Dickens Treatment of Education and Social Mobility - Essay Example

CHAPTER 7 “Where imposture, ignorance, and brutal cupidity, are the stock in trade of a small body of men, … his fellows will recognise something belonging to themselves, and each will have a misgiving that the portrait is his own.” Taking the Middle Road: Dickens’ Balancing Act Maintaining and Reforming 1.0. In Conclusion Through this work, it becomes apparent that Dickens was heavily critical of and at times influential upon the changing social culture of his times, particularly as it concerned social mobility and education. Through his novels, he was able to illustrate not only many of the problems and inherent negative outcomes of the educational system as it existed for the children of the working class, but also to highlight some of the major problems inherent in the education of young gentlemen and even girls in terms of preparing them for the new economy that was emerging. Recognizing the societal shifts that were occurring, he also attempted to call attention to the crass tendencies of the newly rich or at least comfortable middle class, the overbearing and mostly ridiculous preening of the aristocracy and the desperate and uncontrollable situation of the poor. Limited in his scope for possible solutions, Dickens nevertheless included suggestions for reformation in his emphasis upon morality and nobility of spirit rather than the focus upon material wealth as a measure of means. 1.1. Dickens as an educational reformer Throughout his novels, Dickens criticized a society that could produce and hold in esteem any establishment that treated children with the cruelty of Dotheby’s Hall or Dr. Blimber. Yet he also criticized the useless education provided to the aristocracy as is illustrated in Pip’s gentlemanly tutoring. This would seem to suggest a general disdain for education altogether. However, through the gentle Fanny, who begs her father for an education and then educates herself further to help little Paul, to the finally repentant and thoroughly educated Pip, Dickens continues to underscore the need and importance of a true education. 1.1.1 Education for the poor Dickens’ portrayal of the educational systems available for the poor, as well as the style of many of the private schools offering limited enrollment but similar systems of learning by rote, was highly critical and aimed at bringing the realities of education in England to the attention of the public. That he was successful in portraying an accurate representation can be seen in the fact that schoolmasters of England were frequently identified as the model of Mr. Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby: “While the Author cannot but feel the full force of the compliment thus conveyed to him, he ventures to suggest that these contentions may arise from the fact, that Mr. Squeers is the representative of a class, and not of an individual.”1 At the same time, his criticism of said school masters is equally unrestrained: “Where imposture, ignorance, and brutal cupidity, are the stock in trade of a small body of men, and one is described by these characteristics, all his fellows will recognise something belonging to themselves, and each will have a misgiving that the portrait is his own.”2 By illustrating the ignorance, neglect and downright cruelty of the schoolmasters that were frequently not trained or were trained in rote memory at best, Dickens was successful in bringing attention to the fact that the schools created for the education of the poor were instead functioning as factories to produce human automatons. His depictions left no doubt that students going through this system were purposely trained only to be fit to work in the factory. Through this process, schools were destroying, rather than nurturing, the nation’s natural intellectual assets by drilling imagination and intellect out of its students. 1.1.2 Education for the aristocracy Particularly through the character of Pip and friends, Dickens also sharply criticized the lack of a formal curriculum for the upper classes. Although focused on more intellectual pursuits such as appreciation for poetry and the classics, this form of education was demonstrated as being equally useless to the students. Like the education intended for the lower classes, the emphasis brought out in education for the upper classes was focused upon money and material wealth, ignoring the need for human connection, empathy and good will. Morals played very little role in the proper education of a young gentleman who was expected to demonstrate his good breeding by remaining unemployed and spending a fortune on useless pursuits. In addition, through his depiction of the private schools, Dickens indicated how education, regardless of the level of society involved, took little account of the actual inclinations, talents and abilities of the students. 1.1.3 Acknowledged need for and value of education for all Although it’s been argued that Dickens never expressed support for nationwide compulsory education, it cannot be convincingly contended that he felt education should be restricted to a particular class or gender. His criticism of education for girls demonstrated how they were restricted, through education first and through legislation second, to live the useless lives they led, prevented from exploring the full power of their brains which were equal to the tasks expected of boys. One of the primary examples of this is found in Florence Dombey and backed by Edith Granger. His provision for the education of the Toodle children further support the concept that children of the lower classes should be educated while his criticisms of the gentlemen’s education in his novels indicates the need for a more purposeful direction. As education is illustrated in the books, as well as how it functioned in real life, is exposed as being primarily geared toward useless, unintelligent pursuits that could not lead to anything truly productive for the nation. Whether it was in the poor schools in which students were taught to be unthinking, fact-filled robots, in the high society education in which students were instructed on how to be useless or in the education of women that so severely restricted their natural abilities, Dickens shared his concern that the nation’s youth were being deliberately wasted. This contention was further emphasized by his critique of the schoolmasters, most of which are portrayed as cruel, ignorant themselves or themselves restricted in their abilities by a system that wasn’t working. 1.1.4 Suggested, through the successes, the direction educational reform should take Although he was focused primarily on exposing the inherent problems with education rather than trying to find viable solutions for them, Dickens did try to point to the direction educational reforms should take. Characters such as Florence Dombey, who were educated under their own motives, emerged from their educational experiences as more confident and more fulfilled individuals who had a greater sense of their own purpose in life, a greater ability to appreciate the small pleasures life offered and a greater ability to empathize with their fellow man. By contrast, characters such as Tom and Paul were destroyed by their educations – one figuratively in the hollow, unfeeling shell he became and one literally in his exhaustion and subsequent death. Through such depictions, Dickens continued to emphasize the need for more personal attention to education, attention that included fostering imagination, talent, natural ability and interest rather than memorized rote learning or a focus on scientific facts alone. 