The Picture Painted

In Alton Locke by Charles Kingsley he gives a very discriptive view of the slums of London. After reading this short peom I'm not sure I would ever want to visit any city written about in this fashion. "A ghastly, deafening, sickening, sight it was." This just goes to show that people were not happy with their standard of living at this time and were subjected to horrible living conditions within the city. If the living conditions were this bad then of course the working conditions were just as bad if not worse for most of the population. Kingsley also writes about the past that once took place where in the location he is describing. This house 100 years ago would have been seen as the epitome of wealth with its "grand staircase, with carved balustrades" and now its just a run down house holding way more people than was ever designed for making a slum. Alton Locke gives a feeling of hopelessness when you read about the girls in the story who have no warmth, proper clothing, and their infested with diseases. Im not much of a city person myself I like having to walk to mile or so to my neighbors house but after reading Alton Locke why would anyone want to visit a city described in that manner?