The manner in which the children are treated by the Squeers is absolutely appauling. There definitely isn’t a good relationship between the Squeers and the children. Infact the Squeers treat the boys in a corrupt, really unfair way. They don’t care about the boys’ feelings. 'Now,' said Squeers, giving the desk a great rap with his cane, which made half the little boys nearly jump out of their boots, 'is that physicking over?'This shows how evil he is, scaring all the boys.
The Squeers were cheating and basically bullying the boys, they were all confused, and for them it was just one big nightmare. 'They have the brimstone and treacle, partly because if they hadn't something or other in the way of medicine they'd be always ailing and giving a world of trouble, and partly because it spoils their appetites and comes cheaper than breakfast and dinner. So, it does them good and us good at the same time, and that's fair enough I'm sure.’ When reading you feel great pity for the boys as the evidence becomes clear of their suffering and how conniving the Squeers are.
The effects of the criminal cruelty started showing up as Nicholas looked in dismay around! Pale and haggard faces, lank and bony figures, children with the countenances of old men, deformities with irons upon their limbs, boys of stunted growth, and others whose long meagre legs would hardly bear their stooping bodies, all crowded on the view together; their were the bleared eye, the hare-lip, the crooked foot, and every ugliness or distortion that told of unnatural aversion and two in old trousers, a something tighter fit than drawers are usually worn. This is the condition of the children and it shows that they are not being looked after at all.
The visual picture shown in the passage shows exactly what the situation is like and is basically correct in terms of how they were treated. It shows the boys being tortured, (not that it was anything new to them), also being fed brimstone and treacle and being beaten up. Who was there standing in the background, yes Nickleby overlooking in horror. He cannot believe what he is seeing. He feels absolutely devastated and gutted for the boys. All he wants is the best for them and that’s what’s not happening. The reader feels sorry him because they know what he wants is right and that all the beating and so on is continuing with Nickleby not being able to do anything much about it.
Generally speaking, the children were abused and mistreated. ‘There was a long row of boys waiting, with countenances of no pleasant anticipation, to be treacled’. They were tortured and started to get confused because of the brimstone and treacle. The foods and meals they had were rubbish and small. Orphans and very poor children were sent to ‘ragged’ schools. School managers didn’t like to spend money on repairs, so buildings were allowed to rot and broken equipment was not replaced.
Finally, I think that Dickens is trying to highlight how life was in the Victorian times for the boys and how hard their life was throughout this chapter. I also think that he has evoked sympathy for all the victims through his quality of descriptive language and the description of the surroundings and conditions that the boys existed in. He uses a wide range of detailed, descriptive vocabulary such as ‘their were the bleared eye, the hare-lip, the crooked foot, and every ugliness or distortion that told of unnatural aversion and two in old trousers, a something tighter fit than drawers are usually worn’. His choice of words is very accurate and very well organised. Every noun is described well, ‘ their were the bleared eye, the hare lip, the crooked foot’. This type of writing appeals to the readers’ senses.
