Dickensians! discussion
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Detective Stories by Dickens - 2nd and 3rd Summer Reads 2022 (hosted by Sara and Lori)
Sorry to have two consecutive posts, but I had meant to mention the Gin Lane artwork, which I studied copiously when it was posted during our Bleak House read. There are so many allegorical aspects to this image, but the overall feeling of how death and disease grip the poor is visceral. Thanks so much for posting it again.
On a slightly off the topic aside, I watched Masterpiece's Victoria and the segment about the building of the Crystal Palace was fascinating. I had never realized how difficult it was for Albert to get this done and how adverse so many were to the sharing of scientific knowledge.
Sara you are a life saver today so thank you so much for the help with inserting images. That was really so very easy! Many, many thanks! Yes, Dickens trademark flowing language is present here and I do hope that Greg joins in. He would be pleased.
In researching the St. Giles slums, it was just heartbreaking to read about how destitute folks lived and when they tried make their voices heard, it was with silence from those who could help. And you're right that this goes on today. No thought to what happens to the displaced.
I was moved by the fact that whatever earnings they had in hand didn't last the day for fear of it being stolen. Goodness! And to get up and start again the next day, knowing you'd have nothing at it's end, day after day.
I could have gone down a rabbit hole with the Great Exhibition and Crystal Palace information. I will have to watch Victoria now. Thanks Sara.
Glad to help. Yes, the idea of having it all stolen! In fact, how would you ever sleep in this place for fear of some criminal act befalling you? And to have this begin when you are but a child (like poor Jo).
Lori great background information today - thank you!
I love how you describe Fields as a larger than life personality, because I would say the same about Dickens. That may be another point in common that drew them together.
I've read quite a few mysteries (some old like Poirot, some in the newer cozy genre) that have nefarious doings at the British Museum. So it was fun to read about Fields doing a night patrol there to make sure all was well.
Dickens got me with this lovely phrase - "the long lines of street lamps are blurred, as if we saw them through tears. " That's a beautiful, heartbreaking description. And maybe a little foreshadowing, because what we see on this night with the force is heartbreaking and makes you want to weep.
What really broke my heart in this first section is the woman in a cell, with her baby, arrested for begging. It's downright criminal to make laws that keep the poor from getting any help, but the laws turn the poor into the criminals instead. Really boils my blood.
I do love the sort of condemnatory passage that is classic Dickens, it's so powerful when he writes this way - the series of "How" questions.
I also like the juxtaposition of the British Museum at the start of the piece, with all its magnificent treasures, with the Rat's Castle. My first reaction is to think oh that's a bit of clever writing, but then I remember this is real, Rat's Castle was real, and wealth often bumped up against poverty. :(
I love how you describe Fields as a larger than life personality, because I would say the same about Dickens. That may be another point in common that drew them together.
I've read quite a few mysteries (some old like Poirot, some in the newer cozy genre) that have nefarious doings at the British Museum. So it was fun to read about Fields doing a night patrol there to make sure all was well.
Dickens got me with this lovely phrase - "the long lines of street lamps are blurred, as if we saw them through tears. " That's a beautiful, heartbreaking description. And maybe a little foreshadowing, because what we see on this night with the force is heartbreaking and makes you want to weep.
What really broke my heart in this first section is the woman in a cell, with her baby, arrested for begging. It's downright criminal to make laws that keep the poor from getting any help, but the laws turn the poor into the criminals instead. Really boils my blood.
I do love the sort of condemnatory passage that is classic Dickens, it's so powerful when he writes this way - the series of "How" questions.
I also like the juxtaposition of the British Museum at the start of the piece, with all its magnificent treasures, with the Rat's Castle. My first reaction is to think oh that's a bit of clever writing, but then I remember this is real, Rat's Castle was real, and wealth often bumped up against poverty. :(
I, like Sara, was glad to see the prose become more what I consider Dickensian. And thanks for all the supplemental information Lori.
