Chartism for John Barton: A Lesson or a Pure Detriment? Anonymous College

John Barton, father of Mary Barton, became a member of the Chartist movement after he was laid off from his original place of work when his master had failed. While he was forced to look for other work, his son got ill with the scarlet fever. With no food or money to acquire medicine, his beloved son passed away. In lieu of the death of his son, John wanted to seek revenge against the employers who he believed caused it, and joined the Chartist movement as a result. Later on in the book, John goes to deliver the Chartist petition, dubbed the “People’s Charter” to the Parliament for approval. Unfortunately, the Parliament rejected the petition. While the petition was not received well by Parliament, the rejection of the Chartist petition served to be a valuable lesson. This Chartist lesson is that the proletariat of England and the aristocracy should not have attempted to work together, as the rich did not care for the working man and their respective conditions or needs. In this piece, I will using historical evidence to support my claim, then I will then apply that evidence to a close reading of the novel regarding John Barton’s respective situation to further prove that the bourgeoisie simply do not concern themselves with...