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The Labyrinth of Incarceration in Little Dorrit

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The Labyrinth of Incarceration in Little Dorrit Journal of the Academic Society for Quality of Life (JAS4QoL) 2016 Vol. 2(4) 5:1-5 The Labyrinth of Incarceration in Little Dorrit Chizu IMAI Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, 5 Nakauchi-Cho, Misasagi, Yamashina-Ku, Kyoto 607- !"!, #a$an imai%mb'kyoto-$hu'ac'($ Citation: IMAI, C. The Labyrinth o, Incarceration inLittle Dorrit. JAS4QoL 2016, 2(4) 5)"-5' .nline) h/$)00as!1ol'org/2$3"7"04art5 5eceive6 Date) 80"60"80"0 Acce$te6 Date) 80"60"8085 Pu&lishe6) 80"60"80:" ANNOUNCEMENT • 80"7 -nternational Conference on ;ality o, +i,e <ill &e hel6 in Penang Malaysia. =e <ill soon &e acce$ting ap$lications for su&missions' • Procee6ings as <ell as $hotos and other information ,rom this year>s conference can &e ,ound on our we&site' More information at http://as4qol.org/ICQoL2016/ Also of Interest In This Issue: 7e6uctive and Inductive Structure in (and outsi6eA the ES+ Writing Class Cy M9CDB=? Correlation o, Wri/en Test Scores and Presentation A&ility in Science English Learning Eoo Wah F..NG, Masao K9M979, Hi&ino KENICD- 9 Solution for Stu6entsG Pro&lem on Disci$line) Latecomers and A&sentees o, Lecture A/endance Disao NAK9- available at http://as4qol.org JAS4QoL Full Paper The Labyrinth of Incarceration in Little Dorrit Chizu IMAI Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, 5 Nakauchi-Cho, Misasagi, Yamashina-Ku, Ky- oto 607- !"!, #a$an imai%mb'kyoto-$hu'ac'($ Abstract *is essay eH$lores 7ickensGs treatment o, $risons in +i/le 7orrit. 7ickens had a 6ee$ interest in incarceration and Little Dorrit, teeming <ith various kinds o, $risons, is a novel in <hich he seeks to shine a light on these 6ark and secretive $laces' *e <riter es$ecially ,ocuses, in $articular, on $risons o, the imagination in <hich $eo$le <illingly confine themselves' Eor the characters $ortraye6 in the novel, the real <orl6 is 6eInitely not an easy $lace to live in and in or6er to escape ,rom their harsh reality, they create Ictions that serve their $ur$oses' 9lthough these kinds o, $rison initially ap$ear com,ortable, they soon &egin to reveal serious im$lications' -n his eH$loration o, &oth the $ositive and negative si6es o, the charactersG vari- ous confinements, 7ickens succee6s in uncovering their $otentially ,atal nature' -t coul6 &e sai6 that Charles 7ickens <as o&sesse6 <ith $risons' 7ick- ensGs connection <ith the $enal system can &e trace6 to his youth, <hen his ,ather <as incarcerate6 in Marshalsea, a 6e&torsG $rison, ,or ,ailing to $ay his 6e&ts' Dis ,amily <as also ,orce6 to live in the $rison, su$$orte6 only &y the <ages young Charles earne6 through his hum&le labour in a shoe ,actory' -t is <ell kno<n that this eH$erience <as a com$lete night- mare ,or the <riter and he <as traumatise6 ,or the rest o, his li,e' Co 7ick- ens, <ho later &ecame a staunch critic o, the inhumanity and cruelty o, Citation: IMAI, C. The Labyrinth $risons and even cam$aigne6 ,or the im$rove6 treatment o, inmates, a of Incarceration in Little Dorrit. $rison re$resente6 a source o, har6shi$, a $lace more menacing than any JAS4QoL 2016, 2(4) 5:1-5. other' Available online at Nonetheless, one is leJ <ith the im$ression that 7ickensGs 6ee$ in- h/$)00as!1ol'org/2$3"7"04art5 terest in $risons is not merely roote6 in 6istaste' -ndee6, $risons can also Received: 2016/12/10 &e consi6ere6 mysterious s$aces, ,ull o, $aradoHes &ecause as Kictor Accepted: 2016/12/25 Lrom&ert claime6, MPrison haunts our civilization. .&(ect o, ,ear, it is also a Published: 2016/12/31 su&(ect o, $oetic reverie' *e $rison <ish 6oes eHist. *e image o, immure- '2016 JAS4QoL as4qol.org ment is essentially am&ivalent in the =estern tradition’@"A ' *is ,acility ,or the 6etention o, criminals $ossesse6 a charm that had s$arke6 some o, the =est’s greatest minds ,rom the " th to the "Oth centuriesP as 6emon- Journal of the Academic Society for Quality of Life page 1 strate6 &y the <orks o, 5omantic $oets and Fothic <riters, it <as not uncommon to Ind <riters sho< - ing a yearning ,or $rison. ?tarting <ith Sketches by Boz, 7ickens himsel, <as immerse6 in the theme o, incarceration quite thoroughly, which means that he, beguile6 by the wicke6 charm o, prison, share6 the $assion o, his peers' I Little Dorrit can &e regar6e6 as an em&o6iment o, 7ickensGs uni1ue $ers$ective on $rison. Dere, the $rison is not sim$ly a stage on which the story unfol6s or the mere location where the central characters resi6e &ut an all-encom$assing theme that connects all the su&-$lots together