[5] htps://www.peacepropagation.com/aspx-quran-and-science-of-geology/Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why should violent video games not be banned?Get original essay William Blake's dark play, "The Chimney Sweeper," revealed the underlying injustices of 18th-century London's exploitation of. children is at the center of his work. Both perspectives reveal how innocence and experience played a role in each point of view. There are two versions of this piece, one is presented in "Songs of Innocence",. the other in “Songs of Experience”. One through the eyes of innocence, the other from experience. By reading both versions carefully, the reader can fully understand the. Blake's overall message together conveys his message about the manipulation of children and how they were forced to do it. serve a system that oppressed them. Blake opens his poem in “Songs of Innocence” by setting up a lamentable scene. In the first line, Blake states that the speaker's mother has died. Before he can even mourn his death, he is sold into becoming a chimney sweep. These were deplorable conditions. The speaker states, “while my tongue / could barely cry out 'cry!' 'cry! 'cry! 'cry!' » (lines 2-3). Chimney sweeps commonly shouted, “sweep, sweep, sweep” through the streets of London. However, this sentence reveals that in his misery, the speaker can only cry. He represents thousands of children who find themselves in destitution due to their unfortunate situation. By the fourth line, Blake illustrates the pitiful image of the children swept away by the misery of the shooting. Then there is the introduction of Tom Dacre. He is an example of an innocent child enduring the traumatic reality of child labor. Despite his job, he is filled with innocence. In the sixth line, the speaker states that Dacre's hair "was curled like a lamb's back" and was shaved. It is a symbol of Dacre's innocent life being a sacrifice for a corrupt society. The lamb “symbolizes the Christian theme of the purity of Christ” (Afrin 28). Dacre's purity is similar to that of Christ, called the sacrificial lamb. The speaker attempts to comfort his young friend, Dacre, by seeing the light in a dark situation. The speaker reminds Tom that if his head were shaved, no one would be able to see the soot in his white hair. Blake includes her shaved white hair because it's like her playful innocence is stripped away. His white purity is forcibly taken away from him, and he and other children are forced to become chimney sweeps. Children are forced to wear the soot which robs them of their innocence and degrades them. In the ninth line, Dacre dreams of his friends and thousands of chimney sweeps trapped in "black coffins." The black coffins are metaphors for the soot that traps them in slavery. He sees all his friends, and thousands of children like him, trapped in this dark destiny. He mentions “Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack” in the eleventh line. The personalization of children makes their miserable plight even more saddening. Adding characters gives the reader sympathy for the children. Unfortunately for Dacre and his friends, the dream is an accurate representation of their reality. The image of a coffin depicted the danger that lurked in the work they were doing. It also implied that death could result from their work. In the thirteenth line, Dacre's dark dream turns into hope. He imagines a scene that could free him and all his friends – a heavenly dream. And there came an angel who had a bright key, and he opened the coffins and released them all; Then theythey go down a green plain, jumping, laughing, they run, wash in a river and shine in the sun. (lines 13-16) He dreams that the angel frees them from their coffins. In the dream, the children are innocent again and can finally enjoy being children. They run across the green plains and are washed. In the seventeenth line it says "only naked and white, all their bags left behind." The phrase “naked and white” may be linked to Adam and Eve. In the book of Genesis it says, “Both Adam and his wife were naked, and were not ashamed” (New International Version, Genesis 2:25). This emphasizes the theme of innocence because in heaven there is no shame or immorality. In the same line, the children leave behind “all their bags”, their pains and the struggles of the Earth (line 17). Tom's faith immediately brings him joy in the dream and he forgets his melancholy situation. The angel then tells Tom that if he is a good boy, he can finally have a loving father, who is God. As a child neglected by love, this promise means everything to Tom and all abandoned child chimney sweeps. This dream was unrealistic on Earth; however, in death there was a chance to experience joy and love, which gave him hope. In the last stanza, Tom wakes up from his encouraging dream. He begins his work, warm and comforted, knowing that peace awaits him for eternity in heaven. The final line echoes his unwavering faith: “So if all do their duty, they need fear no harm” (line 24). He believed that if everyone does what they are supposed to do, then they should not worry, because heaven awaits them. This final stanza resonates with Christianity's belief that whatever one endures on Earth, there is eternal peace and joy in Heaven. According to Blake, it