The Sacrificial Lamb

Dickens was a product of his time, as are we all. Parental constraints and experctations must have been even more strangling to young people in Victorian England than during our present era. But is this necessarily so? How many of us have gnashed against the goads wielded by our elders? I started pondering this when I caught sight of Phiz's illustration in Chapter 32. There in the background is the ultimate sacrifice, "Abraham and Issac". Do parents quite literally "eat" their children?
I would appreciate your comments on this subject.