Charles Dickens was an English novelist in the nineteenth century who became one of the most popular writers in the history of literature. In his works, Dickens combined masterful storytelling, humor, pathos and irony with a strong sense of social criticism and an acute observation of people both real and imagined (Kaplan 13). Dickens like other writers before and after him, also employed scenes of great violence to enhance his stories. In some cases, the violence is only verbal, but in others, it is actual physical violence. Charles Dickens used violence in his work to reveal emotion, express pain and suffering and to reflect a particular historical period.

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born February 7, 1812 to John and Elizabeth Dickens, in Portsmouth, England. After moving to Chatham, the Dickens family fell on hard times and moved to London. Dickens lived in London during his youth; it was here, that at the age of nine he attended school. As of a result of his father's imprisonment, he was unable to pursue school and was forced to support himself by working in a blacking warehouse. For the most part Dickens was self-educated. According to Gilbert Keith Chesterton, "Dickens longed to go to school, to go to college, and to make a name. He regarded himself as a child of good position just about to enter on a life of good luck. He thought his home and family, as a very good spring board or jumping off place from which to fling himself to the positions which he desired to reach until it all fell, and he and all that belonged to him disappeared into the darkness. A resulting sense of humiliation and abandonment haunted hi!

m for life" (Chesterton 22).

Violence from his childhood did affect Dickens in the years to come. George...