Cozy wasn't that a fantastic way to start? I loved the description of the rain in that way. It's very solemn yet beautiful. Yes, the rookery is not a place to find happy families but ones like the poor woman in the cell with her baby and her husband in the other. Made to be criminals only because of their status in poverty. Dickens has done a marvelous job of stating his social commentary in the very first few pages. I like the word you chose to describe the powerful paragraph that is clearly Dickens voice - condemnatory.
And Rat's Castle was certainly real. I believe it was a public house but I couldn't find anything on it.
Now you've got me wondering about how far the British Museum is from the St. Giles Rookery area. I will see if I can find a map and post it.
The St. Giles Rookery comprised a 5 acre plot of land in the north west, bounded by Great Russell St on the north, Tottenham Court Rd in the west, St Giles High Street in the south, and Dyott Street in the east. The British Museum is located at Great Russell St.
Mod
Click on "3". Scroll down the left and you will see the British Museum.
The aerial views of London were drawn by Thomas Sulman (1834-1900) in the 1880s while soaring above the city in a balloon!
Cozy_Pug wrote: "Dickens got me with this lovely phrase - "the long lines of street lamps are blurred, as if we saw them through tears. " "Lori and Cozy, that quote got me too.
I liked how in the beginning Inspector Field is juxtaposed with all the luminaires of the British Musem: the Elgin Marbles, the Egyptian giants and then Inspector Field "throwing monstrous shadows on the walls and ceilings". Like Lori said it makes him larger than life. There is also a sense that he fits in perfectly with all these treasures because he is one himself.
The walk through the slums was heart breaking. It reminded me of the nighttime, other-worldly walk through the Tom-All-Alone slums in Bleak House. There was a policeman with a lantern in that scene too.
The descriptions of the poor people in the prison cells, made me unhappy with the police department, and that seems contrary to Dickens motive for writing this piece. But then, maybe he is trying to point out the police are just doing their jobs, and its the law makers that make poverty a crime.
Jean that is very cool, making a map from a balloon!
Lori thank you for the map you posted - helpful and a nifty looking map.
Bridget I thought the same thing about the force at first, wondering why the constable couldn't have given the poor couple a break - the "I'll let you go this time but don't let me catch you begging again" kind of thing. But enforcing the laws was their job, even if the laws were cruel and unfair :(
Lori thank you for the map you posted - helpful and a nifty looking map.
Bridget I thought the same thing about the force at first, wondering why the constable couldn't have given the poor couple a break - the "I'll let you go this time but don't let me catch you begging again" kind of thing. But enforcing the laws was their job, even if the laws were cruel and unfair :(
BridgetI really enjoyed reading your thoughts on this section. That Field is a treasure among the treasures of the British Empire - that's fantastic. Dickens would certainly have thought of him in that high a regard. As for the treatment of these poor folks in the cells, it does ring a bit contradictory and criminalizing of them just for being poor. Cozy may have shed some light on the fact that these policemen are doing their jobs even if the laws they are enforcing do not help those who need it. Cruel and unfair for sure.
We don't know what Click and Miles have done to be told to "Hook it" other than just loitering. That bit reminded me of Jo in Bleak House.
Jean Thank you so much for the links to the map. The one from the Charles Dickens page is really great. The detail was so much better than the map I posted. You can see that the British Museum is right there on the border of the west side of St. Giles. On the lower right you can see where the church was located.
Thanks Jean and Lori for the maps. Helps so much to be able to visualize the area. What Cozy says makes sense...that the officers really have no choice but to enforce the laws. It is the law that is wrong.
Bridget your thoughts on Field and the museum treasures are brilliant.
Great information, Lori, thank you !I haven’t started this one yet but will comment once I get to it.
I agree with Cozy and everyone about the police just doing their jobs. I think that must have been Dickens intention to show their dilemma of enforcing bad laws.Thank you Lori and Jean for the maps. It's so helpful to reference where the places are that Dickens writes about. I wish I knew the streets of London better. Someday maybe I'll get to visit again.
