Ashi's Literature Corner: Child Heroes of Dickens, Part 4

The introduction in one Life of Our Lord edition states, "I must now tell you about the beautiful little New Testament, which he wrote for his children... It is never to be published. He would never have it printed… He also begged that we would never even hand the manuscript, or a copy of it, to anyone to take out of the house." The manuscript was stored under his mattress where no one could reach it. His grandson published The Life of Our Lord only when Dickens’ will gave him the rights posthumously. 

"Remember! — It is Christianity to do good, always — even to those who do evil to us. It is Christianity to love our neighbors as ourself, and to do to all men as we would have them to do to us. It is Christianity to be gentle, merciful and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love for God, but always to show that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything. If we do this, and remember the life and lessons of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and try to act up to them, we may confidently hope God will forgive us our sins and mistakes, and enable us to live and die in peace" (emphases original). 

This selection from The Life of Our Lord, sourced from one of “Two Prayers for Dickens’ Young Children,” presents a “measuring rod,” or standards/definitions of Christianity. Obeying the guidelines, Little Dorrit remains kind and patient to the brooding Mrs. Clennam, to the point that Clennam indeed comes around and converts to Christianity after learning about Jesus’ infinite compassion. Unbeknownst to Dorrit herself, Mrs. Clennam has always considered her “innocent," but Mrs. Clennam appears to be dark and vengeful. Little Dorrit, Oliver, and Jenny Wren persevere in everything, and they are rewarded by God quite handsomely. 

The evaluation theme is essentially heavy-handed selfishness vs. freely given mercy. Generous Little Dorrit provides for her father and sacrifices everything to send Tip to work; she develops a bond with Mrs. Clennam, despite the old woman’s unforgiving, roguish nature, and Mrs. Clennam warms up to her. Mrs. Clennam bows to her for forgiveness; Little Dorrit personally forgives her and tells her it is unnatural to kneel in that way. Oliver Twist was Dick’s best friend and had been with him as “they were beaten and shut up for many a time." Here, we see that Oliver was presenting pure empathy, comprised of thinking only of the other person and being there during difficult circumstances. Oliver also stood up to the wicked Fagin by refusing to participate in thievery, but spoke respectfully to him during the crook’s final moments — in prison. 

The characters can now “live and die in peace," because they obeyed God according to the guidelines; they also showed a surprising amount of mercy to terrifying people. Pip would not comply with the guidelines, as he made everything too much about himself and was unhealthily concerned with an easy life. Pip does nothing to benefit anyone, even seeming too jaded to do so. The generous actions represent the Word by giving others a second chance or being empathetic, the point of Christianity; the selfish ones do not come close. 

"The Disciples asked Him, 'Master, who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? Jesus called a little child to Him, and took him in His arms, and stood among them, and answered, "A child like this. I say unto you, that none but those who are as humble as little children shall enter into Heaven. Whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whosoever hurts one of them, it were better for him that he had a millstone tied about his neck, drowned in the depths of the sea. The Angels are all children. Our Savior loved the child and loved all children. Yes, and all the world. No one ever loved all people so well and so truly as He did." This is sourced from an early chapter of Life of Our Lord. 

Jenny Wren’s “child angels” match up with “the angels are all children” quote. God loves and protects children, and these child heroes will have the greatest positions in the Kingdom of Heaven because they put others above themselves, despite trying circumstances, but also partly to account for them being children. Notice how Great Expectations never ended with a Heavenly state — Pip is only shown on earth in a comparatively bland ending with dingy surroundings at the former home of Estella, while Our Mutual Friend, Little Dorrit, and Oliver Twist have happy endings where the hero has a joyous, celebratory family surrounding him or her. 

The lack of reward is due to Pip’s lack of respect for anyone, let alone children. Pip is secretly complicit in Mrs. Pocket’s asinine neglect of her own children, where Pip does nothing to look after the children despite Mrs. Pocket sitting around reading the book of titles and letting them get hurt outside for petty motives. 

Dickensian texts frequently feature others-centeredness and Christ-centeredness as interconnected, and that one cannot be others-centered without, at least, any belief in the God of Abrahamic faiths. Christianity and Judaism worship the foundational God. Most of Dickens’ child hero characters appear to worship the Christian God; Little Dorrit personally tells Mrs. Clennam about God’s forgiveness in a chapter called “Closing.” 

Dick, Oliver’s “little friend and playmate," blesses Oliver in the Christian God’s name, and Oliver is comforted by it. Dick also comforts Oliver with his dreams “of God and Angels” and never-before-seen “kind faces." “It was the first blessing that had ever reached his ears, and he never once forgot it." The implication is that he agrees with the Christian God, similarly to Dick. Riah believes in the same God of Christianity, as Christianity itself was a later offshoot of Judaism. Belief in the biblical God is the important part, as evidenced by Life of Our Lord being based strongly on the Gospels and all the heroic characters clearly invoking this God. 

Conclusion 

The child hero will be a character who bravely does the right thing, despite unsavory circumstances, no matter the cost. Proper examples include Jenny Wren, Little Dorrit, and Oliver Twist because they consistently put others above themselves, and sweet words are less important than their actions, purposely building up other people. Two examples include Little Dorrit providing for her father in a parental role, despite being a child, and Oliver Twist refusing to burglarize a house, despite Sikes standing ready to kill him if he does not commit the crime. Pip is, unfortunately, the improper example for making himself too self-important. 

The child hero obtains a heavenly reward following the completion of exemplary work honoring Christ and serving others; the heavenly reward includes “the substitute family” and/or supernatural beings. The child heroes were implicitly, but heavily, based on Dickens’ own trauma performing forced labor adhering labels to blacking bottles at Warren’s Blacking Factory as a 12-year-old; these were not labels that could easily be adhered to bottles, and the boy wanted any way to escape and change the situation. 

Dickens used his belief in heavenly rewards for service to cope with the primitive labor when he was younger. Life of Our Lord functions as an evaluation guide for characters. All characters who obey the terms of Life of Our Lord will obtain very respectable heavenly rewards, and no one disobeying the terms will receive any reward.