The Harshness of New Industrial System in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist

Introduction
In the Mid Victorian era, England sat on top of the world, and there were many reasons for it (Mc Kay, et al, 1983:766). One of which is the awareness of science and technology, which made England have enormous lead overall countries in the development of industry. This condition, as well changed England not only in science and technology but also in social relations, economics, and even in political institutions. A new group of industrial capitalist and the workers arose. As a result, the poor get poorer. There is no doubt that Industrial Revolution brought riches and power to Great Britain. At the same time, it also brought great evils with it (Seaman, 1954:51). Many social problems are endemic i.e. poverty, crime, and personal demoralization.
He further explains that the evils of the factory system also gave miseries to their house conditions. It is said that the houses in which the new factory hands lived were built very quickly and very cheaply. The result of this was the disfigurement of huge areas of the north of England by rows and rows of crowded, badly built and unhealthy dwellings, not all of which have disappeared even yet.
Literature is also said to be influenced by these chaotic conditions. It is said that literature in the Victorian Age was characterized by a definite purpose to sweep away error and to reveal the underlying truth of human life (Moody, 1943:295). One of the novel as stated by Hawkins (2001) describes the passage describing London, especially the miserably poor part of London in the 1830-s is Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Lloyd (1959:118) confirms that anyone who reads Oliver Twist will see something of the worst side of industrial development.
Considering the historical background and the work of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, this study attempts to discuss the social cultural conditions of the poor caused by the harshness of the new industrial development. As additional information, briefly, this paper describes the consequences of new industrial which took the poor further away from a world in which they were comfortable and brought them into the conditions which were almost too complex to solve.

Social Problems Caused by the New Industrial System
Industrial Revolution, indeed, brings England both wealth and power. However, it also brings many consequences in the life of the society. In short, the industrial system has already changed the structure of society. It created new social relation and problems as seen in the rise of a new group of factory owners and industrial capitalist. Mc Kay, et al (1983:782) stated that the condition of English workers in Industrial Revolution has always generated the most controversy among historians since England was the first country to industrialize and because social consequences seem harshest there. As factories grew larger, the rich got richer. On the other hand, the condition of workers got worse.
This condition was understandable since most profit had to go back in the business for new and better machinery. As a result, the workers got very small wages that led them to live in poverty. The poor, who were mostly exile from village and could not find a job, had to force themselves in any possible way with the all the capacity they possessed to keep themselves and the families away from dying of starvation. Then, becoming beggars and pick pockets was their solution to stay alive. Poverty had led them to be criminals. In brief, criminals were the product of poverty and hunger. Towns and cities became more crowded and filthier than before. Due to these, parents who could not support their families, put their children in the local orphanages. In these orphanages, parents were expected that their children would be taken care with sufficient food.
However, in fact, these orphanages only gave them suffering rather than comfort. They were exploited and maltreated by the master of the orphanages. Their condition got even worse when they were sent to factories to be laborers. They were given very little pay and often badly treated and terribly overworked in the mills (Mc Kay, et al, 1983:761). For this issue, Mc Kay confirms that people were reluctant to work in factories; this because factory owners turned to young children as a source to labor partly because they could employ them for very little pay. Moreover, exploitation of child labor in factories, gas work, shipyards, shoe makers, construction, chimney sweeping was taken as a business. Here is a part of a dialogue with Mr. John Moss, a governor of the workhouse (Tierney, et al, 1967:179-182):
What were the hours of work? -From five o’clock in the morning till eight at night.
Were fifteen hours in the day the regular hours of work? -Those were their regular hours of work.
Was that regular time all the year through? -Yes
It is clearly that the poor and abandoned children were the exact objects for the factory owners to gain more profit. From the text above, cruel exploitation upon abandoned children at that time was absolutely bad: hours were long, wages low, bad working conditions. The impact of this exploitation towards children cannot be avoided, especially to the children’s health since the bony system was still imperfect.
Gaskell (2001) further shows how miserable the children life was.
Factory labour is a species of work, in some respects singularly unfitted for children. Cooped up in heated atmosphere, debarred the necessary exercise, remaining in one position for a series of hours, one set or system of muscles alone called into activity, it cannot be wondered at, that its effects are injurious to the physical growth of a child.
William Blake in Mc Kay, et al, (1983:782) called the early factories “Satanic Mills” and protested against the hard life of the destruction of the rural way of life and the pollution of the land and water. Friederich Engels also criticizes,” I Charge the English middle classes with mass murder, wholesale robbery, and all other crimes in calendar” (Handerson and Chaloner, 1968:xxiii).
The depictions above have shown that Industrial Revolution indeed not only brought England both wealth and power but the evil of the factory system also gave the long run consequences that cannot be ignored on the lives of the society. The transition to an industrial economy has exacted a cruel price in terms of human suffering upon a great number of people.