is Tom Dacre's innocence that keeps him oppressed and enslaved in a corrupt society. He innocently believed that the injustice he had endured was acceptable as long as he had peace in heaven. Blake believed that this mindset left many children vulnerable to continued abuse related to child labor. They were taught that they would have joy in heaven, so they should obey the rules and sweep happily. Only through death could they be free. In “Songs of Experience,” the perspective is completely different. There is no specific character in this version that makes it impersonal. The first line begins, “A little black thing among the snow.” There is no mention of a child, but of a "thing" covered in black among now. This “thing” is a soot-covered chimney sweep, abandoned in the cold snow. By starting to consider the child as a “thing”, this dehumanizes the child. Black symbolizes that the child is impure, meaning he has lost his innocent nature. The snow symbolizes “the sadness and death that surround the child” and illustrates “the cold and indifferent world in which he lives” (Afrin 28). In the second line, the child cries “cry!” cry! in notes of misfortune! This line is similar to the first poem with the repetition of “cry”; however, in this version, the child cries with notes of sadness, as if crying were a familiar song. He got used to his miserable situation. A passerby asks where the child's parents are, wondering why a child would be alone and abandoned. The child replies: “They both went up to the church to pray.” Ironically, the parents went to pray while their child was abandoned. Parents would rather find love in the Church than love their own son. Blake uses this ironic scene to describe how the children were forgotten, while their sinful parents and their personalitiesauthority prayed. In the fifth line, the speaker tells the curious viewer how he was happy and smiling in the middle of the snow. However, he says, “they clothed me in the garments of death / and taught me to sing notes of woe” (lines 7-8). The child said he was filled with joy, but then they clothed him in the clothes of death. The fact that the parent forced the child to become a chimney sweep was like giving him death clothes. The clothing of death could also be the flimsy, non-protective clothing that parents gave their child in freezing weather. He says they taught him to sing notes of doom, meaning they took away his happiness and gave him unhappiness. Once he was happy; however, his own parents brought him grief. Blake uses this stanza, not only to blame his parents, but also to blame "the rich and powerful who exploit the poor and weak" (Afrin 28). In the last stanza, the child states that the parents think they have not harmed him because he still laughs and can find joy; but he knows they hurt him. And it's not just his parents who are responsible, but the government itself. And because I am happy and I dance and sing, They think that they have done me no harm, And have gone to praise God and his priest and king, who constitute a paradise from our misery. "(lines 9-12) This stanza explains how exploiting children spiritually and psychologically can harm them. Even if the child seems happy at times, this does not excuse the child from the trauma and abuse the parents suffered. Blake uses the last two lines as an attack on the government and the church The child mentions that his parents went to praise "God, his priest and his king", even though he feels responsible for his enslavement (line 11). ), however, these authorities are supposed to bring encouragement, hope and peace; for him they have only brought despair. The child feels deprived of his purity to serve people of supremacy. make [his] misery a paradise” (line 12). Blake included this to show that the child is being abused by his parents, and he is also being abused by a system that was created against him. the king allowed these injustices to happen to thousands of children across London. In this play, Blake reveals that children are deprived of their innocence and childhood. According to the speaker, parents go out to praise God, honor the priest and serve the king; however, they make children's misery their own paradise. It is imperative to understand these two perspectives to understand Blake's overall message: the exploitation of the powerless. Children are unhappy but have no authority, which makes them vulnerable. Both perspectives reveal how a helpless child may respond to these unjust conditions. In “Songs of Innocence,” the speaker’s attitude reveals how a child’s innocence can create an optimistic outlook. However, in “Songs of Experience,” Blake shows how corruption in society can destroy this childish optimism. Combining the two perspectives is important because it “helps readers see Blake’s message more clearly” and both poems offer “multiple perspectives on the same issue.” (McClard 7). Blake wanted to expose a system that exploited children for selfish ends. Children are innocent and trusting by nature. This admirable quality was manipulated against them. The endings are also different and Blake used this contrast to distinguish innocence from experience. In “Songs of Innocence,” the line ends with, “So if all do their duty, they need not fear that harm will be done to them” (line 24). »..