David is also victimised at school. The head teacher Mr Creakle also abused David mentally by -on Mr Murdstone’s request- making him wear a placard saying ‘take care of him, he bites’ ‘ My instructions are Mr Copperfield, to put this placard on your back’ Even before David starts school he is victimised by the teacher and then subjected to humiliation which lead to other children bullying him. David hadn’t done anything wrong yet because of the coldness of Mr Murdstone David is not given a fresh start at school and the victimisation just continues.
At school Cassie isn’t treated shoddily but all the black children are being victimised by the white people through the level of educational resources they receive from the council. The books in which they do receive are old, broken, and are only given to them when they are so poor that the white children cant use them. ‘See, Miz Crocker, see what it says. They give us these ole books when they don’t want them any more’ Cassie feels that she is being victimised because she knows that they are not being treated correctly. She believes that African American and White people are equal and is frustrated because she doesn’t want to be treated any differently because of the colour of her skin.
David is very young and innocent and some people victimise and take advantage of his vulnerability. Both the teacher at school and Mr Murdstone find it acceptable to beat David even he is much smaller and weaker than they are. Mr Creakle would victimise David and some other boys because he was more powerful than them and therefore they couldn’t do anything about it. ‘ He had a delight in cutting at the boys which was like the satisfaction of a craving appetite.’ Mr Creakle had a disturbingly unhealthy craving to hurt these boys which shows that it wasn’t just a form of punishment but something he enjoyed to do-victimise young helpless boys. This was a time where people in authority forced their will on other people and it was simply accepted in the society.
In the South of America in the 1930’s White people had a massive power over African American people and victimised them a lot. White people believed that they were superior and could what ever they liked. On the way to school each day a school bus of white children would splash the African American children so that they were all muddy and then they would laugh at them. ‘When the bus was fifty feet behind us, it veered dangerously close to the edge… forcing us to attempt the jump to the bank, but all of us fell short and landed in the slime of the gully.’ The white people are brought up to believe they are superior and more important than African American people so they victimise Cassie and her brothers simply because they are African American.
In his youth David had few friends of his own age and the ones he did have sometimes victimised him. Two people who had been his friends were Ham and Emily but even Emily had betrayed him when they were both older. Steerforth was also one of David friends. Steerforth took advantage of David still though. He asked David if he wanted him to look after his money for him. ‘What money have you got Copperfield…you had better give that to me to take care of, at least you can if you like’ David believes everyone is truthful and trustworthy, he thinks that Steerforth is being nice to him and looking after money to make sure he spends it wisely and doesn’t loose it but Steerforth tells him to buy wine, almond cakes and biscuits for them both and the wine will be to keep David awake while he is reading to Steerforth in the evenings. Although Steerforth in the end is a good friend towards David he also takes advantage of David’s innocence.
Cassie also had few friends in which she could trust other than her brothers. TJ was supposed to be their friend but he constantly betrayed them. TJ told the Wallaces that Mama covered the books. ‘Didja tell it? You tell them Wallaces ‘bout Mama?’ ‘me?’ TJ didn’t even admit it was him who made Mama loose her job. He didn’t really victimise Cassie and her brothers but he didn’t treat them like his friend either. Lillian Jean also treated Cassie like a friend but used her more like a slave. ‘I took Lillian Jean’s books… ‘scuse me Miz Lillian Jean’ Although they are acting like friends, Cassie treats Lillian Jean with authority by carrying her books and calling her Miz. Lillian Jean treats her like a slave because she is African American. Cassie doesn’t just put up with this and eventually gets her revenge. The only true friend the family have is Jeremy Simms, he is white but goes against the way his family treats African American people and treats them with the respect they deserve.
David often comes across people who appear friendly but take advantage of his gullibility. On the way to his aunt Betsey’s he came across a man and woman who stole all his money. ‘With his disengaged hand he made a menace of striking me and then looking at me head to foot ‘have you got the price of a beer about you?’’ The man beat David and then took all of his money. This shows that in these times crime and poverty went hand in hand, these poor people had to result to taking from an equally poor person. David is so small and naïve that he couldn’t do anything about it. When David is at his lowest of low people still seem to kick him lower. Even complete strangers victimised David.
Cassie and her family were also victimised by complete strangers. Cassie was victimised because a shopkeeper would serve all the white people before them. ‘Y-You were helping us’ ‘Well you get your little black self over there and wait some more’ Cassie doesn’t understand why she shouldn’t be served first, she considers herself equal to any white girl. This shopkeeper really offended her. Complete strangers could get away with victimising her in those days because it was found acceptable in the racist society they lived in.
David is a very ingenuous and gullible boy and so this makes it easy to victimise and take advantage of him. When David was on his way to school he came across a waiter who took advantage of his naivety. ‘ Why a batter pudding is my favourite pudding! Ain’t that lucky? Come on little’un and lets see who’ll get the most’ The waiter certainly got the most’ The waiter drank David’s beer and ate most of his pudding because David was too gullible to realise that the waiter was taking advantage of him, he just thought he was playing games. David is very innocent and doesn’t see the bad in anyone and believes that everyone is truthful and so making it easy to take advantage of him.
Cassie’s personality didn’t affect the way people treated her too much, the fact that she was African American was a good enough reason for most people to victimise them. However Cassie is quite load and outspoken, people also may victimise her because of the way she speaks out about how she believes she should be treated and sometimes people don’t like her outspokenness. Cassie and Little Man got offended when the old books were passed down to them, the books called them nigra and Cassie points this out to Miz Crocker. ‘S-See what they called us’ ‘that’s what you are’ she said coldly Cassie was trying to stick up for Little Man and instead she got told off and whipped. If Cassie had kept quiet then she wouldn’t have been victimised in that way. When Cassie sticks up for herself people believe she is out of place and this may influence them to victimise her.
David has been hidden from the world most of his life and so he doesn’t know how he should be treated or when he is treated badly, and so he responds as if he deserves what he gets because that is what he is told and all he knows. He accepts the fact that he will always be a victim and even apologises for himself. When Mr Murdstone beat David, David felt guilty even when he is the one who is the victim. ‘My strips were sore and stiff and made me cry afresh when I moved; but that was nothing to the guilt I felt’ David doesn’t understand that it is not his fault that he is beaten. Mr Murdstone is the one in the wrong although it was much more acceptable to beat your children in that society, David was abused even when he hadn’t done anything wrong and locked in his room for days on end.
On the other hand Cassie does know how she should be treated so when she is being treated like a victim she doesn’t just sit back and let people put her down. When people victimise her she takes action and gets her revenge. When Cassie went to Strawberry she bumped into Lillian Jean by mistake. Lillian Jean told her to apologise and so she did but that wasn’t enough for Lillian Jean and so she told Cassie to get into the road, Cassie refused and when Mr Simms came he made her get in the road and apologise to Lillian Jean again. Cassie was embarrassed and annoyed with Lillian Jean for depriving her of her rights like that so she had to get her revenge. ‘ I frailed into her, tackling her with such force that we both fell over’ ‘and she apologised for herself and her father’ Cassie devised a foul proof plan to ‘stitch’ Lillian Jean up. She then bribed her into not telling anyone. Although her family are constantly victimised she knows that they shouldn’t be treated in that way and so won’t put up with it.
David and Cassie are both treated as victims throughout their childhoods. I think on one hand David is treated like a victim because he doesn’t know how he should be treated and doesn’t stick up for himself and on the other Cassie is treated like a victim because she knows how she should be treated and speaks out about it. While David apologises for what he has done -usually nothing- Cassie plots her revenge. I think both stories show realistic points of view of two people struggling to survive their childhoods.