Poverty as Reflected in Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist
From the very beginning, Charles Dickens brings his readers to a world stricken by poverty since the poor are in the worst possible condition of poverty. One of the main factors is over population in cities caused by the urbanization. It is because their own villages became the victims of industrialization. With the faint hope of finding jobs in big factories they exiled to big cities. The effect of new urban settlement was overpopulation that created social unrest. It creates not only hunger but also a multiple social problems. In Oliver Twist, Dickens reflects poverty in England especially in London as an impact of the Industrial Revolution. The aspects discuss mainly deals with the situation in town related to the problem of housing, health, clothing, hunger and orphanage.

Housing A house is one of the human basic needs. It is not only the place to live in but also a place for the protection against the climate. Furthermore, a nice atmosphere of the house, indirectly, influences the personality of people who live in it. Normally, people who live in a house with a pleasant atmosphere have a good personality, although there are exceptions to the rule. A house is also very important to create the feeling of security and harmony in the family. For poor people since they cannot afford to buy a good house, they only rent a cheap, old and sometimes a decaying one (p.35).
These conditions are unavoidable because the factories where people work only gave them very small wages. Those who did not have a job build a den which did, of course, not deserve to be called as a house in which they live did not support a feeling of security and harmony of the inhabitants. Dickens even describes those dens in an extremely awfully condition. Moreover, he refers to them as filthy kennel so that it is questionable whether their inhabitants could maintain proper health, “The kennel was stagnant and filthy. The very rats, which were here and there lay putrefying in its rottenness, were hideous with famine” ( p.35).
What a tragic case it was, the poor built houses in an unhealthy environment of slum and filth area where rats lay here and there. They forced themselves to live in such a condition since a house at least could protect them against the harsh climate in wintertime when it is extremely cold. Dickens illustrated this novel that it was piercing cold and the atmosphere was gloomy and black (p.156). It was winter, but the poor did not have proper house to live in. In contrast, the rich people stayed in a big warm house with a beautiful fireplace in it.
Bleak, dark, and piercing cold, it was a night for the well-housed and fed to draw round the bright fire and thank God they were at home; and for the homeless, starving wretch to lay him down and die (p.165).
Here, Dickens brings his readers to see the real condition of the poor people, which is undebatably in an awfully condition. He wants to show that poor people were indeed in a very bad condition. They lived in absolutely poverty and lived in filth as they could not fulfill one of the basic needs to acquire a proper house.

Hunger. Food is necessitated to keep human being alive, especially those who live in areas with four climates. In winter time people must have sufficient food to keep them warm, without which they will miserable. Dickens captures this condition into his novel where they live in hunger with the extreme worst condition of dying from starvation (p.36). From the portrayal above, we can see that huger causes death if it was not met by good response. In a trying time like that children were sent to orphanage, since their parents could not support them any longer. In fact, rather being fat they were cruelly mistreated and starved to death. Cruel mistreatment of children in the orphanage seems to be prevalent during those days, and Dickens even shows instances of this.
Oliver Twist and his companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months: at last they got so voracious and wild wit hunger …that unless he had another basin of gruel per diem, he was afraid he might some night happen to eat the boy who slept next him. (p.12)
A small bowl of gruel is good for children who are dieting, meanwhile, when children are in the growing period, it is normal when they have an excellent appetite to support their growth. They were totally desperate with hunger until they were afraid of eating each other if hey were not given some more food. What a gruesome impact of hunger it is, when the children become beasts rather than human if they are extremely hungry.

Clothing. Another human’s basic need is clothing, which should be fulfilled by al human beings. It is not only for covering the body, but also protects the body against the climate. However, to those who live under the poverty line, the old and torn ones are supposed to be enough. As long as it can cover their body, it is considered to be sufficient for them. Even the poor infants, in this case Oliver, an old yellow rag was prepared and wrapped around Oliver when he was just born in the workhouse.
What an excellent example of the power of dress, young Oliver Twist was! Wrapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his only covering…that he was enveloped in the old calico robes which had grown yellow in the same service. (p.3)

A newly born-infant, indeed, needs a warm comfortable clothing since he still cannot adapt himself to the weather directly. But what had happened to the infant in the orphanage, an old blanket which had turned to yellow is all he had.

