Home Quote by Charles Dickens
““A long suburb of red brick houses -some with patches of garden-ground, where coal-dust and factory smoke darkened the shrinking leaves, and coarse rank flowers, and where the struggling vegetation sickened and sank under the hot breath of kiln and furnace. On mounds of ashes by the wayside, sheltered only by a few rough boards, or rotten pent-house roofs, strange engines spun and writhed like tortured creatures; clanking their iron chains, shrieking in their rapid whirl from time to time as though in torment unendurable, and making the ground tremble with their agonies. Dismantled houses here and there appeared, tottering to the earth, propped up by fragments of others that had fallen down, unroofed, windowless, blackened, desolate, but yet inhabited. Men, women, children, wan in their looks and ragged in attire, tended the engines, fed their tributary fire, begged upon the road, or scowled half-naked from the doorless houses.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Unknown, likely industrial-era fiction
A bleak industrial landscape suffocates life, yet people persist amid decay and hardship.
In simple terms: Harsh environment oppresses but does not extinguish humanity.
Key Takeaway
Seek resilience despite oppressive surroundings.
Themes
industrialization
poverty
survival
Mood
somber
determined
Type
social
historical
When to use this quote
- factory towns
- slum life
- worker exploitation
Key Concepts
social critique
environmental decay
Questions to Reflect On
- How can communities rebuild after such devastation?
- What role does hope play in such settings?
A Different Perspective
The description may romanticize suffering.
![“I don't like being away from home. That's one reason why I don't work as much as I used to [when I started my career], because so many things are on the road. I just don't want to be away from my husband, my dogs and my home. I don't sing that much any more because that also takes you on the road.” quote by Jane Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/07c/jane-powell-36243_away_i-don-t-like-being-away-from-home-that-s_278.jpg)