in an or6erly manner' 9s critics re$eate6ly cite the $hrase M9ll the <orl6Gs a $rison’@8A, this novel is $ainte6 as a treasure trove o, eHam$les o, 6ifferent ,orms o, incarceration, inclu6ing the $risons o, Marseille, Marshalsea and even Mrs' ClennamGs house, with each character being a prisoner in one way or another' 7ickensGs insights into a kind o, inner $rison <ithin each human &eing is $ro&ably the most in- triguing element. -n ad6ition to consi6ering those incarcerate6 in actual $hysical $risons, the author 6e- vote6 much o, his attention to the $ortrayal o, characters im$risone6 &ehind their o<n intentional and invisi&le <alls' Ly ,ocusing on these Igurative $risons, 7ickens confronte6 the com$leH <orkings o, the human mind' 9s B6mund =ilson suggeste6, MRMSurk o, +i/le 7orrit $ermeates the souls o, the $eo$le, and <e see more o, their souls than in Lleak DouseG' MRCShere is a great 6eal more $sychological interest than in 7ickensGs $revious &ooks' Dere <e must enter into the central 1uestion o, the $sychology o, 7ickensGs charactersG@:A' =illiam 7orrit, one o, the main characters in the novel, is trap$e6 6ee$ <ithin a mental $rison. -n- carcerate6 at Marshalsea at a young age, =illiam is initially ho$e,ul o, a 1uick release, until ,rustration eventually engul,s him as 6ecades $ass and ,ree6om is never realize6' 9s the only $risoner <ho cannot leave Marshalsea, he Inally loses all his resolve to reclaim ,ree6om &y re$aying his 6e&ts and ,or,eits his res$onsi&ility as a ,ather and &read<inner' Eor such a man al<ays clinging to his $ri6e 6uring his incar- ceration, the only <ay to survive is to capitalize on his status as the longest-serving inmate, or the MEather o, the Marshalsea’, in the $rison societyGs imaginary hierarchy in <hich he is revere6 &y the other inmates as a merci,ul and com$assionate $erson. *is $lan is sur$risingly effective as it shiel6s =illiam ,rom the &leak reality o, &eing a loser <ith a miserable li,e and $rovi6es him <ith stability o, mind' Erom then onwar6s, he &ecomes increasingly 6e$endent on the com,ort offere6 &y his o<n ,antasy' Indee6, he deli&erately chooses a li,e insi6e a prison o, fiction. *us, =illiam 7orrit shuts himsel, in a $rison o, his mind, <ithin the Marshalsea $rison. *is nest- like multi-layering in =illiamGs story is an echo o, Chapter !0 o, The Pickwick Pa!ers in <hich ?am =eller s$ots a &ir6 cage in Eleet Prison, <here his master is 6etaine6, and remarks MKeels <ithin veels, a $rison in a prison. Ain’t it sir2G@!A .ther characters in Little Dorrit are also em&roile6 <ithin their o<n indivi6ual Ictions' Eor instance, 5igau6, arreste6 ,or his <i,eGs mur6er, $leads innocence and insists that his <i,e commi/e6 suici6eP Mer6le, a Mgiant o, the Inance <orl6 <ith immense ,ortuneG is reno<ne6 &ecause o, a glorious legendP Mrs' Feneral, <ears the 6isguise o, a to$ eti1ue/e instructorP and Miss =ade has summarize6 the Irst hal, o, her li,e in a diary title6 ‘*e History o, a Sel,-CormentorG' 7es$ite great 6ifferences in content, a common thread connects these Ictions' Co &e s$eciIc, they are all mechanisms &y <hich the characters conceal inconvenient truths about themselves' *e act o, creating a Iction is similar to the glamorization o, oneGs sel,-image such that the more ap$ealing attri&- utes are accentuate6 <hile the less ,avourable ones are su$$resse6' MMrs FeneralGs <ay o, ge/ing ri6 o, it was to put it out o, sight, and make believe that there was no such thing. This was another o, her ways o, ,orming a mind—to cram all articles o, 6iUculty into cu$&oar6s, lock them u$, and say they had no eHistence'G@:77A Indee6, pu/ing on a front for onesel, and others while ignoring everything undesirable is the <ay o, li,e in Little Dorrit, and this is $erhaps &est reVecte6 in Mrs' Mer6leGs statement, M?eeming <oul6 be quite enough) I ask no moreG@:77A' *is 6e$endency on Iction is not only ,ound among selIsh and vain characters &ut also, al&eit in a mil6er ,orm, among the goo6 and sel,-sacriIcing ones' Eor eHam$le, 9rthur is trying to end his ho$eless infatuation through the Ictional tale o, an imaginary $ersonality @name6 No&o6yA, and 9my 7orrit con- Journal of the Academic Society for Quality of Life Dec. 2016 |vol 2| Issue 4 |Article 5|Page 2 vinces hersel, that her ,ather is kind and caring, saying M-t <oul6 &e a ne< 6istress to him even to kno< that - earn a li/le money… De is so anxious about us, you see, ,eeling hel$lessly shut u$ there' ?uch a goo6, goo6 ,atherXG@ 8A Do<ever, in actuality, she is $ainfully aware that her ,ather has lo< morals, liv- ing on his 6aughterGs money <ithout returning her affection.
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