Summary #2Saint Giles’ church strikes half-past ten. Inspector Fields directs the group to keep together and watch their heads.
They stoop low and descend a very steep flight of steps into a dark cellar. The cellar is full of very young dirty and ragged looking men. There are no women here.
Welcome to Rats’ Castle, gentlemen, and to this company of noted thieves!
Inspector Field chats to the lads in a lively manner commenting on their dinner while at the same time he is looking around at every corner at those present as he has collared half of them already and sent their friends and family members to New South Wales.
There is a crowd that has formed at the entrance at the street above. The men in the cellar, strong enough to murder them all, are stricken with paralysis at the knowledge that all Field has to do is pick out one thief to take with him so they are silent.
Inspector Field asks for the Earl of Warwick and jokes about his clothes and hat and the company of men laugh at the game when Field doesn’t want anybody. Next, Field talks to another inhabitant who used to be a servant to a gentleman but due to his delicate health he no longer is employed. However, now he is a notorious begging-letter writer!
Back up on the street, it’s time to move on and Rogers of the flaming eye leads them to the tramps’ lodging-house.
Saint Giles’s church clock strikes eleven as they stand before a dilapidated door of an outhouse and are stricken back by the pestilent breath that issues from within.
Rogers shines the light and they see ten, twenty, thirty men, women, children mostly naked and heaped together on the floor. Here are Irish families - a widder with six children, another with a wife and eight poor babes, a boy and two of his friends, the Murphy family of five blessed souls. Another coils about Inspector Field’s foot with his wife upon the other foot and six children. The O’Donovan’s are out selling Lucifers. Another is late from cadging in the streets.
As the light shines about the room, figures rise from sleep uncovered from their grave of rags. Inspector Field asks for the landlord who is himself a bundle of ribs and offers him money to spend on coffee for the inhabitants in the morning. He agrees and the Irish thank Field and go back to sleep.
The make their way on to New Oxford Streets.
The narrator’s voice chimes
With such scenes at our doors, with all the plagues of Egypt tied up with bits of cobweb in kennels so near our homes, we timorously make our Nuisance Bills and Boards of Health, nonentities, and think to keep away the Wolves of Crime and Filth, by our electioneering ducking to little vestrymen and our gentlemanly handling of Red Tape.
Word of the coffee-money has gotten out and so many others are wanting to be seen by the group tonite. However, Rogers answers not a word and leads the way and Detective Sergeant makes a barrier with his arm to hold back the crowd and ease the way for their group.
They enter other noisy and offensive lodging houses, public-houses, lairs and holes but find none as dirty and crowded as the Irish.
Everyone that Inspector Field encounters in Rats’ Castle and the surrounding area has admiration for him and receives him warmly. They “droop before him…defer to him…smile upon him…drink to him…shake his hand”. Before the power of the law, the power of superior sense — for common thieves are fools beside these men — and the power of a perfect mastery of their character, the garrison of Rat’s Castle and the adjacent Fortresses make but a skulking show indeed when reviewed by Inspector Field .
This ends the reading for Summary #2.
Today I wanted to share a long quotation from social reformer Rev. Thomas Beames who compiled his eye-witness accounts of the slums of Victorian London into a book The Rookeries of London (1850). He provides a vivid description of his first hand experience.The Rookery was like an honeycomb, perforated by a number of courts and blind alleys, culs de sac, without any outlet other than the entrance. Here were the lowest lodging houses in London, inhabited by the various classes of thieves common to large cities,- the housebreaker, who did not profess to have any other means of livelihood; the tramp and vagrant, whose assumed occupation was a cloak for roguery; the labourer who came to London to look for work; the hordes of Irish who annually seem to come in and go out with the flies and the fruit, – were here banded together: driven by their various necessities to these dens, they were content to take shelter there, till the thief had opportunity to repair his fortune, and the labourer means to provide better lodging. The streets were narrow; the windows stuffed up with rags, or patched with paper; strings hung across from house to house, on which clothes were put out to dry; the gutters stagnant, choked up with filth; the pavement strewed with decayed cabbage stalks and other vegetables; the walls of the houses mouldy, discoloured, the whitewash peeling off from damp; the walls in parts bulging, in parts receding,-the floor covered with a coating of dirt. In the centre of this hive was the famous thieves’ public house, called Rat’s Castle; this den of iniquity was the common rendezvous of outcasts. In the ground floor was a large room, appropriated to the general entertainment of all corners ;-in the first floor, a free and easy, where dancing and singing went on during the greater part of the night, suppers were laid, and the luxuries which tempt intoxication freely displayed. The frequenters of this place were bound together by a common tie, and they spoke openly of incidents which they had long ceased to blush at, but which hardened habits of crime alone could teach them to avow. Even by day it was scarcely safe to pass through this district.
