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Significant Quotes for the Research Paper
David as a child and the friendly waiter from the restaurant
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After David leaves Salem House because his mother has died, and he must resolve his future with the Murdstones, his step-father tells David that Mr. Quinion will "give employment to you.... you will earn enough for yourself to provide for your eating and drinking, and pocket-money.... the purpose of this announcement was to get rid of me" (Dickens 164). Now, Mr. Murdstone is telling him that he will now have to be independent and provide for himself. This demonstrates how life for children from the lower class was very hard because they had to work from a very young age in exhausting jobs that would typically be done by an adult for a miserable amount of money that was only enough to pay for food.
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After his mother's funeral, David explains that "the first act of business Miss Murdstone performed when the day of solemnity was over, and light was freely admitted into the house, was to give Peggotty a month's warning" (Dickens 144). In this example, Peggotty has just been fired by the tyrannical Ms. Murdstone, who was making Peggotty's job miserable after her brother's marriage. This shows how people from the working class, such as Peggotty, led lives filled with unjust hardships because they were manipulated and made feel worthless by wealthy and obnoxious people such as the Murdstones, who acted without compassion towards them.
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After the conflict with Uriah Heep has been resolved and the Micawber's regain the relationship they used to have, Miss Betsey asks the couple: "'Mr and Mrs Micawber , if you were to emigrate now'....'How are the circumstance of the country such, that a man of Mr Micawber's abilities would have a fair chance of rising in the social scale?'" (Dickens 768). Here, the Micawbers are deciding whether the family will be migrating to Australia in order to try to have a better life. This example reveals how the lives of people in the working class were so poverty-stricken that they had to migrate to another country in order to look for better opportunities and have a better chance at earning money and a good social status.
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Another illustration of the poor's suffering is described when David goes to Yarmouth for the last time to see Ham but unfortunately, during the storm "a high, green, vast hill-side of water, moving on shoreward, from beyond the ship, he seemed to leap up into it with a mighty bound, and the ship was gone.... they drew him to my very feet- insensible- dead" (Dickens 800). In this citation, Dickens describes Ham's death, which was caused by his dangerous job as a sailor. This quote elucidates that the lives of the working class were very tough because their jobs were extremely dangerous and workers like Ham were constantly in situations in which they could easily die.
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When Mr. Micawber is not able to pay his debts, David explains that he "was arrested early one morning, and carried over to the King's Bench Prison in the Borough" (Dickens 176). In this excerpt, David shows how his generous friend, Mr. Micawber, was taken to prison because of his bankruptcy. Dickens is describing how the lives of the people from the lower class were wretched, as they were often overwhelmed with debt and taken to prison, where they would lead an even more dismal life separated from their families.
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