Thomas Carlyle was an interesting author because he influenced so many people through his works. He was not afraid to write the truth and call people out for their wrong doings. We see this in a story he wrote called Past and Present [The condition of England]. The way he wrote about the conditions really gives the reader an insight as to just how bad they were. In fact I had no idea that it was this bad until reading his short story. Another thing he points out in this story is that who are these wealthy people in England and who could feel better about themselves with all of these people living in such despair. Carlyle wanted a change in government. He felt that it was the leadership of England who was responsible for the terrible conditions that the people were having to live in. One of the things that Carlyle talks about Workhouses and Poor-Law prisons. Workhouses were provided for the poor people, however the footnote mentions that the conditions were made to be unbearable because they did not want loafers. However, just like Carlyle obviously feels, I feel that this is absurd. The government should not be able to put people in such harsh conditions, especially when they are holding down jobs working very hard in factories. If these people go to work everyday they should be able to survive. I believe this is the argument Carlyle may be trying to make. The leadership of the country should be held more responsible. He mentions that there were hundreds of thousands of people living in these conditions. The other bad thing about the men in this situation is that they feel bad about themselves. It says in the middle of the story on page 478 “that seemed to say “do not look at us. We sit enchanted here, we know not why””. The men are embarrassed about their situation, however in reality there is nothing they can do about it, and there is nothing they have done wrong. This also puts the children in foul moods because the children feel that the world is a bitter place and they look at the world negatively. If the children grow up with a negative attitude towards the world then the future generation is going to be bad.
Another interesting person Carlyle talks about is Doctor Alison. Doctor Alison was trying to do good and help the people. He told an interesting story called “Gospel of Mammonism”. The story tells how inhumane people become when times are hard. Even though this lady with three children was sick and needed help each person sent her on to another person to get the help. Then when she sees people in her own family they deny her. The point the doctor is making is that she ended up killing seventeen people because she infected others before she died. He says “Would it not have been economy to help this poor widow?” p. 480. And these people deny her as if they did not know her. This is sad, but this is how things become when times are hard. People begin to act as heathens and do not want to help anyone. And honestly who is to blame them because maybe they did not have the resources to help her. However, possibly they did have the resources to help her. His point that he is making is that it has become a supply and demand economy due to the poor conditions. Here again Carlyle is using this story to show how the government is to blame for the problems of society. This widow could not do anything about her condition and there was no help available. In Carlyle’s eyes the rich people running the country should feel responsible and should be held responsible for the happenings.