Health. So far the discussion has been focused on poverty because the condition of poor people in England especially poor children at that time was thoroughly bad. The cause that may be directly connected with their bad conditions is that they did not have enough money to support themselves and their family. This is reflected in their house, meal and clothing which were far below the standards. All of these, of course, affected their health condition especially those who had inadequate food.
The child was pale and thin; his cheeks were sunken; and his eyes large and bright. The scanty parish dress, the livery of his misery hung loosely on his feeble body; and his young limbs had wasted away, like those of an old man. (p.121)
Here, Dickens described Dick, a friend of Oliver in the workhouse where they were beaten and starved by the workhouse master, a s an example of poor children’s condition at that time. He shows that insufficient food made them lose weight and became very pale. The more so, they lived in slum which became an additional threat to health. Many diseases are endemic, but mostly they are connected with the problem of hunger. These conditions run to extreme when poor people mostly die because of starvation. “I say she was starved to death. I never know how bad she was, till fever come upon her; and then her bones were starting through the skin. There was neither fire nor candle; she died in the dark!-in the dark! (p.36)”
That she died in the dark indicates the very poor condition of the house in which there is no ventilation, and such a house is not adequate to support health. Bad housing with its poor facilities- bathing, toilets, kitchen, and also ventilation, creates many diseases, take for instance, skin disease, tuberculosis, etc. From the fact above, it can be concluded that inadequate food and poor housing with its poor facilities are direct factors that are hazardous for health.

Orphanage. It cannot be avoided that the prevalence of poverty will produce many social problems: housing, health, starvation, education and crime. It is because poor people or the immigrants themselves are badly prepared for the new way of life related to the newly developed industrial system. Unemployment and street children become rampant. One solution to this problem can be achieved by providing social care, such as workhouses and orphanages for the poor and abandoned children who used to be street children. This social care also helps the government to control the poor. Kaste (1965:8) further stated:
A new concept was adopted to deal with the vexing issue of pauperism. The Poor Law of 1834 provided that all able-bodied paupers must reside in workhouse. This plan was successful from one standpoint, for within three years the cost of poor relief was reduced by over one-third.
However, this concept was taking them away from a world in which they were comfortable, since this system brings them into starvation, instead. This is illustrated by Dickens when the inmates of the workhouse became the victim of the Poor Law. They were suffering from hunger since they only got only smallest portion of food from Mrs. Mann the matron of the workhouse. She was the of the opinion that providing the children with the smallest portion of the weakest possible food (p.5) was the best policy in handling the children, whereas she regarded herself as needing the biggest portion of food.
Following Mrs. Mann’s system, Dickens considers that the inmates of the workhouse become the victims of social injustice because he sees corruption deliberately done by Mrs. Mann. She let poor orphan suffer from hunger, on the other hand she lived in prosperity. Dickens then mocked her in his ironical statement that the elderly female was a woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for herself. The unfortunate orphans not only suffered from hunger but they were also exploited by the workhouse authorities. They should work for the workhouse and receive only seven pence-halfpenny per small head per weak (p.4).
…that Oliver should be ‘farmed’, or, in other words, that he should dispatched to a branch-workhouse some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws, rolled about the floor al day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing, under the parental superintendence of an elderly female, who received the culprits at and for the consideration of seven pence-halfpenny per small head per week. (p.4)
From the quotation above, it can be seen that the poor orphans in orphanages were cruelly maltreated. They were forced to work with very low wages, less food and clothes. They were absolutely exploited. Dickens then, shows this exploitation and puts them into his novel. He, indirectly, wants to promote reform and simultaneously eliminate the abuses and malpractices in the orphanages. The orphanages which were at first intended to help the poor children, in practice they were used by the administrator of the workhouse where they committed corruption.

