Prompt: Part One of The Secret River really immerses you as a reader in late 18-century London among the working poor by telling you the story of Will Thornhill's early life. What did you learn that was either new for you or that led you to think in different ways about this historical period and its people? Point to specific passages and pages and words in your response.
I personally have not had much experience with how life was like, especially for those who were considered poor, to be like in London during the eighteenth century. So when I read about William Thornhill's early life there were moments where I didn't think his family had to go to such extraordinary lengths in order to buy food. While I know that life must have been hard, it is always so hard to imagine or truly grasp the lengths that people were forced to go through in order to survive. For instance, at one point, William Thornhill had to go into the streets with his father and collect dog feces.
"Pa walked ahead, spotting the dark curl of a dog turd from his greater height...when Pa saw one, it was the boy's job to push it into the sack with a stick... a full sack of pure was worth ninepence at the morocco yard." pg. 14
I wonder why exactly someone would want or pay for dog feces during this time unless for some sort of fertilizer, but even then I would think that they would have found other plentiful means. The story never really explains why the morocco yard wants the feces and I am not sure if the mention of it is put in the story as an assumption that the readers know what the feces would be useful for or, more likely, used to portray the extent to which poor working classmen went to in order to earn some sort of wage in any way that they can. Just the thought of other people picking up random dog feces throughout a town provokes a desperate image in readers minds of a family just trying to survive.
Another aspect of eighteenth century London that I learned through reading part one of the story was the overall extreme and what appears to have been unjust laws of the times. At one point in the story Will Thornhill thinks,
"They were all thieves, any time they got the chance. The dainty person could shrill all he liked about sin, but there could be no sin in thieving if it meant a full belly." pg. 16
It seems that during this time, many people in the poor working class resorted to stealing in order to be able to feed their families. They were desperate to feed them and stealing certain things in order to provide for their family were the only ways in which their families received any support sometimes. Most of the men stealing were doing so in order to survive not necessarily make excess profit off of other people. Even then though, if they were caught and sent to trial, the majority of the time these poor working class men were sentenced to be hung for their thieving. Honestly, to today's standards that seems like such a big price to pay, for just theft. Most of the time, people would think of someone getting hung for murdering another person, but to hang someone for stealing, especially in order to provide for their family seemed like such a harsh punishment.
Hey Monique! This is a super thorough response-- awesome job! I also wrote about the shoveling job and how that seemed odd to me. I wonder how exactly common this was, or if it was a unique occurrence for the Thornhills and other members of the lowest class.... I guess, how far did odd jobs like this extend up the social hierarchy, if that makes sense?
ReplyDeleteHey Monique! The moment with Thornhill and the dog feces was so repulsive, and it interestingly enough calls to mind the animal motif once again. In dealing with animals, Grenville connects the working poor with the way they were seen as sub-human. Yet the second passage you mentioned that attempts at justifying stealing out of desperation restores the humanity to these individuals. I wonder if Grenville was inspired by Les Miserables since it also famously explores the morality of 'sinning' to survive.
ReplyDeleteDog poop really was used by tanneries to prepare the hides to create leather. Not a great job, but a real one!
DeleteHi Monique! I found it really interesting that the working poor class had to steal into order to provide food for their families too. The fact that they were sentenced to be hung for seemingly a minor/petty crime does seem extreme. I wonder if that is a commentary on the English laws during the late 18th/early 19th century. Perhaps highlighting the poor conditions that the working poor lived in and the government's punishment of small crimes that people committed to survive.
ReplyDeleteHi Monique, I was also really confused as to who would even want the dog feces. I have no idea what they could be used for other than what you mentioned: fertilizer. Perhaps they paid people to clean up the streets? Not totally sure. I'm not even sure what the Morocco yard is, but maybe it could be a good topic for a research excursion? Also, I totally agree with you on how overly-serious the punishment was for thievery. The quote you brought up really illustrates how thievery can sometimes not be seen as punishment because people literally have to do it to survive.
ReplyDeleteHey, Monique. I also noticed some of the things you pointed out. The extremely harsh conditions that 18th-century London posed for lower class people is shocking, to say the least. I wonder what purpose this blatantly obvious examination of classism serves, though? Is the novel as a whole a critique of classism, with the Australian sections being about the colonialism that it often creates? Or will the novel use the classism Thornhill faces now to contrast it to his new life in Australia?Either way, I am curious to see how things work out for him when he begins his new life.
ReplyDeleteHey Monique! I agree that the conditions for stealing during this time period stand in stark contrast to the conditions for stealing in the present. Especially for lower-class Londoners during the 18th century, stealing to provide for your family often meant getting hanged as punishment. Today, only some murderers receive the death penalty in a much more humane way than a hanging.
ReplyDeleteHey Monique! I loved hearing your thoughts on this particular prompt. You mentioned some things that I had not really reflected on before. I agree, the conditions that the lower class were subjected to back then were atrocious. The laws seem unjust, punishments extreme, and the lack of any upward social mobility seems very disheartening,
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