Introduction
Oliver Twist
Introduction
Oliver Twist is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker, from whence he escapes and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets. Oliver is led to the lair of their elderly criminal trainer Fagin, naively unaware of their unlawful activities.
Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens' unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. The book exposed the cruel treatment of many a waif-child in London, which increased international concern in what is sometimes known as "The Great London Waif Crisis": the large number of orphans in London in the Dickens era. The book's subtitle, The Parish Boy's Progress alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and also to a pair of popular 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, "A Rake's Progress" and "A Harlot's Progress".
An early example of the social novel, the book calls the public's attention to various contemporary evils, including the Poor Law, child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. Dickens mocks the hypocrisies of his time by surrounding the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humour. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of hardships as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own early youth as a child labourer contributed to the story's development.
Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and is the basis for a highly successful musical play, and the multiple Academy Award winning 1968 motion picture made from it.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens is an English novelist. He is probably the most famous writer in the English language after Shakespeare. His works are characterized by attacks on social evils like injustice and hypocrisy.
Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. He was the second of eight children of a family which was deeply in debt. Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation, but the evils of child labour.
Dickens left school to Work in a factory after his father was thrown into debtor’s prison. Though he had little education , he worked as a clerk and a newspaper reporter.
Dickens wrote 15 novels and hundreds of short stories. From his masterworks, David Copperfield (1850) , Black House (1853), Hard Times (1854), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860) and Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1839) which we are going to study this year. Dickens died in Kent on June,9,1870 at age 58.
England in the 19th century
In the mid-nineteenth century, England was suffering from economic instability and widespread unemployment. During this time, England was at war with France. The English government had imposed heavy taxes to pay for the war, and although these did not really affect the wealthy classes, they were a burden on the poor. Prices rose, food became scarce, and inflation rose. Also because of the war, French and European markets for English goods were closed, leading to unemployment among workers.
Large numbers of people were coming to the cities to look for work because they had lost their jobs in the country. Men, women and children worked very long hours in factories to earn enough money to live. There were not enough houses or flats for everybody, so many families shared rooms in crowded buildings. Thousands of children, whose parents had died, lived in the streets of big cities. In those days, many people died when they were young because they were ill or didn’t have enough food.
Workers were also unemployed because the increasing use of machinery in manufacturing had made many of their jobs outdated. In “Oliver Twist” , Dickens presented a portrait of the terrible childhood of a considerable number of orphans who were underfed. Oliver, one of the oppressed children, dared to ask the master in the work house for more food and was severely punished.
Summary of The Novel
“Oliver Twist”, published in 1838, is one of Charles Dickens’s best-known and well-loved works. It was written after he had already attained success as a novelist. It has been adapted as a film and has been considered a classic ever since it was first published.
Dickens uses the characters and situations in the book to make a pointed social commentary, attacking the hypocrisy and flaws of institution, including his society’s government.
Oliver is an orphan born in a workhouse and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy towards the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is nine when the main action of the novel occurs. Despite being treated with cruelty and surrounded by rudeness, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors.
Oliver Twist grew up in a workhouse because his mother had died when he was born. Life for the young boy was hard. When he asked for more food because he was hungry, he was punished. So Oliver ran away to London. There he met a boy called Jack Dawkins who was in gang of thieves. An old man, Fagin, had taught the gang how to be thieves, and Oliver went to live with them.
One day, Oliver was with the gang when they tried to take something from a man’s pocket. The man, Mr.Brownlow, caught them but was kind and stopped the police from arresting Oliver. Instead, he took him back to his house and looked after him. Oliver lived happily with Mr.Brownlow until one of the gang , Bill Sikes, kidnapped him and took him back to Fagin.
Oliver had to go with the gang when they broke into a country house which belonged to Mrs.Maylie and her niece Rose. The thieves were discovered and Oliver was shot. When Oliver told Mrs.Maylie and Rose that he did not want to be a thief, they believed him and invited him to live with them. One day, at their house, Oliver saw Fagin and another man called Mr.Monks looking at him through a window.
Finally the police arrested all of the gang. Oliver discovered that Monks was his half brother. He wanted Oliver to be in trouble so that he (Monks) would get all their father’s money. In the end, Mr.Brownlow adopted Oliver and they went to live with Mrs. Maylie and Rose. Oliver found out that Rose was his mother’s sister.
The Main Characters Of The Novel
Oliver Twist
Oliver , the orphans, was born in a workhouse in a town in England. He grew under the care of Mr.Bumble, an official from the workhouse. He led a cruel life falling in the hands of a gang of pickpockets. He was taught to steal. Oliver was saved from the gang twice. His life turned to be happy with Me.Brownlow, his first benefactor after the arrest of the gang.
Mr.Bumble
He was a minor church official for the workhouse where Oliver was born. He was proud. He behaved without compassion towards people under his care. He took money from Monks, Oliver’s half-brother, and let his wife, Mrs.Corney give him the locket which Oliver’s mother had given to her before she died. This locket was the only thing to prove who Oliver was.
