How old is the charming boy with a cheeky face then? Ten-twelve years of Barajo. So many boys have to get down to work now! Tears were rolling down the boy’s eyes as he remembered the words again and again. He is repeatedly wiping tears with his right hand. Moments later, his father was dragged away in handcuffs by a policeman. He turned his eyes away from that direction. This scene is unbearable for him. One by one, mother, uncle, and other family members were also handcuffed. Only the second son of the family, Charles, and his sister were spared. Let’s start to learn about Charles Dickens biography and life history.
The police prison van ran towards the prison leaving these two behind. Charles and his sister Frances stared at it. As soon as the police cars were out of sight, the two entered the house together. Then suddenly Charles ran to his room. His eyes fell on the school bag placed beside the bed. Enraged, Charles took out one book from the bag pulled it with both hands, and started tearing it. From today he has no more school. So there is no need for these books.
The two remained hungry that day. But they were restless when they woke up the next morning. Stomach rumbling with hunger. If you don’t put something in your mouth, you will die. Finally, Charles stood up. He cleaned himself by splashing water on his face. This time he went out wearing the small coat that his father had given him on Christmas. He continued to roam the streets of dirty London. “Sir, I need a job,” pleads the destitute Charles as he goes to the store. I am willing to do whatever you say.” Many people drove him away.
Charles Dickens and his expectations
A new revolution in the literature of Europe in the Victorian era is the name of Charles Dickens. He was a novelist, journalist, editor, photojournalist and critic. But history will remember Charles Dickens for his extraordinary writing. The author of timeless novels like ‘Oliver Twist’, ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Nicholas Nickleby’, ‘David Copperfield’, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and ‘Great Expectations’, Dickens is recognized as the most popular writer of the 19th century.
Through his novel, the picture of poor people and social disharmony in the society of that time has emerged. But he was also everyone’s favorite writer for presenting breath-taking novels based on simple friendship or love incidents. He has gained equal popularity among people of all sections of the society. Even 21st-century libraries are overrun with Dickens lovers.
Famous writer Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. Charles was the second child of eight children born to their father John Dickens and mother Elizabeth Baro. The Dickens family was poor. John Dickens worked hard to change the family’s fortunes, but in no way did their condition improve. The city of Portsmouth seems cursed to John. So the family moved to Chatham, Kent, hoping to change their fortunes. They started everything anew in a new city.
He used to walk freely in the streets of the city. Sometimes he visited the ancient palace of Rochester with his siblings. It seemed that Dickens’ luck had returned. But they could not settle in Chatham either. As a result, they moved to London in 1822. Charles Dickens spent his childhood in London. But in the new town, John Dickens got into bigger trouble. As a result, teenager Charles resigned to the joy of childhood and got involved in the battle of life.
Hard times of Charles Dickens
John Dickens settles in the poor countryside of London. Being financially helpless, he borrowed a lot of money from his neighbors. But he failed to pay the amount even after the deadline. Creditors were angry. How many days like this? This time they threw the case in John’s name. John and his entire family were named as defendants in the case. A few days later, the police appeared in front of Dickens’ house. Poor Dickens surrendered helplessly. In 1824, John Dickens and his adult family were arrested and sent to prison.
Charles, without parents, started looking for a job to earn a living. Eventually, he found work in a shoe ink factory on the banks of the River Thames. He earned six shillings a week. With this money, he started to survive by eating two meals a day. He also stopped going to school. Charles went to work early every morning. He used to return late. This childhood struggle had a significant impact on Charles’ psychological world. Charles Dickens commented on his childhood in his autobiography,
“It’s amazing to think how I managed to fight at such a young age. My parents used to cry seeing my condition. They were satisfied. But my whole world was shattered. Everyone looked at him with pity. Now I am very famous. Life is going well. I sometimes forget that I have a wife, I am a family man. Suddenly I am back to my childhood, to that miserable past!”
Prison Life
Charles Dickens visited his parents in prison once a week. Socially neglected, Charles quickly becomes familiar with the harsh realities and inconsistencies of society. He later incorporated this discrepancy into his novel. Through his writings, we repeatedly encounter the poor oppressed society.
