Songs of Innocence/Experience and Child Labor - Questions/Analysis

 

 

 

 

23 Feb. 2005

 

“Songs of Innocence”: The Chimney Sweeper

“Songs of Experience”: London

     William Blake

 

Chocolate Industry Criticized over Child Labor

     The Monterey County Herald, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005

 

 

Response topics:

 

 

 

1.  What assumption underlies the boy’s optimism? (Songs of Innocence)

 

 

            Despite thousands of chimney sweepers apprenticed by their parents and brutally used by their masters, the boy had such a sight that he’d have God for his father. Even though they swept in the narrow chimney in danger felt like locking up in coffins of black, the boy naturally believed in an Angel who had a bright key to open the coffins and set them all free. Therefore, they can leave all their severe pain and suffering behind, rise upon clouds and sport in the wind just like leaping, laughing and shining in the Sun. Moreover, they need not fear harm in the cold morning any more, and they are happy and warm in the Sun forever, in the Heavenly world.

 

From the Ode’s impressions, the boy’s optimism can be inferred from other English Romantic Poetry. In Wordsworth’s Ode, “Intimations of Immorality from Recollections of Early Childhood,” Stanza IV, it associate with Blessed Creature; the Children felt the glory of the dream while the sun shines warm in this sweet May-morning. So as Shelly’s “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” it reminds of Beauty of Spirit; once he felt the sunlight in his childhood.

 

Hence, “Songs of Innocence”: “The Chimney Sweeper” shows the boy’s optimism lies upon idealistic life; as it seems to innocent children’s youthful joy.

 

 

 

2.  How does assumption change? (Songs of Experience)

 

 

           In contrast to “Songs of Innocence,” “Songs of Experience”: “London” is darker in tone conflicting states of human soul that the mind forges into the manacle. Also, it shows he confronts to "marks of weakness and marks of woe" wherever he "wanders through each charter’s street" in London. Furthermore, he felt that the chimney sweepers cry like "every black’ning Church appalls, and the hapless Soldier sigh" like "runs in blood down Palace walls." Therefore, he sees a growing adult became mature realizing life is nothing but "blights with plagues the Marriage hearse."

 

Consequently, “Songs of Experience” has progressed from “Songs of Innocence” that Blake essentially shows his dialectical vision of realistic life versus idealistic world. Also, it’s different perspective from Plato’s Allegory which ideal entities are coming from intellectual knowledge as light from darkness.

 

 

 

3.  How does reading apply? (Chocolate Industry Criticized over Child Labor)

 

 

This article exactly reflects of Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper.” While people enjoy Valentine chocolate without acknowledged the sad story behind it, the child slaves are abused their free labor in West African cocoa farms. Caroline Tiger reported “Bittersweet chocolate” in “Labor Studies Department,” on Feb. 14, 2003, “Of the $1.1 billion in boxed chocolates that Americans are expected to buy on Valentine’s Day, very little will be untainted by the scourge of child labor.” Ever since a BBC documentary entitled “Slavery: A Global Investigation” featured “a segment on boys enslaved on Ivory Coast cocoa farms, showing children with heavily scarred back from beatings with whips and switches” on Sept. 2000, awareness of the problem spread out to the world.

 

However, more than two centuries ago, Blake warned against abuse of English chimney sweeps through his ode, children slavery has never changed since. Even though “International Labor Rights Fund” agrees “slave free” labeling set for July 2005, anti-sweatshop have found that as a means of monitoring for children’s safety is ineffective. A spokesperson for Global Exchange, Jason Marks said, “It’s impossible because of the sheer number of factories around the world and money is more invested in maintaining the criteria that a FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International) inspector comes to check on once a year.”

 

From Blake’s Ode and today’s children abuse, it should be considered more fundamental issues not only children being exploited at work under dangerous condition but poverty, education, good government, child protection laws and good public services.