Thoughts on Dickens

I originally posted this on the Orwell board, since he was the author of the essay, but I finally figured out that there might be more people here on the Dickens board who are interested in an essay that focuses on Dickens' literature. This is what I had posted there about Orwell's essay on Dickens:


Orwell's essay on Dickens is probably the best explanation of Dickens that I've ever read, and shows that Orwell's insight was not limited to political and social matters but extended to literature as well. A few of my favorite highlights from his essay:

- Orwell describes Dickens' outlook on life (as represented in Dickens' writing) as: "If men would behave decently, the world would be decent." A perfect synopsis of Dickens, I think.

- Continuing somewhat in the same vein as the above quote Orwell says of Dickens, "...he would not regard a battlefield as a place where anything worth settiling could be settled."

- Again, along the same lines as the above quotes, Orwell is describing Dickens as someone who is not a 'political activist' in any sense of the word: "It seems that in every attack Dickens makes upon society he is always pointing to a change of spirit rather than a change of structure. It is hopeless to try and pin him down to any definite remedy, still more to any political doctrine. His approach is always along the moral plane,...Useless to change institutions without a 'change of heart' - that, essentially, is what he is always saying."

- Describing Dickens on the whole (in a paragraph that gave us one of Orwell's most famous phrases) he says that Dickens' face: "...is the face of a man who is always fighting against something, but who fights in the open and is not frightened, the face of a man who is generously angry - in other words, of a nineteenth-century liberal, a free intelligence, a type hated with equal hatred by all the smelly little orthodoxies which are now contending for our souls." (The 'smelly little orthodoxies' line is the one I was referencing.)


What do you think? Is this an accurate portrayal of Dickens?

Unfortunately, I have never read the essay by George Orwell, but have heard many things, and have read a considerable amount of literature by Charles Dickens.
I suppose I cannot help but agree with some of what Orwell has to say, as quoted in your lines, MikeK, but I believe the greatest amount of literature by Dickens came from his past childhood experiences - simple psychology. True, this may give Dickens the concept that the world would seem 'right,' if all of its inhabitants also seemed 'right.'
I also, however, offer the plot of works like Great Expectations - though many individuals in Pip's life did not seem altogether 'right,' and, no doubt, anyone would agree, but many of the miseries of Pip's life seemed entirely out of his control, and most likely from actions not intended to hurt him - one could say the same of David Copperfield. On more of a level of a greater population, in A Tale Of Two Cities, most control seemed assumed by country rulers who never appeared in the novel; it merely showed the sufferings of characters who received orders to do 'this' and 'that,' the injustices, and the moral (often utilitarian) choices of each character.
Again, though I have not read this Orwell essay, I agree that Dickens has the concept that things would appear improved if everyone acted justly, but what seems 'right' in one character's eyes may subsequently and non-intentionally harm another character.

This essay sounds really interesting, I'd love to have a read of it if you could give us a link or something. I think overall I agree with the tone of it, especailly the part about him not wanting so much to change the political structure of scoiety, but rather the spirit of it. That seems pretty spot on to me :)

Orwell's essay on Dickens somehow transcends literary criticism and becomes something else. Rarely has an author been "captured" so well. I enjoyed reading this essay so much, even though I had only half read a few chapters of Dickens at school, that it in itself started me off reading several of his books, which I loved. The fact I enjoyed Orwell's descriptions so much without having actually read any of the books says it all. A fantastic piece of writing, not only one of Orwell's best essays, but surely one of the best essays of all time.

-Ben G