Margaret Moran

Mrs. Warren
Brit Lit B7
8 May, 2014
Charles Dickens vs. Joseph Conrad
Both Charles Dickens and Joseph Conrad wrote their novels in times of great change.
They wrote about the deeper spiritual problems that people encounter in their lives, using
extensive detail and comparisons. Their writing topics and styles reflected their respective times,
but they both wrote a lot from personal experience. While the concerns of Victorian citizens
mainly resided within their own changing society, the confusion had evened out by the 20
th

century, only to be replaced by doubts about the morality surrounding the issues of colonialism,
slavery, etc.
Charles Dickens, born on February 7, 1812 right before the beginning of the Victorian
Era, grew up in poverty. He was an avid reader, and loved to act out plays with his 7 siblings.
Due to his fathers excessive generosity, his entire family, minus Charles himself, ended up in
prison when he was 12. Charles was sent to work labeling boxes. The harsh conditions he
experienced as a child laborer greatly inspired his work.
Although he was not put to work in a factory as a child, Joseph Conrad had a tumultuous
childhood. Born on December 3, 1857 in Russian-Controlled Poland to nationalist parents, he
was exiled along with them when he was four years old. After his parents died of tuberculosis
eight years later, Conrad was adopted by his uncle Tadeusz Bobrowski, a wealthy landowner.
Much of Conrads work was influenced by his 15-year career as a seaman, with the overriding
themes of novels such as Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer being those of profound
reflection and introspection.
The personal lives of these two authors reflect the time periods they lived in. Dickens
grew up in the early Victorian period, a time of stark class divisions. As a member of a poor
family, he ended up as a child laborer while his family was sent to prison. Although the Reform
Bill of 1832 consolidated the political power of the middle class, it did little to improve the
condition of the poor. Instead, novels had more of an effect on the conditions of the poor. They
revealed the harsh realities of life, occasionally spurring people to action. Throughout the
Victorian Era, Britains colonial power expanded until around a forth of the worlds people
called Victoria their Queen. By the 20
th
Century, the majority of Africa had been claimed by
various European countries. The idea of colonialism was to exploit Africas natural resources,
supposedly civilizing them in the process. As Conrad expresses in Heart of Darkness,
though, mercantilist sentiments were by far the more prevalent. In fact, greed for commodities
such as ivory and gold inspired savage deeds and brutal slaughter by the colonists.
During the Victorian Era, novels were usually inspired by the trials of daily life. They
often exposed some problem or another with society. The audience of novels expanded to the
middle class and even to parts of the lower class, and books were written to accommodate this.
For example, Dickenss Oliver Twist was about the horrors of child labor. Novels were often
published in newspapers or other regular print formats, with the author submitting a certain
amount of text for each issue. As working and living conditions improved along with the
progression of the industrial revolution and the labor laws, Britain moved on to the 20
th
century.
Marked by surrealism and individual character depth, 20
th
century modernism writings were
often pessimistic and had a dark sense of humor. These qualities are strongly present in Conrads
words. Many features of novels were present in both times, such as the metaphors and detailed
descriptions of Dickenss and Conrads work.
Neither Dickens nor Conrad referenced religion in their works, except to scorn the
materialistic attitude of the Church. With Charles Darwins theory of evolution and many
scientific theories being formed for previously unexplained phenomena, many people wanted
nothing to do with the Church. This time period saw the rapid growth of non-conformist
Christians, referred to nowadays as non-denominational. The non-conformist Christians
worshipped God and followed the bible, but wanted nothing to do with the tithing and the
hypocrisy of the Church. Many people also turned to philosophy instead of religion. By the 20
th

century, philosophy was sometimes substituted for religion. However, the Anglican Church did
have a revival, although the revival did not gain enough momentum to displace other
denominations and religions. Darwin and Conrad took a detached view of the church, although
Conrad once proclaimed that he had disliked Christianity since the age of 14.
Similar in both their writing styles and the way they exemplify the spirit of the time they
wrote in, Dickens and Conrad remain iconic authors to this day. Their works struck the common
interest of the people around them with vivid description of many of the problems that they
themselves faced, such as poverty and moral dilemmas. The novel truly became popular during
the Victorian Era and the 20
th
century as the industrial age encouraged the pursuit of knowledge.
The very pursuit of knowledge that resulted in increased literacy provided topics for the new
novelists to write about. Although Dickens and Conrad did not write about the exact same topics,
there are many similarities that can be seen between them. These similarities are what helped to
establish the identity of the novel itself, not just their own respective works.

Bibliography
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<http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/>.
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"Joseph Conrad." The Literature Network. Jalic Inc., n.d. Web. 9 May 2014.
<http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/>.
"Joseph Conrad." British Humanist Association. British Humanist Association, n.d. Web. 9 May
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humanism/joseph-conrad/>.
Rost, Stephen. "The Faith Behind the Famous: Charles Dickens." Christian History. Christianity
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<http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1990/issue27/2739.htm>.