Irish Migration to LondonThere had always been a steady stream of migrants coming to London from Ireland. By the latter part of the 1840’s the numbers greatly increased. A vast majority of these migrants were driven by hunger. In 1845, the Irish potato crop was destroyed by blight. Masses of Irish died and masses began emigrating after landowners evicted small tenant farmers. The Irish immigrants found themselves settling in the Rookery of St. Giles, that maze of narrow passages and dangerously overcrowded houses. Tenants rented shared beds or a space on the bare floorboards for about 1p per night. The rather tongue in cheek reference to the influx of Irish Catholics - ‘The Holy Land’ -referred to the ironically unholy behavior that occurred there.
After a hard day of cadging (begging) and most likely stealing, the folks would begin a revelry of singing, dancing, and drinking away their daily take. The poor of St. Giles lived for the moment. They had no way to safely store valuables and so a day that ended penniless was a night safe from robbery.
‘Tom and Jerry “Masquerading it” among the Cadgers in the “Back Slums” in the Holy Land’ (1821), drawn and engraved by Isaac Robert Cruikshank and George Cruikshank (Public Domain, from the British Library collection).
This etching done by George Cruikshank and Isaac Robert Cruikshank in 1821 shows two English gentlemen spending an evening with cadgers in a public house in St. Giles. The scene additionally depicts just how diverse and cosmopolitan this area was with a variety of migrant groups including blacks and even Jewish populations.
ThoughtsAs the group makes their way to begin the tour of the streets, it is interesting to think about that it is night when everyone is sleeping and Inspector Field is out there keeping those middle and upper-class readers safe. Field encounters a group of thieves in a pub called the Rat’s Castle. He speaks with a lively, demonstrative and pointed voice with an eye on every corner. He is feared and instills fear with his presence and the thieves automatically appease him. Dickens wants readers to believe in Detective Field’s authority and admire him as much as the thieves do.
Then we witness the horrid squalor of the tramps’ lodging house crammed full of Irish immigrants. Here we see a softer side, one that makes us believe Field is concerned with his fellow man. Dickens paints a vivid picture of the state of the poor immigrants.
Mod
My goodness - this really brings the conditions home to us. Just imagine what it must have been like in the summer heat :(
What an awful way to live knowing you can't keep any money or food around for the next day because it will be stolen as you sleep! They were always wondering how they would get their next meal for themselves and their children. With no sanitation, they were just living in filth. Thank you for your informative posts, Lori.
How frightening to leave your own country, where you were starving, and find yourself in a den of thieves, in which you would be in constant fear for your life. If disease didn't get you, the neighbors might. It was nice to see a softer side to Field, and some concern for his fellow man, although you would know he could not have been endeared to Dickens in any way had he not felt some compassion where appropriate.
Thanks so much, Lori, for the added information.
I was wondering how to interpret the Rat's Castle criminals' opinion of Field. If it was admiration or fear, as you said Lori, or maybe a grudging respect?
Oh my word, those poor Irish immigrants. What a horrible situation, leave your homeland so you don't starve to death then relocate into hell on earth. My heart breaks thinking about them :(
Lori thank you for the excerpt from Beames' book - even more grim details to flesh out Dickens' account.
