Charles Dickens Was A Cruel Man With Bizarre Obsessions
The irony of his last Christmas dinner is stunning
You’d think Dickens would have been a nice guy, based on his writing. The ghosts, with chains and lessons to scare old Ebenezer into being a decent human being. Oliver Twist, too. Poor little orphan boy saved from the underworld of poverty and crime in Victorian England by the goodness of his heart.
Dickens did so much to expose the ugly working conditions suffered by the poor because of the rich, I wanted to like him. I wanted him to be a nice guy But he really wasn’t. Maybe to strangers.
Not to his family, that’s for sure.
He didn’t grow up with an empty belly and a full heart, like Tiny Tim or Oliver Twist…
Dickens’ father worked in the Naval Pay Office and made good income, but was inept at managing it. The big house, the bigger house, two servants and pretty soon living large caught up with Dickens senior.
When Charles was twelve, his father was sent to debtor’s prison. Because women and children were property of the man, his wife and kids were sentenced along with him.
All except Charles. At twelve, he was old enough to work so he was sent to work at a…
