Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens’ A Visit to Newgate tells about the visit to the prison and all of the observations. It has a very sympathetic message about prisoners and how many people avoid ‘death’ and the concept of it. There was a strong feeling of hopelessness and everyone pretty much seemed to keep to themselves almost oblivious to their fellow inmates. Of course, as anyone would imagine, spending time in prison would wear down one’s confidence after so long, but the younger boys who were in prison for petty crimes had a different point of view. They almost had a sense of pride for being locked up. The women were very down trodden about being in the prison, that was very evident. The main theme of this piece would be deterioration and death if had to be pin-pointed.

One of the parts that stuck out the most was when he passed through the ward where the children had been arrested for pick-pocketing. There wasn’t anything in this part of the prison that seemed to posses the feeling of shame or honesty. These boys were thankful just to be looked at, even if they were being look at as prisoners because they were a product of neglect.

“We never looked upon a more disagreeable sight, because we never saw fourteen such hopeless creatures of neglect before.”

Because their innocence is gone, these children represent death of life before it even began. The women are hopeless who have the children, the children then in turn, are raised without hope themselves and are neglected by the hopeless parents thus becoming a class of people who are doomed to be prisoners. Although this piece was written many years ago, the same cycle is being perpetuated today. It’s sad to say, but very true, that many of youth are declining and have a sense of imprisonment, even if it’s just an environmental feeling, which can still lead to and unproductive life.