Oh my word, those poor Irish immigrants. What a horrible situation, leave your homeland so you don't starve to death then relocate into hell on earth. My heart breaks thinking about them :(
Lori thank you for the excerpt from Beames' book - even more grim details to flesh out Dickens' account.
I’m glad everyone has found the extra info beneficial. Jean I can’t imagine these conditions in the summer at all. I can only think about how many people would be sick or worse, die of some disease.
Connieit’s just an abomination to think about the living conditions.
Sara I like how you think about the softer side of Field. There’s truth to that I’m sure. Dickens most certainly would have been endeared to Field’s softer side.
CozyI do like how you described the reaction of the thieves to Field- grudging respect. Dickens uses the term Sultan of the place to describe Field and the thieves propitiate to him. They don’t want to be the one called out but it’s fun when it’s a game like this night when Field isn’t looking for anyone.
". He sees behind him, without any effort, andexceedingly disturbs one individual far in the rear by
coolly calling out, 'It won't do, Mr. Michael! Don't try it!"
What do you suppose Field thought that Mr Michael was about to attempt?
Paul wrote: "". He sees behind him, without any effort, andexceedingly disturbs one individual far in the rear by
coolly calling out, 'It won't do, Mr. Michael! Don't try it!"
What do you suppose Field though..."
I’m not sure exactly what Mr. Michael was about to do, but the Detective Sargeant wasn’t going to allow it!
What do you think he might be about to do, Paul?
I thought that was a slick way to let us all know that Field misses nothing, no matter how small.
Lori wrote: "Paul wrote: "". He sees behind him, without any effort, andexceedingly disturbs one individual far in the rear by
coolly calling out, 'It won't do, Mr. Michael! Don't try it!"
What do you suppose..."
The only thing that I can imagine that he could do in such close, cramped quarters was attempting to pick someone's pocket or stealing something from a neighbor's bag, perhaps.
The sad thing is that these kind of living conditions still persist in many slums all over the world today. The conditions described could be Diepsloot or Alexandra in Johannesburg or for that matter parts of the inner city today with the same mix of poverty and immigrants cramped into rooms scraping along. I'm taking my daughter to the British Museum next weekend, so I'm definitely going to walk around the area. Thank you for the map, Lori! What is now the Foundling Museum is just to the top right of the map (where the Table of Reference is) and it would make sense to have an orphanage in that area if there were so much poverty.
It is sad, Carolien, although there are many more social services in most countries and outside aid for others, the conditions are often still appalling. Enjoy the tour of the London streets.
Mod
Carolien, please read this LINK HERE.
I didn't want to divert this thread, but please take care! And have fun, if the weather has broken by then.
For those who joined in our read of Little Dorrit, you'll remember that "Tattycoram" came from the Foundling Hospital :) Here's a bit about it, and a contemporary illustration from when it was founded. LINK HERE.
Carolien, I hope you are able to enjoy the British Museum and explore the area. How excting!Did anyone pick up on how Dickens felt about the restructuring of the rookery to create New Oxford Street and displacing so many poor immigrants?
Here are his words from this section:
Thus, we make our New Oxford Streets, and our other new streets, never heeding, never asking, where the wretches whom we clear out, crowd....we timorously make our Nuisance Bills and Boards of Health, nonentities, and think to keep away the Wolves of Crime and Filth...
Very powerful - the displaced are not thought of or a concern any longer and new laws are in place to ensure they won't be allowed back. Those unwanted people are thought of as animals who are only meant for crime and to live in filth. Dickens never saw the new roads as a solution or an improvement for the poor - just for the wealthy.
That’s a wonderful quote, Lori. Dickens is packing lots of criticism into that short paragraph. And he’s so right.
Summary #3Saint Giles’s clock says it will be midnight in thirty minutes. They must get to the Old Mint in the Borough quickly.
Rogers is replaced by Parker who explains that the area is now quieter and more subdued since Inspector Haynes came on.