Charles’s ordeal ended like a fairy tale. One day John Dickens learns that he has inherited a large sum of money from the village house. He paid off the debt with that money and was released. Charles also had the opportunity to quit his job at the ink factory and go to school again. But John Dickens spent that money very quickly. As a result, he again fell into debt. But Charles doesn’t want to lose his father again. Dickens ended his education at the age of 15. He started working again as an office peon. It was while working here that Dickens’s literary qualities developed.
Dickens the Journalist and the Hand of Writing
In 1832, Charles Dickens quit working as a peon and started working for various newspapers. He started sketching pictures in various newspapers in London. He kept writing two or four pages now and then. Most interestingly, Charles continued to sign the sketch under a pseudonym. All his sketches were signed with the name ‘Boz’ or ‘Boz’. In 1836, Charles Dickens collected his sketches and published them in a book called ‘The Sketches by Bowes’. Charles Dickens made a lot of money by selling books. His financial condition improved slightly.
Continuity of Success
He continued to gain fame from all sides. Charles Dickens began to dream anew with the success of the series. He also got a job as a newspaper editor. While editor of Bentley’s Miscellany, Charles Dickens began writing a new series of novels. He named the serial written about a starving orphan boy ‘Oliver Twist’. Never before in the history of the Victorian English novel had a boy been presented as the protagonist. The first episode of Oliver Twist was published in February 1837. A picture of Charles’s childhood misery emerges in teenage Oliver. The fame of this novel, published continuously for about two years, spread beyond England. “Oliver Twist” also gained popularity in the reading community of the distant United States. The novel was published in book form in 1838.
Charles did not stop after success in serial novels. Because he wants to tell more stories. He sat down to write anew for that purpose. One by one, he wrote three popular series of novels titled ‘Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39)’, ‘The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-41)’, ‘Barnaby Ridge (1841)’. The name of Charles Dickens, who made his debut in the world of writing, spread throughout Europe and America. A new experience awaits Charles in the next phase of his life, which is called the ‘United States’.
Vacationing in the United States
Charles Dickens and his wife visited America for five months in 1842. The reading community of the country received him with a grand reception. While traveling abroad for vacations, Charles held several lectures there. In a series of lectures held from Virginia to Missouri, he repeatedly called for awareness against slavery. His lectures were attended by such a large number of people that even the organizers had to stand outside the lecture hall to listen to the lectures. According to the famous author JB Priestley, “I do not know if anyone else in American history has been greeted with such reverence”.
Dickens himself was impressed. He admitted, “The way they surrounded me, I felt like a star.” Capitalizing on his travel experience on his return from America, he wrote two books – ‘American Notes’ and ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’. Back home, Charles Dickens was rekindled. After writing two new books, he wrote a new novel. The new novel titled ‘A Christmas Carol’ was Dickens’ gift to readers this Christmas. Charles later traveled to Italy. Returning to the country, he took up the task of writing full-length novels instead of serial novels.
Revolution in the world of novels
Charles Dickens could have maintained his popularity with readers for several centuries for his series of novels. Charles realized it himself. So this time he focused on writing a full-length novel. He first brought out a novel called ‘Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son’. Charles transforms a social story into a living anecdote with an artistic touch in the socio-economic context of London at that time. Pathak Samaj did not disappoint him this time either. Millions of copies of his books were sold at famous book fairs in the country.
Goodbye Charles
Charles Dickens was seriously injured in a railway accident in 1865. He survived for a bit of service. But Dickens never recovered from the accident. Writing stopped due to illness. But Dickens could not rest from writing for long. Due to the love of readers, he rushed to different parts of the country while ill. Read his novels. He even started writing novels anew. But he could not finish the novel called ‘The Mystery of Edwin Druid’. On June 9, 1870, the writer Charles Dickens left the world at the age of 58 due to a cerebral hemorrhage. In honor of the author, was buried with honors along with other famous writers in Westminster Abbey. His funeral was attended by lakhs of devotees. A national mourning was declared in England on the occasion of his death.
Charles Dickens, a struggling teenager who grew up in a hostile environment, conquered the world one day. Through perseverance and hard work, he has earned the love of millions of readers. Charles Dickens has been an inspiration to thousands of people. Even if he dies in the earthly world, he will live forever in his actions. He will return to us again and again in the path of that orphan Oliver in Oliver Twist.