Child Labor Essay

Throughout history there have been articles, boycotts, books, poems, and so much more released to raise awareness on child labor. Children work under illegal, hazardous, and exploitative conditions each day risking their lives. Many of these children have their opportunity for an education taken away to work under harmful circumstances. William Blake’s poem â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† was written to help aware and prevent child labor. William Blake wrote a poem to aware the society of child labor in Britain. A real life event inspired him to write his poem about the injustice being done to the children. Child labor is exploitation to children. They were out in extremely hazardous conditions that threaten their lives. Children began to die because they were stuck in an unsafe place. The ashes that surrounded them threatened their physical health to an extreme. Fires would be set and the children would be stuck in the chimney causing them to burn to death. Blake uses a variety of symbolism through biblical ideas. He uses symbols to represent what he states in his poem. The Chimney Sweeper is based on a true story. This boy was sold and left alone by his father. Tom sweeps chimneys with four other boys: Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack. One night tom dreams that he and the other children are sleeping in black coffins. Blake says this relating to the black ashes the children are covered in every day from sweeping the chimneys. In his dream an angel appears with a key. She unlocks the coffin the children were in and let them out. â€Å"Were all of them lock’d up in coffins of black. And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open’d the coffins & set them all free;† (lines 12-14) Child labor has been a big issue since industrialization began. Like the poem children were being put to work in atrocious conditions. Child labor was used because they do not have to get paid as much as adults. They were working more than a full time job. Some children would end up working for factories when their family could not afford much so they would give them up. Blake’s poem created a well-known issue concerning child labor in the real world. The way Blake described the children’s suffering and harsh living conditions caught the attention of many of his readers. The poem was created with the intention to have laws against child labor. As well as in Britain, there were many places around the world that were creating laws against child labor like the United States. The British act stated the age limit for children to begin working, children should be washed once a week, and prohibited to clean chimneys with fire in them. This act marked part of a beginning into the long battle to fight for the end of child labor. Unfortunately, till this day child labor occurring all around the world. The International Labor Organization estimated that over 215 million children under the age of 17 are currently working under illegal and harmful conditions. Children around the world are still suffering and unprivileged from opportunities of an education. A lot is done around the world to help and reach awareness to people about child labor. William Blake’s â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† is a great resource created to help inform the people of the suffering and unfortunate life children live. Work Cited Blake, William. â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper.† –Blake. Web. 18 May 2012.. Fried, Milton. â€Å"Child Labor.† History of Child Labor. Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Web. 18 May 2012. . Heath, DIanne. â€Å"Social Science Medley.† Analysis of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† by William Blake ~. Social Science Medley, 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 May 2012. . Songs of Innocence,1789 and Songs of Experience; 1794 http://165.29.91.7/classes/humanities/britlit/97-98/blake/POEMS.htm; â€Å"- Texts in Context.† Imagery, Symbolism and Themes in Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper (I) from Crossref it.info. Web. 18 May 2012. .