Various Life Attitudes of People at that Time
Long standing starvation and social injustice towards the poor led them to every possible way in order to protect themselves and their family away from starvation. These impoverishing conditions forced the slum inhabitants to become beggars. In the meantime, they had to satisfy their basic need i.e. to have food to keep themselves and their families alive by begging, they were sent to prison.” I begged for her in the streets; and they sent me in the prison. When I came back, she was dying; and all the blood in my heart dried up, for they starved to death (p.36). He then illustrates the ironical situation as Oliver and his friends’ companions suffered the tortures and slow starvation. On the contrary, the workhouse were fat and healthy (p.12) when the donation was actually intended for the orphans and not for the masters.
This indicates that the master had sufficient food although hunger was a major threat for the orphans. It clearly shows that poverty, in effect, degrades someone’s moral and makes one lose his sense of humanity. While other desperate of fulfilling their need, the rich are busy of fulfilling their greed. From this standpoint, it becomes clear how poverty affects society very badly, even the rich ones since naturally men carry two different sides: good and bad. When an unpleasant thing comes over them, mostly they intend to do the bad things. It means that the bad side is more dominant than the good ones. This also make one become apathetic about other suffering. They will do anything to survive from hunger. Even becoming criminals is another solution for them.
The viler consequences of this is when the poor are out of the necessity and become acquainted with crime, and the worst is that when they really become criminal and join an organization for the criminals which in modern term is called: a Mafia. Later, in Oliver Twist, Dickens also described that at that time gangs of criminals was so widespread. There was one notorious gang of criminals which was led by Fagin. To the poor and abandoned children Fagin was a Godfather. This was felt by one of his member, Jack Dawkins or The Artful dodger as he offered Oliver to join Fagin’s gang. He told Oliver that Fagin would provide free lodging for the homeless especially poor children.
‘I’ve got to be in London to-night; and I know a’ specable old genelman as lives there, wot’ll give you lodgings for nothink, and never ask for the change- that is, if any genelman, he knows interduces you. (p.54) “Offering you something for nothing and never ask for change” (p.54)

are generally, the Mafia’s most effective reasons to exploit and create a good image to the poor for they are homeless and powerless. Dickens also gives a vivid portrayal that poverty, indeed, robbed her childhood and youth. He describes Nancy, one of Fagin’s members, she exploited by Fagin, since she was child. Fagin also made her old in the experience of evil in the underworld criminal which is, of course, a tragic existence for the unfortunate girl, “It is my living; and the cold, wet, dirty street are my home; and you’re the wretch that drove me to them long ago, and that’ll keep me there, day and night, day and night, till I die!” (p.116).
The underworld criminals also give the author a chance to show the ugly realities of human nature. It was when they were happy of hunting poor Oliver without knowing what actually happened by crying out, ‘Stop thief! Stop thief!’ and people were chasing him. There was a passion for hunting something deeply implanted in the human breast (p.67). This chance is used by the author to show the true criminal morality at work. After The Dodger and Master Bates thieved the man, both of them were running away at full speed to the corner since they did not want to attract public attention. When they saw Oliver run of seeing their mode of work, these two boys, then roared and shouted behind him to provoke others as if Oliver was real thief.
They no sooner heard the cry, and saw Oliver running, than, guessing exactly how the matter stood, they issued forth with great promptitude; and, shouting ‘Stop thief!’ too, join in the pursuit like good citizens. (p.66)
The immediate effect of poverty as it has been stated above, indeed, changed the life attitude of the people. Begging in the street and becoming a street musician, then, is an alternative legal way of earning money and the worst feature of this is when becoming criminals is a common thing. Here, it becomes clear that the bad impact of the Industrial Revolution is the price that should be paid in terms of suffering and demoralization when they come to the deadly environment of the under world criminal.

Conclusion
From the findings and discussion, it can be seen that Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist clearly depicts the socio-cultural conditions portrayed during the Industrial Revolution. Dickens describes this social conditions related to the problems of housing, health, clothing, meal, and orphanage. He depicts all these things since the conditions of the poor at that time were very awful.
The more so was the conditions of the poor and unfortunate orphans. They were beaten and tortured by their supervisors. With the immense popularity of his novel, Dickens satirically and effectively criticizes the atrocious situations during the Industrial Revolution in England. It is clear that in Industrial Revolution, the poor became the victims of the rapidly changing social conditions since they did not have the resources for defense. This was very sad condition. However, the Industrial Revolution in England can be taken as a good example and lesson for serious considerations when other countries are administering an Industrial Revolution.

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Widya Nirmalawati
Muhammadiyah University of Purwokerto