Oliver Twist & The Industrial Revolution
             Child labor played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. In 1860, perhaps only half a children in London who actually had any schooling. Many children worked 16-hour days under atrocious conditions, as did their parents. As more people commuted to town to work, the demand for clothes and food grew. There were more things needed as the cities grew. More and more machines were beings built in factories and with that, the companies needed cheap labor. In Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens describes some issues that occurred during the Industrial Revolution: children of the poor were forced by economic conditions to work, some kids were used as commodities, and there was a great difference between the first, middle, and third classes.
             Some parents sent their kids to work because they did not have enough money to support the family. Kids were being paid 3s (shillings) a week. If there were no work available at the factory kids would just go back to the farm, or others would end up going on the streets and becoming prostitutes. Most prostitutes were between the ages of 15 and 22 years old during the Industrial Revolution. In Oliver Twist, the character Nancy is a prostitute. She had no education and the only means of getting money was if she was on the street. Dickens was showing the times of the Industrial Revolution, and through this, the story seems very real.
             During the Industrial Revolution, kids were used as possessions. In the beginning of the novel, Oliver is used to pick oakum (a fiber used in caulking). He lives in an orphanage where the kids are used as slaves. They were sold door to door to the right buyer. In chapter III, Oliver's future darkens when Mr. Gamfield, a chimney sweep, applies to take the boy. Mr. Gamfield cares so little about Oliver, that he does not care if the chimney catches on fire, as long as Oliver does his job." That's acasue they damped the stra...