In this essay I will explore and compare both Charles Dickens and Roddy Doyle's way of presenting a child's view of the world in their novels, David Copperfield' and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. I will comment on their style of writing and the techniques they use to present their characters. I will also look at their background and the time in which the novels were written. .
Charles Dickens wrote his famous novel David Copperfield' in 1870during the reign of Queen Victoria (the Victorian era.) It was a time in which great poverty and death especially in cities and towns, was very common. It was a time when it was not uncommon for children and parents to die young because of the poverty and dirt. Schooling was only given as an opportunity to those who could afford it, whilst many wealthy children were sent to boarding schools because many parents did not have time for their children. That is why it was common for richer children to have closer relationships with their nurses or servants. .
In contrast to this poorer families did not have enough money to send their children to school; instead they sent them to work. Orphans were also very common at this time especially around London because of the death rate. Many orphans, mainly those who did not have any other family to stay with, were sent to workhouses where they were made to work for their food and shelter. They were harsh places that offered little comfort to those children who had just lost their parents and had no one left in the world to look after them. Childhood in this era was different to the modern outlook on childhood; children then were often treated as small adults with no allowance for those with disabilities or special needs. Charles Dickens probably used this as a basis for his novel. He looked around him and used what he saw, and may have experienced, to present Davy's view of the world. .
Roddy Doyle, however, is a contemporary novelist.