The conditions of the work house were dirty, overcrowded, dark and with strict rules. This is implied by ‘Oliver remained a close prisoner in the dark solitary room to which he had been consigned by the wisdom and mercy of the board.’ This shows us that the board treats people badly; they treat them like prisoners like they are worthless they don’t have a life. They don’t need to have a life because it’s their fault that they are poor. He is using the technique sarcasm because his telling us how poor people lived in the past and also Dickens is telling us about his life in the past and how people were treated badly, also how life was in the past. This makes the reader think that poor people in the past didn’t get respected much because they were not rich and wealthy like other people. If the people were rich then they would treat them well and if they were poor then they will treat them badly because they are not the same as them.
The conditions of the workhouse were awful and they didn’t care about the children much they didn’t give them allot of food. This is implied by ‘It was his ninth birthday… he was kept in the cold cellar… after a sound thrashing… for atrociously presuming to be hungry’. This shows that on Oliver’s ninth birthday he was locked in the cupboard and was starved to death. The word ‘atrociously’ shows us that Mrs Mann was a Cruel and Wicked women. Dickens is using the technique sarcasm because to show that people were treated badly and they wanted children to die. This makes the reader think that children at that time where treated really badly and makes the reader feel sorry for them for what they are going through.
Oliver was looked after by Mrs. Mann who wasn’t a good person because she didn’t look after the children properly, she didn’t feed them well. This is implied by ‘it’s very likely it will be troublesome. Give it a little gruel if it is .This quote shows us that Mrs. Mann didn’t care much about the children, she was spiteful and she couldn’t be bothered to look after the children properly, also she didn’t care if the child dies and also she’s a hypocrite. The words ‘troublesome and gruel ’ means if the child starts crying and gruel is a cheap porridge , this shows that if the child is crying just give them some gruel to make it shut up and the child won’t bother them again . Dickens is using the technique sarcasm because to show that children weren’t that important at that time. This makes a modern reader think that people didn’t care much about the child and makes the reader feel sorry for them.
The conditions of the workhouse were very bad and dirty. This is implied ‘At last the got so wild and voracious with hunger… He was afraid he might sometime happen to eat the boy who slept next to him.’ This portrays that the conditions in the workhouse were terrible and filthy. The word “voracious “shows us that Oliver was really hungry, he didn’t get feed well. He is using the technique sarcasm because to show people how hungry y he was and that he could eat people next to him. As a reader, I feel extremely sorry for the children in the past because they didn’t get feed well and the people there were really hungry that they could eat another person and also people didn’t care about the children much but they should have cared and the children didn’t have a good life.
The conditions of the workhouse were really bad because they make people cry and feel scared and make them feel uncomfortable. This is implied by ‘made him answer in a very low hesitating voice whereupon a gentleman in a white waistcoat said he was a fool. What capital way of raising spirits, putting him quite at ease.’ This quote shows us that Oliver was scared of the men as it said he trembled and went on to answer in a low and hesitating voice. It also shows us that the gentleman are not nice to children they think that they don’t know anything .The word ‘trembled ‘shows us how frightened he was the fact that he trembles shows just how would approved to the board and how he was feeling inside. He is using the technique sarcasm because to show us how he was feeling, and how the gentleman treats the children there. I feel this is unacceptable because they are making the kid cry and also making them feel frightened for no reason and they shouldn’t be allowed to do that and also the children didn’t have anything good to wear except rags .
The conditions of the workhouse were dreadful; they weren’t even allowed to have freedom and they get treated like they are slave sometimes. This is implied by ‘Oliver was denied the benefit of exercise, the pleasure of society...... as for exercise, it was nice cold weather, and he was allowed to perform his ablutions every morning under the pump in a stone yard.’ This quote shows us that people in the workhouse were extremely treated badly, they didn’t have luxury. The word ‘ablutions ‘shows us that he had to wash himself every morning outside in the cold weather, had to do this even if its freezing outside if he doesn’t do it he gets whipped . He using the technique sarcasm because to show people how badly they were treated and they weren’t allowed to relax or have fun. A modern reader would think that children in that time didn’t have fun and confront, they were made to do things that they didn’t want to do and children shouldn’t be treated like a slave they should be looked after and cared for.
The lives for the poor in Victorian times were terrible and very bad. This makes a modern reader feel incredibly sorry for them the way they were treated. Dickens uses techniques such as sarcasm which makes the reader think that the way that they are treated was really bad and makes you feel bad to, also his trying to get our attention. He does this to show us that poor people didn’t get respected much; they were treated like they are rubbish, but they shouldn’t be treated like that just because they are poor and they don’t have a family. I think Dickens created the picture of Oliver’s early years well because he showed how he was treated badly and the fact that he didn’t have a family and he was poor that made him have a miserable life.
