Thomas Carlyle

Upon reading the biography of Thomas Carlyle, I was almost instantly interested in his work. To know that he was a model for so many Victorian writers helped me to expect the best from him. One aspect of Carlyle's life that really stuck out to me was his strong advocacy for social reform. I think perhaps Carlyle felt in some ways that he could relate to the poverty stricken people of the time due to his own "struggle with poverty, poor health" (475). While Carlyle's lack of financial security and health were not due to the social issues connected to the Industrial Revolution (ie being forced to move to the city and work in a factory for almost no pay), I think he somewhat understood the help these people so desperately needed. Furthermore, Carlyle was dissatisfied with the social world around him and wanted to use his writing to influence others and bring about change--the kind of change that requires a multitude of support.

In "Labour [Know Thy Work]," Carlyle sought to encourage social reform by asking people to find a vocation that really meant something to them. Carlyle was greatly influenced in his life as a child and learned at an early age "...the value of hard work" (475). I think this value followed him through life. He believed that working for something that meant something important, would lead to successful work. He learned through his own failed experiences with seminary school and teaching, that trying to work for something that was not intended for you would be worthless and end in failure. Even when Carlyle struggled with his writing, he continued on and eventually he made a name for himself. I think Carlyle learned from experience that believing in your work will inspire you to do great things, no matter what career path you choose to follow: "For there is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in Work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works" (481). Carlyle felt that good things come from doing the kind of work that makes you happy and even brings you "hope" (481). I personally connect with this idea in my own life. While I went to Mercer and will soon attain my Bachelor's in Business, I found that this type of work left me unfulfilled. It could be that I just did not find the right business job, but I know when I started working with special education, that I had found my true calling in life. Like Carlyle says, for me it was "...a life purpose; he has found it, and will follow it!" (482). I knew when I started working in special education, that this was the job I was intended to have all along. There really is such comfort, peace, and a sense of accomplishment that comes with being happy with your work. I think this concept was applicable during Carlyle's time and today. For the people of the early 19th century, finding meaning in your work was a way to find hope in the world.

I think one of the other best examples of Carlyle's compassion for the poor and insistence for social reform is seen in his work, "Past and Present [Midas]." In this passage, Carlyle does a great job contrasting the bounty of England with the devastation of the working class: "England is full of wealth, of multifarious produce, supply for human want in every kind: yet England is dying on inanition" (477). Carlyle clearly acknowledges the outward prosperity of England and sharply contrasts that with a people who are literally exhausted and poorly nourished. Carlyle takes the opportunity to try and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves because he feels he can speak on behalf of these people in need through his work. I think this is a very admirable quality in Carlyle; it makes his heart very vulnerable and his intentions very selfless.

Carlyle furthers his fight for social reform and the needy in his passage from "Gospel of Mammonism [The Irish Widow]." In reading this part of Carlyle's work, I was deeply moved by the sympathy that he felt for this woman and those like her. In this passage, Carlyle tells the story of "a poor Irish Widow, her husband having died in one of the Lanes of Edinburgh, went forth with her three children, bare of all resource, to solicit help..." (480). This woman was left with nothing, no one to help, and three children to care for. She obviously depended on the welfare of her husband, and upon his death, needed to find another form of support for her family. The woman turns to one of the "...Charitable Establishments of that City" (480). Hoping and praying that they will give her some help, the woman "...was refused: referred from one to the other, helped by none..." (480). This poor woman cannot find one person from these charitable establishments to lend her a hand in her time of need. I am sure she did not ask for much, but was still denied any kind of assistance. Because she was sick and could find no one to help her, she died and thus infected seventeen other men: "...she sank down in typhus-fever; died, and infected her Lane with fever, so that 'seventeen other persons' died of fever there in consequence" (480). What the reader learns from this story is that because a woman was left broken and helpless, she ended up causing the death of so many more. I do not think that Carlyle chose to share this story by chance; he wanted to convey the utmost importance and necessity of a reformed social system. I think Carlyle was disgusted by the way an establishment designed (probably by the government or the rich) refused to assist this woman who longed for help. He was vastly disappointed with their actions, but I think he also wanted to demonstrate and even bigger lesson: people are people no matter their social status. The old widow claims that "I am your sister, bone of your bone; one God made us..." yet the people continue to deny her (481). Eventually, she proves her connection to these people by killing them (481). While these people turn the poor woman away claiming that it would be "impossible" for them to be her brother/sister, God proves them wrong by teaching them a lesson (481). Carlyle thinks that God killed the seventeen people to prove a point--we are all created equally and thus should be treated equally. I think this is the lowest of all low points for Carlyle in his view of the social situation in the world; he was therefore inspired to share this story because he wanted others to consider what the world had come to. He felt he was living in a world with a very negative, cyclical pattern; the government was designed to help the poor, yet the rich run the government and have no way to relate to the situations the poor face on a regular basis. He thought that reforming this social problem could lead to future success and less tragic stories as this one.