Coketown
In the novel
„hard times“ published in 1854 Charles
Dickens describes his experiences of the inhuman working conditions
Industrialism had created and the detrimental effects it was having
on the environment in the English industrial revolution, by taking
the example of Coketown a fictitious industrial city in the North of
19th
century England. The given extract contains a detailed description of
Coketowns urban image, living conditions and the mind-set of its
inhabitants.
Shaped by the
industrial revolution and its side effects like urbanization and the
development of factories and mines, Coketowns cityscape is dominated
by chimneys, conceived streets and endless lines of houses. Due to a
high population density and production rate combined with a barely
developed filtering system the city has to cope with air and water
pollution. This shows in dirty stinking canals or rivers as well as
in an atmosphere of smoke and ashes that always lies upon the city.
The town is constantly full of sounds produced by the large
underclass working restlessly. In general work seems to be the
central aspect of life in Coketown, affecting all other sectors and
leaving almost no room for diversity, skittishness or creativity
among the inhabitants. The city is overly crowded by people mentally
affected by their low standard of living that is aggravated by the
lack of nature. Even the sun as the last natural constant has a
negative impact on the town environment turning the city into a hot
desert of stones that seems to be even more hostile to life.
This
image of coketown is created by several stylistic devices like for
example the frequent use of negatively connoted adjectives such as
“unnatural” (l.4) or “monotonously” (l.13) underlining the
disadvantages of the industrial revolution. In this context unnatural
might refer to the change of manufacturing, during the industrial
revolution from a production in harmony with nature to the pollution
and exploitation of the environment. The image of a dirty unhealthy
and dark city is also strengthened by colour words like “red”
(l.4)which is associated with fire, aggression and blood , “black”
(l.5) that is allied with dirt, darkness and smoke or “purple”
(l.9) which represents artificiality as it is hardly ever found in
nature. More over the “steam-engine” (l.12), representing the
industrial revolution, is compared to “an elephant in a state of
melancholy madness” (l.13-14) moving his head monotonously which is
a metaphor for the working-class being captured in a circle of never
changing unchallenging work. At the end of the excerpt this metaphor
is used again saying “But no temperature made the melancholy mad
elephants more mad or more sane” (l.56-57) which describes the
underclass as unaffected by their surrounding and therefor
indifferent, numb and empty. More over several enumerations and
repetitions like “same hours”, “same sound” “same
pavements” “same work” emphasize the dullness of coketowns
population that is missing any kind of variety. The hopelessness of
their situation is even intensified by the climax “yesterday and
tomorrow, and every year”, saying that there was and will be a long
time span of repeating the exact same processes, without any chance
of break this “tradition”. Also, describing the polluted air in
coketown many different phrases like “a haze of its own”, “bulky
blotch” “A blur of soot and smoke”, “dense formless jumble”
or “heavy vapour” are used to create a feeling of unease and
oppression. In the last few lines the author criticises the
industrial town once more by pointing out the contrast between
“shadows on the wall” and “shadows of rustling woods” or “the
hum of insects” and “whirr of shafts and wheels” which depicts
the contrast between a healthy and natural environment and the
reality in coketown.
With the given
extract Charles Dickens successfully raises awareness for the unhuman
living condition of the working-class in the 19th
century. He also shines a light on negative developments such as
uncontrolled urbanisation and the impact industrialisation has on the
environment. Furthermore Charles Dickens might intend to trigger
compassion and sympathy for people in difficult situations related to
industrialisation. While at the same time he criticises them for not
helping their situation and calls their attention to their own lives
and the negative impact industrialism is having on them.tives