1.2 Dickens as social reformer In addition to his concerns regarding the various educational approaches in vogue during his lifetime, Dickens also criticized the social constructions he saw solidifying as the new world order. Focusing mostly upon the middle class as a new and emerging element, Dickens was nevertheless able to throw some commentary into his novels regarding the very poor and the very rich, frequently painting the former with a sympathetic brush and the latter with a sense of outrage at their indifferent attitude toward the extreme suffering of others. By pointing out the true causes of poverty as being controlled by those in the middle and upper class and illustrating the greed of one and the neglect of the other, Dickens effectively brought several of these issues into the public discourse. 1.2.1 Illustrated the true causes of poverty In a time when most people considered the poor to be poor as a result of personal defects or lack of effort, Dickens accurately depicted them as the victims of an oppressive capitalistic system that retained no concern for the assistance of others. The ugliness of the slums is depicted in full force, bringing forward situations in which a young mother might be compelled to leave her own children in the full-time care of others in order to nurse an infant of a higher class or a young boy or girl would be placed in an ‘educational’ institution merely as a means of disposing of the responsibility. Further demonstrating this lowest class of individuals as being the purest in heart and as having the highest of morals, Dickens begins to point out the direction social reform should take, continuing along the path of assisting and caring for one another with whatever means are available. 1.2.2 Illustrated greed and shallow nature of middle class In contrast to the lower class, the middle class is shown to be little more than greedy and self-serving. While they are capable of demonstrating the proper manners and speak according to established subjects agreed as being demonstrative of an ‘educated’ individual, they are seen as being quite empty of ethics or morals. Instead of being concerned to help out a fellow human being, many of the characters are shown as being too constrained by perceived social customs, concerns of proper appearances and full of their own importance to realize that it is their own materialistic practices that are preventing those of the lower class to achieve the same sorts of opportunities they themselves are now profiting from. 1.2.3 Illustrated superficiality of aristocracy In contrast to the middle class, the aristocracy’s inability to see the true issues regarding the poor is due to a profound neglect rather than an aggressive oppression. While they feel the poor should be kept in their place, they do not undertake to investigate what that place might entail. The profound suffering and sacrifices made by the poor do not register with the rich as many of these conditions are beyond their own imagination. Seeing a homeless boy on the street prompts the question why isn’t that boy in an institution rather than why is that boy homeless among the few true upper class characters Dickens portrays. Occasionally, such as in the depiction of the Cheeryble brothers, Dickens illustrates how an upper class individual or family might condescend to try to help those in the lower classes, but this aid is more frequently than not offered to the middle class rather than the very low, occurs on a case by case basis and is not sufficiently public as to encourage others of their class to undertake the same kind of pursuits. By including these few characters as well as through his portrayals of the lower classes, Dickens effectively demonstrates that the true measure of a man’s (or woman’s) nobility is not in the size of his pocketbook or even found within the pages of his ledger, but is instead to be discovered in the actions of his heart and his willingness to help his fellow human being. 1.2.4 Illustrated sense of true nobility, again suggesting direction of future social reform It is through this new definition of true nobility that Dickens attempts to demonstrate the direction in which he feels any social reform efforts should take. That this action needed to occur is reflected in the idea that by keeping the poor poor, the middle class and all those who would oppress this already weakened class were contributing not to the wealth of the nation, but rather to its destruction. In presenting such stories as Nicholas Nickleby, in which the main character first loses his fortune and then is able, through considerable help from others, to return to a comfortable middle class position, Dickens brings to light the hypocrisy involved in the social system of his time while also suggesting that a helping hand given here and there might be sufficient aid to help a family break the cycle of poverty and attain a new footing. He supports this concept by demonstrating that when people are allowed to operate upon their sentiments, free of the constraints of polite society and appearances, they inevitably bring about a better world. Therefore, Dickens’ apparent solution to the social ills of the world seems to rest in a greater emphasis upon encouraging good natured sentiment and honest concern for fellow man. That this is the case is demonstrated again and again through the various stories Dickens tells. With love and understanding finally entering his heart, Pip becomes the man he was meant to be and a man he is not ashamed of as he both forgives Magwitch for his background and Joe for his low social standing. A more congenial relationship between the factory hands and the factory owners leads to a more productive factory in Hard Times. Characters who remain true to their heart and retain a sense of compassion toward others tend to suffer no ill effects while those who sacrifice their feelings for monetary gain frequently don’t even achieve that goal. By focusing concerns on questions of morality and love for others, Dickens suggests many of the major problems within society might be solved naturally. 1.3 Conclusion Although many critics took issue with the concept that Dickens would point out various social ills but would provide no ready answers to the problems he saw around him, it can be argued that he was trying to point reform in a specific direction while still maintaining his hold on those individuals who might have the power to do something about it. Desiring to illustrate the appalling circumstances he observed, his focus was necessarily on opening the eyes of his reading public to a new way of thinking, not only about those affected with poverty, but also about the state in which the nation would be should this generation grow up without any kind of immediate action taken. His characters demonstrate that the current trends produce an empty, mechanistic and angry working class, a spendthrift, self-destructive aristocracy and a greedy, amoral and ultimately also self-destructive middle class. In working to shock his readers into a more realistic view of the state of the nation, Dickens didn’t have much room left to explore future possibilities, nor did he wish to detract from the bleak view of things as a means of spurring quicker action toward reform. By providing examples of individuals with greater social hopes or educational outcomes, he gently suggests the direction reform should take without detracting from the urgency of his call for reform. That this was an effective action can be seen in the fact that the first Education Reform Bill was passed just after gis death and in the concept that his novels struck such a contemporary chord and remain discussed today as relevant explorations into the ills of society, many of which are nearly identical manifestations of Dickens’ predictions. Read More