay extra money for their homes?
Councils and Housing Ass will all get into debt.
Enter the Dickens villains: The rogue landlords, who will milk the government system of all its worth and provide very poor accommodation for the sick, unemployed and the disabled. These rogue landlords will think nothing of throwing people out in the street if they don;t get all their money, so we’ll have homelessness increasing.
More people will become mentally ill and not be able to cope. There won’t be enough facilities for these people and alcholosism and drug taking will increase as people try and medicate their despair.
Dickens would be visibly shocked at the demonising of the sick & disabled that is becoming increasingly prevelent in our society and at our ambivilence to it.
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To pretend Dickens England was in any way similar to Emgland today is completely risible.
When we are agonising about limiting welfare handouts to a mere £26K a year (when the median working wage is only £21K) where sick and disabled and unemployed people are entitled to state help there is simply no comparison with Dickens time.
And I wonder what Beveridge would make of our Benefits Entitlement culture, never mind Dickens!
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I guess he would say it was more complicated than the generalisation “benefits entitlement culture”. He would point out both those who scam the system, avoid working & live off benefits, often organising their lives (e.g. lone parents) to enjoy a life on benefits. he would also write about people with genuine illnesses & disabilities who cannot work or can only work with assistance or under conditions that employers prefer not to provide whose lives will be made significantly worse by these changes. He might also comment on the folly of expecting people sdhould find jobs when training budgets have been cut and the labour market continues to contract because of the double dip recession. Yes – there are those who form part of a benefit entitlement culture, but not all of those receiving benefits should be counted as such. And what about the outcry from middle classes earning more than £35k a year about the child benefit cuts. The middle classes also have their benefit entitlement culture – even while decrying such a culture among the working classes. I guess Dickens would’ve liked to create appropriate characters for such hypocrites. The problem with the benefits system/culture cannot be solved by the crude broad-brush policy changes which are under way. This is exactly where you need localism – individual solutions to individual cases – often involving more than just the benefit system. Of course, running an individualised system would be more expensive in terms of the people needed to tackle the range of individual issues, but in the longer run, it would challenge the shirkers while meeting the legitimate requirements of people with disabilities (including the vast number who want to work if properly supported) than generalised policies that will solve virtually nothing.
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The broad brush technique is, in reality, the only one open to government.
There is enough work in the UK economy. We have just encouraged our own people to remain unemployed because it pays so well.
It was so difficult to get our own people to work, that the last Labour government imported 3 million 3rd world immigrants to do the work while it paid our own people to sit at home and do nothing.
The Migration Advisory Committee has recently confirmed the link between non-EU immigration and unemployment. Google it.
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Hey – quite a few of the 200-odd events at the Bath “Lit-Fest”, now on, feature Dickens. Unsurprising. But what was a surprise was the premiere of a wonderful show about 2 women in Dickens’ life: Miss Havisham, and his own wife – both abandoned – in an improbable double act.
Apart from the improbability of meeting a fictional character, it’s a laugh a minute from these poor women being competitive about their rotten treatment. Furthermore, they sing throughout, with lots of stage “business”.
I don’t much care for the female singing voice, and here were two of them – unaccompanied!! Horrors! But actually both mellifluous and funny (and no recitative in sight).
The card-playing scene was especially hilarious. It deserves to be broadcast.
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