Charles Dickens

After reading Dickens' "A Visit to Newgate," I had very mixed feelings. Was I suppose to feel sorry for these people that are locked away? Or am I suppose to be glad that crimes are being punished instead of forgotten? Like I said I had very mixed feelings because while I was glad that criminals were being punished, I was also sad to hear about the awful conditions that they were living in. Dickens describes the prison at Newgate very well by examining each ward individually. The first ward is the women's ward. As I read this section I kept thinking to myself how awful it would be to be locked up there and how I dont believe I would be able to last one day. Dickens describes an elder woman as:

"a creature so borne down in soul and body, by excess of miseery and destituion, as the old woman...the old woman was talking in that low, stifled tone of voice which tells so forcibly of mental anguish; and every now and then burst into an irrepressible sharp, abrupt cry of grief, the most distressing sound that ears can hear."

The next part of the prison Dickens describes is that of the young boys who are being punished for pick pocketing. Reading this section absolutely broke my heart because most of these boys were not of the age 14. They were practically babies!! The worst part about this passage was when Dickens explains that looking at these boys you could see not one redeeming quality. None of them seemed to be upset by their punishment and "anything like shame and contrition, was entirely out of the question."

The third part of the prison is that of the men who are not condemned and Dickens states "they have little description to offer, as the different wards necessarily partake of the same charcter." The final paragraphs of this exerpt discuss a man who is condemned to death in the gallows and a dream he has of escaping such misery. Again I have mixed feelings while reading this. One because I am glad the man is being punished for beating his wife and treating her wrong but at the same time I can see that he is truly sorry for what he had done and wishes he could take back "all the unkindness and cruelty that wasted her form and broke her heart!"

A few of the passages made me believ that Dickens was critiqueing how society in the industrial period was. One line that stands out to me is when Dickens is discussing the women of the prison. He says:

"one of those children, born and bred in neglect and vice, who have never know what childhood is....its gaiety and its innocence, are alike unknown to them...tell them of hunger and the streets, beggary and stripes, the gin-shop, the station-house, and the pawnbroker's, and they will understand you."

I believe this refers to the young girls beginning to prostitute their bodies in order to survive. I also believe the young boys are pick pocketing because they have nothing else to do in order to get food for themselves and perhaps their family. Another line that stands out to me is when Dickens is describing how during services a man that was about to be excuted was to sit beside his coffin the entire time. He states:

"let us hope that the increased spirit of civilisation and humanity which abolished this frightful and degrading custom, may extend itself to other usages equally barbarous; usages which have not even the plea of utility in their defence, as every year's experience has shown them to be more and more inefficacious."

I believe this is the most obvious statement that shows Dickens is not happy with the way society is during the industrial period. I believe this is just another critiscism of how people are growing apart from each other and society is falling apart.