The Theme of Alienation in William Blake's 'the Little Vagabond'
Zahid Islam
Instructor-ELT
18th Century English Literature
10 April 2011
The Theme of Alienation in Blake 's The Little Vagabond
Thesis: The central character in William Blake 's poem becomes alienated from society because
of the hardships and ill-treatment he has to undergo at the hands of people in authority.
Zahid Islam
Instructor-ELT
18th Century English Literature
10 April 2011
The Theme of Alienation in Blake 's The Little Vagabond
The concept of alienation is a common theme in Anglo-American literature of the 20th
century. For some reasons, books dealing with this subject, such as, J.D. Salinger 's Catcher in
the Rye or William Golding 's Lord of the Flies have had a special attraction among teachers for
using them as text-books at the senior high-school level. How does a person come to be
alienated from society, as well as from those around him? The chief reason has always been want
and poverty, and the inability or unwillingness of those in authority to improve the situation.
Look at the foot-soldiers of those terrorizing the world today. They are mostly teen-aged
children who never had the luxury of enjoying three meals a day, or of having lived in a room
with electricity. But they keenly observe how the government officials, assigned to look after
their welfare, move about in latest air-conditioned cars totally unconcerned about their most
basic needs. It is only a matter of time when such neglected and ignored young men and women
will harbor a feeling of not belonging to the society, and may react negatively.
At the time when William Blake wrote The Little Vagabond (1794), the French Revolution
was still gathering steam and would continue for
Instructor-ELT
18th Century English Literature
10 April 2011
The Theme of Alienation in Blake 's The Little Vagabond
Thesis: The central character in William Blake 's poem becomes alienated from society because
of the hardships and ill-treatment he has to undergo at the hands of people in authority.
Zahid Islam
Instructor-ELT
18th Century English Literature
10 April 2011
The Theme of Alienation in Blake 's The Little Vagabond
The concept of alienation is a common theme in Anglo-American literature of the 20th
century. For some reasons, books dealing with this subject, such as, J.D. Salinger 's Catcher in
the Rye or William Golding 's Lord of the Flies have had a special attraction among teachers for
using them as text-books at the senior high-school level. How does a person come to be
alienated from society, as well as from those around him? The chief reason has always been want
and poverty, and the inability or unwillingness of those in authority to improve the situation.
Look at the foot-soldiers of those terrorizing the world today. They are mostly teen-aged
children who never had the luxury of enjoying three meals a day, or of having lived in a room
with electricity. But they keenly observe how the government officials, assigned to look after
their welfare, move about in latest air-conditioned cars totally unconcerned about their most
basic needs. It is only a matter of time when such neglected and ignored young men and women
will harbor a feeling of not belonging to the society, and may react negatively.
At the time when William Blake wrote The Little Vagabond (1794), the French Revolution
was still gathering steam and would continue for
Cited: Bottral, M. ed. William Blake: Songs of Innocence and Experience, London: Macmillan, 1975. Bronowski, J. William Blake and the Age of Revolution, London: Faber, 1965. Reuben, P. "Alienation and Initiation as a Theme and the Immigrant Experience". <http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/axe.html> (updated 28 Dec.2010). 7 Apr. 2011. Thiruvallirvan, R. "The Theme of Alienation in the Novels of J.D. Salinger". <http://www.worldlitonline.com>. 8 Apr.2011.