Here Field is met with a landlord playing cards. Deputy leads them to the rooms by candlelight. Field wonders to himself why the man who takes care of the beds and lodgers is called Deputy.
The rooms are intolerable, as if those living here were insects or rats burrowed in a hole. The air smells foul and the men sleep beneath a rug on a truckle-bed. Awakened by Parker’s “eye” as it sweeps the room, some grumble and others lie helpless.
Deputy is asked to tell what the inscription is on all the discolored sheets.
STOP THIEF!
A precaution against loss of linen.
The narrator chimes again.
To lie at night, wrapped in the legend of my slinking life; to take the cry that pursues me, waking, to my breast in sleep; to have it staring at me, and clamoring for me, as soon as consciousness returns;…
The thieves are no match for Inspector Field and even their intricate passages and doors, contrived for escape, flapping and counter-flapping, like the lids of the conjurer’s boxes are of no benefit to them.
Next Parker leads them on to Farm House which is the old Manor-House in the country. The decaying wooden houses they pass are shut up and covered over with bills describing the Mint. The Farm House court yard and garden are no more.
Inspector Field turns into the common kitchen area and speaks to the lads and lasses and asks to see Blackey who isn’t playing his fiddle tonite because he is being given a moral lecture.
A sharp, smiling youth, the wit of the kitchen introduces Inspector Field to his pupils, one a smith whom he is teaching to read as well as his sister. He is happy that they are all doing well. Another young woman sits holding a child in her lap. She doesn’t seem to be like the others in the crowd but does appear to be a part of it nonetheless.
There is a piano playing as they approach. The Landlady appears and allows them to enter although would have preferred them to come earlier as the lodgers complain it is inconvenient to come so late. Inspector Field soothes her, as is his way, and Deputy, a girl this time, leads the group up a clean, old staircase where the rooms are kept clean and whitewashed and there is a surprising smell of soap. The neighboring nook one saw the eminent Jack Sheppard about but now two elderly bachelor brothers still keep a sequestered tavern, and sit o’nights smoking pipes in the bar, among ancient bottles and glasses, as our eyes behold them
This ends the reading for Summary #3.
Old Mint in the BoroughThe Mint was a district in Southwark, near the Marshalsea Prison, on the west side of Borough High St. It was named the Mint because Henry VIII authorized a coin-making facility to be set up in a mansion called Suffolk Place. It later became known for offering protection against prosecution for debtors because of its legal status known as a “liberty”.
The city of London had acquired two manors from Edward VI’s government in 1550. One was eventually given to the Archbishop of York, under Mary I, but the diocese leased the estate which caused the area to become a rookery. The Mint became a district for criminals and fugitives to hide out in and seek refuge - Liberty of the Mint. The primary population was made up of debtors. Debt collectors would wait along the borders to apprehend those they were searching for. Debtors could only leave the Mint on Sundays because English law prevented debt collection. Then they were able to leave the Mint to try to raise funds from friends or family giving them the name ‘Sunday Gentlemen’.
Many debtors died of malnutrition or were murdered before raising enough money to escape. Because the Mint was located below the river’s level it was a breeding ground for sewage and water-borne maladies.
Author Daniel DeFoe wrote of the Mint when Moll Flanders spent a brief time there. Moll says
”these men were too wicked, even for me. There was something horrid and absurd in their way of sinning, for it was all a force even upon themselves; they did not only act against conscience, but against nature.”
