But the subtlety ofcharacterization goes deeper
than this. Wells, who, ratherthan Jules Verne, is the father of
Scientifiction.
Dickens does however show signs of development
here. Of course he is apure dream figure, much further from real life than, say,
Squeers orMicawber.
For inreality his target is not so much society as
human nature. The King is on his throneand the pound is worth a pound.
In reality their basicpolitical assumptions are
two: nothing ever changes, and foreigners arefunny. In theRussian version the Reds
are angels and the Whites demons. The tract Ireceived was of the question-and-answer
kind:Q,. It is sohorribly easy to imagine what a left-wing boys paper would be like,
ifit existed. Here is a letter from one of Gussys girl admirers;I think youre too
hard on Gussy.
Sex, so far from being taboo, is THE
subject.
A quarter of an hour had elapsed out of the two
hours that Bunter wasbooked for extra French.
It is sohorribly easy to imagine what a left-wing
boys paper would be like, ifit existed.
Considering who owns thesepapers, it is difficult
to believe that this is un-intentional.
Clearly no schoolstory can compete with this kind
of thing.
Secondly, in the ordinarily accepted sense of the
word, Dickens is not arevolutionary writer. In theRussian version the Reds are
angels and the Whites demons.
At first glance such an idea merely makes one
slightly sick.
That is also alie, but, taking the long view, it is
a less pernicious lie than theother. Where exactly does he stand, socially, morally,
and politically? To begin with, they have the greatadvantage of not being written
entirely by one person.
Unlike Scrooge or the Cheerybles, he cannotput
everything right by raising everybodys wages. They are all living at several pounds
a weekabove their income. Yes, itmay be said, but what does it matter?
The tract Ireceived was of the question-and-answer
kind:Q,.
He volleyed blows with a bewildering speed for so
huge a fellow.
In amoment Ben was simply blocking with his gloves
as well as he could. Turn it around and look through the glass and oh!
But it does not follow that it is impossible. To
begin with, they have the greatadvantage of not being written entirely by one
person.
In one that I came across an actual MAJORITY of the
boysmentioned were titled.