Fagin
Fagin took in homeless children and trained them to pick pockets for him. He was an ugly old man who rarely committed crimes himself, preferring to employ others to commit them in his place. In the end, he was arrested and sentenced to death.
Mr.Brownlow
He was Oliver’s first benefactor. He was sure that Oliver was a good boy, but he was sad whenhe disappeared with his money and books. Mr.Brownlow was pleased to know that Oliver was innocent and helped him arrest the gang and get his money from Monks, his half brother. Throughout the novel, Mr.Brownlow behaved with compassion and common sense.
Bill Sikes
A professional burglar, brought up in Fagin’s gang. He took Nancy as an assistant, and he treated her with combination of cruelty and affection. His murder of Nancy was the worst of the many crimes in the novel.
Nancy
One of Fagin’s pickpockets. Nancy worked with Bill Sikes Her work with Sikes and her sense of moral decency came into conflict when Sikes abused Oliver. Despite her criminal lifestyle, she helped the arrest of the gang to save Oliver and offered her life as a price.
Monks (Edward Leeford)
He was Fagin’s friend. He was always looking around nervously as if thought people were chasing him. He looked cruel. Indeed, Monks was Oliver’s half brother. After his mother had died, a rich relative of his family left his father a lot of money. After his father’s death, no will was found, so all the money became his. Monk’s father married again and had a baby boy, Oliver Twist. Monks made a deal with his friend Fagin to teach Oliver to be a thief so he sent Jack Dawkins to bring Oliver to Fagin. He wanted Oliver to miss the way to his money.
Rose Maylie
A beautiful , compassionate and forgiving young woman. She cared for Oliver at her aunt’s, Mrs.Maylie’s house. Rose was Agens’s, Oliver’s mother, young sister. When Agnes’s father died, Rose was sent to live with a poor family in Wales. Years later she was adopted by Mrs.Maylie. Rose was Oliver’s aunt.
The Minor Characters Of The Novel
Oliver’s mother (Agnes)
She arrived at a workhouse. Her name was unknown until the end of the novel. She was ill and weak. After she had born Oliver, she asked to see her baby. She kissed him and died.
Mrs.Mann
She was a woman who was given money to look after the orphans, but she decided that she needed some of this money for herself. For this reason, the boys never had very much to eat. She was no kinder to Oliver than she was to other orphans.
Mr.Sowerberry
Mr.Sowerberry, the coffin maker, decided that he needed an apprentice. He took Oliver to start a new chapter in his life. Oliver ran away from his house to London.
Mrs.Sowerberry
Mr.Sowerberry’s wife, she said that Oliver would cost them much money to feed him. She gave him some old food that they had not eaten.
Noah Clypole (Morris Bolter)
A tall boy with a red nose. He helped Mr.Sowerberry. noah insulted Oliver’s mother so Oliver hit him hard. He married a young woman called Charlotte and they went to London. He met Fagin pretending to have a different name”Morris Bolter”. Fagin promised to keep Noah and his wife safe and took him in his gang.
Jack Dawkins”The Artful Dodger”
A poor boy of about Oliver’s age. He met Oliver on his way to London and took him to Fagin. He tried to persuade Oliver to join the gang and take things from people to be rich.
Charley Bates
One of Fagin’s pickpockets. Charley is ready to laugh at anything.
Mrs.Bedwin
Mr.Brownlow’s housekeeper. She treated Oliver kindly.
Mr.Grimwig
Mr.Brownlow’s friend, he tried to persuade Mr.Brownlow that Oliver was a thief and he wouldn’t come back from the bookshop where he was sent to pay for Mr.Browmlow’s books. He played a role to reveal that Mr. Bumble took the locket and gave it to Monks.
Toby Crackit
Bill Sikes’s associate. He took part in the attempted robbery of Mrs.Maylie’s house.
Mr.Giles
A servant at Mrs.Maylie’s house who shot Oliver during the attempted robbery.
Mrs.Maylie
The lady of the house which was attempted to be robbed by the gang. A kind healthy old woman, who had enough money to help people. She adopted Rose who lived with her.
Dr.Losberne
He was called at Mrs.maylie’s house to see Oliver who was wounded. He succeeded to persuade the detectives that Oliver wasn’t the thief after he had listened to Oliver’s story. He was chosen with Mr.Grimwig and harry Maylie to help find Monks and reveal his plans to take Oliver’s money.
Nurse Sally
She was a nurse to Oliver’s mother when she died. She witnessed Oliver’s birth. On her deathbed, she told Mrs.Corney, who was in charge of the workhouse, a secret. She gave her the locket that Oliver’s mother had given her before she died. Sally didn’t say anything else about the locket.
Mrs.Corney(Mrs.Bumble)
She was in charge of the workhouse when Oliver was born. She had got the locket from Nurse sally as a proof who Oliver was. She became the wife of Mr.Bumble later and Monks could get the locket from them for money.
Harry Maylie