Jack Sheppard
In the 18th century the Mint was a haunt for coiners, thieves and such. One notorious thief and robber, Jack Sheppard, became one of the most glamorous rogues known for his spectacular escapes from prison. At 20, he began his criminal escapades with petty shoplifting. Soon he met a villain called ‘Blueskin’ and his crimes escalated. Jack was a small statured man but he was able to climb a 22 ft high wall in his first escape. In his next escape from Newgate, two prostitutes helped him squeeze his body through a dark passage but he wasn’t free for very long. His most famous (and last) escape, also from Newgate, was a few months later. He managed to slip his handcuffs and picked the padlock securing his chain to the floor with a nail. He broke through 6 barred doors and scaled a wall to reach the roof of the prison. Going back to his cell for his blanket, he used it to slide down the roof and onto a neighboring roof where he climbed into the house and walked out the front door still wearing his leg irons. He persuaded a shoemaker to remove the irons. Two weeks later he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn. Jack Sheppard’s escapes were so astonishing that he became popular, especially with the poor, and plays were written and performed after his death.
An autobiography was thought to have been ghostwritten by Daniel DeFoe and sold at his execution.
ThoughtsInspector Field continues on his way waking and confronting the criminals - the deputy with the flaming eye - causes quite a few grumbles but they appear to expect his arrival and understand what the eye means - wake up and be scrutinized. And labeled by the covers they sleep under as a constant reminder of who and what they are - that they someday will be caught because they're no match for the authorities like Field.
This lodging house, the Farm house, is very unlike the others we've encountered as it is clean and the smell of soap is apparent. And the image of the girl with her little baby stands out and we wonder how she could fit into this scene.
What stands out most to me in today's passage is the bedclothes marked "Stop thief". As the narrator says if you sleep in those beds, those words are there when you go to bed and when you wake. I wonder if it was not only a deterrent against taking bedclothes, but maybe a little nudge to someone's conscience? Maybe it persuaded someone to change their ways, because they were tired of being labeled "thief". I don't know, we're seeing a very grim side of London life in this piece, for sure.
Thank you for the information on the Old Mint and Jack Sheppard. I wasn't familiar with either of those. What a determined man was Jack, he sounds like a criminal Houdini!
Thank you for the information on the Old Mint and Jack Sheppard. I wasn't familiar with either of those. What a determined man was Jack, he sounds like a criminal Houdini!
Thanks for the fascinating information on the Old Mint and Jack Sheppard. Sheppard seems to be almost mythical since no one could keep him locked up.
Cozy I really like your thoughts on the Stop Thief marked on the sheets or covers they slept on. That it could nudge their conscience into a change sounds very like Dickens. Still a bit of hope for them. It seems as if it was a constant reminder and they couldn't get away from it even in their slumber. Seeing that every morning when waking you'd think it would trigger just how low they really were.
You're right, this trek through the dregs of the worst parts of London doesn't get any better.
ConnieI didn't know anything about him and wondered who Dickens was talking about in this section. Turns out he was a real person who had a knack for escaping prison. I liked Cozy's term for him - a criminal Houdini!
I lost a few days and had to catch up, but what an education this has been! I can't thank you enough for fascinating and informative info, Lori. I knew nothing of most of this, and it is so sad to contemplate, and like Carolien said, still going on.That "Stop Thief!" blanket section will stay with me as well. And I love how Dickens frequently slips in that all of this is going on under the noses of his readers--also still true today.
Glad you’re back Kathleen. Don’t you just love how educated you feel and become after reading even a short story of Dickens? It’s pretty amazing. I enjoy how Dickens adds these extra bits of history but his readers would have known Jack Sheppard and The Old Mint. It wouldn’t have been old history to them at all. They would have understood his meaning. Reading 200 years later, we want to find out and learn more. He does this in everything we’ve read, hasn’t he?
And yes, Dickens is clever to write about these things that happen as you say “right under their noses”.
Another great post, Lori. Sorry I have been late in responding to it. The info on Jack Sheppard is so interesting and really so sad. It seems he was very young.
My thoughts on the sheets were somewhat different. I thought about Jo being constantly "moved on" and how little option he had in life and thought of the sheets as almost an indication of the same thing. Not all of them were thieves, but they were literally labeled that way with the sheet placed over them nightly. The worst (that they would steal the bedclothes) was assumed. I think if you assume the worst, you often get it.
Totally agree with Lori and Kathleen that Dickens is always an education! I think it is sad that so few people probably read his shorter works. Even his novels are often neglected.
