Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Poetry Little Chimney Boy Little Chimney Boy In William Blake's poems, Blake gives his characters important traits which are significant to the characters themselves and to the poems. He does a magnificent job with the speaker in his poem, The Chimney Sweeper. The speaker- who is a little boy th sweeps chimneys to survive- is characterized as comforting, honest, and hopeful. With these characteristics, the little boy in The Chimney Sweeper is able to enhance his character and the poem. The little chimney boy is portrayed as being comforting in The Chimney Sweeper for many reasons. As Tom Darce-who is a beginner chimney sweeper- cries about his hair being cut, the little chimney boy must find ways to soothe Tom Darce=s feelings (Blake ). He says in a sympathetic voice to Tom, AHush, Tom!@ (Blake 7). He continues with convincing Tom that getting his hair cut was the best thing by saying, Afor when your head=s bare, / You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair@ (Blake 7-8). he little chimney boy=s comforting is successful for Tom stops crying and is able to sleep and dream peacefully. If it is not for the little chimney boy=s comforting attitude Tom might have not survived as a chimney sweeper and the poem would have lack Honesty is very important in The Chimney Sweeper because it allows the little chimney boy to help himself and other chimney sweepers adapt to life as chimney sweepers. The little chimney boy is honest with Tom about his baldness being an advantage to s eping out chimneys. His honesty gives Tom a comforting thought and Tom is able to sleep better. Perhaps, the little chimney boy=s honest prevents him from living in an imaginary world that is bound to come apart as the truth comes out. This enables t little chimney boy to be honest with himself so he is not let down later. By being honest, the little chimney boy can accept the way his life is. In the beginning of the poem, the little chimney boy admits, AWhen my mother died I was very young, / An my father sold me while yet my tongue / Could scarcely cry A*weep!=weep!=weep!=weep!@ (Blake 1-3). This honesty helps the little chimney boy face the fact that his mother is dead and his father sold him. He is also very honest at the end of the poem s he states, ASo if all do their duty, they need not fear harm@ (Blake 24). With this tremendous amount of honesty, the little chimney boy is hopeful. As one reads The Chimney Sweeper, the idea of hope is almost impossible to realize. This is realized through the eyes of the little chimney boy. He believes if he does his work like he is suppose to that he can not be harmed (Blake 24). When Tom tell the little chimney boy of his dream, hope of a better life is visual to the little boy. In Tom=s dream an angel frees the sweepers from the Acoffins of black@ and then she tells Tom, Aif he=d be a good boy, / He=d have God for his father & never want j @ (Blake 12-20). By this, the little chimney boy can let go of being abandoned and betrayed by his parents since there is a better world for him later. Through observing the little chimney boy=s action in lines twenty- one and twenty- two, it is evide e of hopefulness. If he had no hope at all, the little chimney boy would have acted in a different manner such as taking his time and doing so in a slunk way. If William Blake did not characterized the little chimney boy with certain traits, The Chimney Sweeper would be depressing and have no true meaning. Furthermore, comforting, honesty, and hopefulness gives the little chimney boy and the poem the attenti Blake, William. AThe Chimney Sweeper.@ The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall and Maynard Mack. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999. 544-545. Bibliography: Word Count: 677
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