“What is your name?”
“Got none.”
“Where do you live?”
“Live! What’s that?”
Such pictures were not drawn to entertain, or to add artistic effect to his stories. They were written to teach the world of wealth and culture that all around it were thousands of human souls with as little opportunity for development as young animals have; with defined apperceptive centres of cold, hunger, thirst, and pain only.
Dickens makes a strong contrast between the condition of the mental and spiritual apperceptive centres in the city boy as compared with the country boy, in a conversation between Phil Squod and Mr. George.
“And so, Phil,” says George of the Shooting Gallery, after several turns in silence, “you were dreaming of the country last night?”
Phil, by the bye, said as much, in a tone of surprise, as he scrambled out of bed.
“Yes, guv’ner.”
“What was it like?”