Sara that’s such a poignant way to think about the people sleeping under the sheets each night. I do believe you’re right about them not having many other options in life. It’s a sad lot in life to be thought of so lowly. As far as reading Dickens, I think most people are turned off because they’re intimidated so they don’t ever know what they’re missing out on. I’m grateful for this group that places his works in the important to read category.
Mod
Lori, I am grateful to have members like you, who choose and so expertly lead a read of his shorter works, which are shouting out to be rediscovered :)
Sorry to be late responding. Very much enjoyed everyone's thoughts on this section. The woman with the baby, who seemed out of place (but Inspector Field judges as not different at all), tugged at my heart strings. Especially after seeing the artwork where the baby is so light compared to the darkness surrounding him/her. Is that Inspector Field with the cape and top hat on the right?Thank you, Lori for posting the illustrations. I also really liked seeing a picture of Jack Shephard. When I read the reference, I figured he must be some well-known person, thank you for the background info. I find it sad (but not surprising) that he was executed.
I kept thinking about the ringing of the church bells at St Giles and other churches as I was reading this work. It brought back memories of reading "The Chimes," written seven years earlier. The church bells let us know how late the detectives were working.I can see why the detectives might wake the sleeping people late at night if they were searching for someone or at a lodging known to house thieves, but can't understand why they would wake poor families with little children. It seemed like a way to assert their authority so everyone would be afraid to give the detectives any trouble in the future.
Lori, I hope you are doing OK in the heat. I read that high temps of 110-115 F were predicted for Texas and Oklahoma.
Bridget wrote: "Sorry to be late responding. Very much enjoyed everyone's thoughts on this section. The woman with the baby, who seemed out of place (but Inspector Field judges as not different at all), tugged at ..."Bridget, thanks so much for mentioning the lightness and darkness of the print. I’m never very good at deciphering what is in the images and so I appreciate your input. The mother and her babe as you said seemed out of place but not really different as she’s here and that must be for a reason - she’s got nothing. We don’t know where her husband is or if she has one either. We could suppose many things about her and the others in the background based on what we now know about the people who lived in the rookeries.
I could not find any info on the illustrator and this is the only image to be found for this story. The name of it indicates the name of the place where these folks are - Bully Bark’s and I’ve realized that that will make sense tomorrow when we read the last part of the story. So stay tuned.
Also, this could be Field, a skinny one, but it could be any detective, is my guess.
Connie wrote: "I kept thinking about the ringing of the church bells at St Giles and other churches as I was reading this work. It brought back memories of reading "The Chimes," written seven years earlier. The c..."I think you’re right Connie, the detectives must be using this wake and scrutinize tactic to assert authority but we did see Field’s softer side earlier with the Irish when he gave the landlord money for coffee. It seems harsh to wake the families and as Sara mentioned not everyone in these lodging houses was a criminal.
As far as the bells go, we know how much Dickens loved the use of the bells in every novel we’ve read so far, I think. They are a prominent feature. And this group, including Dickens, are out very late, through the night and the tolling is a reminder of that. Thanks for your thoughts. I hadn’t thought about this as yet.
Dickensians!
Books mentioned in this topic
Bleak House (other topics)A Study in Scarlet (other topics)
Little Dorrit (other topics)
Rookeries of London (other topics)
Bleak House (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Dickens (other topics)Charles Dickens (other topics)
Anthony Trollope (other topics)
Horace Walpole (other topics)
Anthony Trollope (other topics)
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The information about St. Giles is harrowing, Lori. This kind of poverty sickens every time you come up against it. I think many of the wealthy actually knew the conditions, but it is so unpleasant to acknowledge them, easier to ignore and let it be someone else's problem to fix. After all, "I didn't create it".
The reclaiming of slum areas without any concern for what happens to the displaced persons goes on even now. When they spill out into the streets people are shocked, but everyone is delighted to see the high-rise going up and the tiny clapboard house coming down.