"I wonder who's put into prison-ships, and why they"re put there?" and I, in a general way, and with quiet desperation.
It was too much for Mrs. Joe, who immediately rose, "I"ll tell you what, young fellow," said she, "I didn't bring you up by hand to badger people's lives out. People are put in the Hulks because they murder, and because they rob, and forge, and do all sorts of bad; and they always begin by asking questions. (Great Expectations p. 761-762).
Mrs. Joe has a bias toward the prisoners onboard the hulks. She believes that they are all murders, robbers and forgers, which in actuality may be correct. The prisoners who are on the hulks are everyone guilty of committing a crime that does not deserve the death penalty. Mrs. Joe maybe wrong in stating that they all start out by asking too many questions and that may not be very true. Children who start out asking numerous questions may become felons, or they may become inquisitive men working as a lawyer or a merchant making money by selling fine goods through England's maritime trade. .
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The following passage tells what experienced historians believed the Hulks were through their books discussed in Audrey Rodeman's web journal:.
Hulks were meant to be temporary waiting-places; the British government assumed they would be necessary for about two years, though they survived for more than 80 (Briggs et al. 162). Former warships stationed in branches of the Thames, the Hulks were far from satisfactory quarters. John Howard, a prison reform advocate and writer, noted that many inmates suffered from a certain disease he termed "hulk fever." Up to 25 percent of those who boarded the ships died on them (Briggs et al 163). Conditions in on-shore prisons were often no better. People of every age were housed together, there was often physical violence between prisoners, and the buildings were unsanitary (Newman 568).
Though the Hulks were meant to solve Britain's prison troubles, with their overcrowding and poor conditions they became a problem in themselves (Taylor 143).
