s, extensive child labor in workhouses. Dickens witnesses an injustice happening in England's workhouses and works to make society's views of the abuse of children change, but by this time, the horrors of the workhouse were so established in the English scene that they were destined to become part of the British social legend "Those in favor of the workhouse supported it because it efficiently sealed off the poor, decreased population growth by separating husbands and wives, and shamed the needy"(Epstein 94) Because of the Poor Law of 1834, the young children suffered more than the able bodied benefitted, so through Dickens' career, he becomes preoccupied with the use and abuse of the Poor Laws. Through satire, Dickens explores the relationships between the paupers and the masters of the workhouse. Satire is used to portray the cruelty, sufferings, and injustice in the workhouses especially through Mr. Bumble, Mrs. Corney, and Oliver, characters that play a significant role in the message of child abuse in the workhouses. Through these characters and their actions, Dickens is able to reveal how ordinary workhouse masters treat their paupers. Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney are stereotypes of the heartless employers who overuse their power on the workhouse children. Mr. Bumble is the corrupt representative of an evil, unjust system but in the novel, Dickens also shows humor through this character. Mr. Bumble brings humor through many petty actions such as the courtship between Mrs. Corney and him. That scene is a humorous interval, which contrasts with life in the workhouse, but Dickens believes that humor gives a more isolated moral understanding that horror could not produce. This episode shows that the Comeau - 3happenings in the workhouse and the actions of Mr. Bumble are not a laughing matter because while Mr. Bumble is frolicking and getting fat, the many young children at the workhouses are suffering and starving in the bi...
