Student Question
Are the chimney sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, depicted as human beings?
Quick answer:
The chimney sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, are not depicted as real individuals but rather as figures in a dream. Blake likely chose their names for poetic meter and rhyme, with "Jack" specifically rhyming with "black." These names are informal, working-class nicknames. While Tom is the only "real" character, Blake uses the poem to critique child exploitation during the Industrial Revolution and middle-class complacency.
Poetry is a work of the imagination; it is unlikely that Blake knew particular sweepers by these particular names. It is more likely that he chose these names because they are all one-syllable words that fit gracefully into the meter of his poem. He may have also chosen the name "Jack" to rhyme with "black" in the third stanza. Tom is the only "real" sweeper in the story; the others appear in a dream.
One thing that is true about all of the names is that they are informal nicknames that would be embraced by the working class.
Blake, however was addressing the very real problem of child exploitation during the industrial revolution. These boys were small enough to do a dangerous job, and their safety was put at risk every day. The poem is a scathing attack on middle-class greed and complacency.
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