The Apostate is a short story about the life of a boy named Johnny who works long hard hours in the mills during the Industrial Revolution. The author wants us to sympathize with Johnny, but he also wants to raise more in depth issues that occur throughout the story. The author, London emphasizes several themes in this short story. The title The Apostate was not a thoughtless one. An apostate is someone who abandons something that he / she was once loyal to. Most often this term refers to a person who has left a religious faith, but in this case the apostate is the young boy Johnny who abandons his job and his family.
Synonyms for apostate are deserter and non-conformist. Johnny fits these terms because he makes the conscious decision to desert his job at the mills. That did not conform to the life style back then. Johnny feels envy toward his younger brother because he doesn’t have to go to the mills and work like Johnny does. He feels that since his brother looks bigger than Johnny, he should be made to work in the mills as well.
“You ought to be to work, seein’ how big you are,” Johnny snarled. “That’s what’s the matter with you. You ought to be to work. An’ it’s up to your ma to put you to work.”But he’s too young,” she protested. “He’s only a little boy.”I was younger’n him when I started work.” (p. 126) Johnny’s childhood is robbed from him.
The Term Paper on The Diary of a Young Mill Worker
Dear Diary, Monday 7th September 1797 The mill is great! My name is Amelia Northwood, I am 11 years old and come from Liverpool workhouse; I was abandoned by my parents at the age of 4. Life in the workhouse was hard; we were expected to work for 15 hours a day, in terrible conditions with no pay. Conditions in the mill seem to be much better. This morning, Mr Greg visited the workhouse, he chose ...
He never experiences the joys of being a little boy since he has been working in the mills from a very young age. Johnny is like an old man at 12 years old. I’m plum’ tired out. What makes me tired? Moves I’ve been movin’ ever since I was born.
“I’m tired of movin’, an’ I ain’t goin to move any more (p. 133) He could not understand his younger siblings’ juvenile behavior. He was annoyed by their young spirit. He was like an old and irritable man, annoyed by the turbulence of their young spirits that was to him arrant silliness.
He glowered silently over his food, finding compensation in the thought that they would soon have to go to work. That would take the edge off of them and make them sedate and dignified – like him. (p. 124) Although religion does not appear to play a major role in the story, there are some religious themes that show up throughout the story. Besides Johnny’s issues with jealousy and loss of childhood in the story, he has some feelings on religion. In addition to his opening paragraph, he refers to God on several occasions.
Johnny fears God, yet respected him at the same time. In his opening paragraph, the author creates his own version of the common childhood bedtime prayer “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” His verse however refers to the Lord making sure he does a good job at work each day. Interestingly, he also uses the word shirk in his verse which actually has religious undertones. Shirk means to avoid or evade one’s duty. Johnny prays he does not shirk each day at work.
Now I wake me up to work. I pray the Lord I may no shirk. If I should die before the night, I pray the Lord my work’s all right. Amen.
(118) The author wants to make it very clear that Johnny feels that he has never experienced happiness before. Although barely an adolescent, Johnny feels deprived of his childhood. He never has the chance to play and relax like so many children can do. However, this was not a unique situation at this time period. Many young children went to work in the factories just to make ends meet, especially when there is no father to work. The only difference in this story is the Johnny recognizes that he does not want this for his life any longer.
Being The Youngest Child
Being the youngest child in a family has definite advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, babies are fussed over and pampered. They enjoy special status in the pecking order and often get away with behavior that other family members can't. On the other hand, many youngest children feel that they never quite measure up to their more experienced and accomplished siblings. To borrow a phrase ...
At the end of the story, Johnny up and leaves his family and never turns back.
