Course paper on the theme “Ways to create a gallery of children's imagines in the novels of Charlis Dickens”

OLIVER TWIST

Oliver Twist, in full Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress,novelbyCharles
Dickens, published serially under the pseudonym “Boz” from 1837 to 1839 in Bentley’s Miscellany and in a three-volume book in 1838. The novel was the first of the author’s works to realistically depict the impoverishedLondonunderworld and to illustrate his belief thatpovertyleads to crime. The novel follows the journey of thetitularcharacter,Oliver Twist. Oliver, an orphan since birth, spends much of his childhood at a “child farm” (orphanage) with too many children and too little food. The farm is located roughly 70 miles outside London. One night, after being served his portion of gruel, Oliver asks for a second helping. This is unacceptable, and Oliver is sent to work as an apprentice to an undertaker. Eventually, after suffering repeated mistreatment, Oliver runs away and heads for London. He soon finds himself in the presence of the Artful Dodger, who tells him to stay at the house of an “old gentleman” (namedFagin) with a number of other boys. Oliver learns that these boys are trained pickpockets. On an outing, Oliverwitnessesthe boys take a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow, an elderly man, which prompts Oliver to run away in fear and confusion. The elderly man mistakes Oliver’s behaviour for guilt and has him arrested. However, after learning more about Oliver, Mr. Brownlow realizes his mistake and offers to take care of him at his home. The novel follows the journey of thetitularcharacter,Oliver Twist. Oliver, an orphan since birth, spends much of his childhood at a “child farm” (orphanage) with too many children and too little food. The farm is located roughly 70 miles outside London. One night, after being served his portion of gruel, Oliver asks for a second helping. This is unacceptable, and Oliver is sent to work as an apprentice to an undertaker. Eventually, after suffering repeated mistreatment, Oliver runs away and heads for London. He soon finds himself in the presence of the Artful Dodger, who tells him to stay at the house of an “old gentleman” (namedFagin) with a number of other boys. Oliver learns that these boys are trained pickpockets. On an outing, Oliverwitnessesthe boys take a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow, an elderly man, which prompts Oliver to run away in fear and confusion. The elderly man mistakes Oliver’s behaviour for guilt and has him arrested. However, after learning more about Oliver, Mr. Brownlow realizes his mistake and offers to take care of him at his home. Charles Dickens was well versed in the poverty of London, as he himself was a child worker after his father was sent to debtors’ prison. His appreciation of the hardships endured by impoverished citizens stayed with him for the rest of his life and was evident in his journalistic writings and novels. Dickens began writing Oliver Twist after the adoption of thePoor Law of 1834, which halted government payments to the able-bodied poor unless they enteredworkhouses. Thus, Oliver Twist became a vehicle for socialcriticismaimed directly at the problem of poverty in 19th-century London.⁵
Oliver Twist was very popular when it was first published, partially because of its scandalous subject matter. It depicted crime and murder without holding back—causing it, in Victorian London, to be classed as a “Newgate novel” (named after Newgate Prison in London). While critics often condemned such novels as immoral, the public usually enjoyed them. Because the novel was also published serially, the anticipation of waiting for the next installment (and its many cliffhangers) also likely contributed to its popularity. To this day, Oliver Twist is enjoyed by many for its historical social commentary and exciting plotline. To many of his contemporaries, Charles Dickens was the greatest writer of his age; a one-man fiction industry who produced fourteen massive novels, and numerous sketches, essays and stories, many of which appeared in the two magazines which he founded and edited. Today the work of one of the first and most successful mass-circulation authors continues to enthrall readers around the world. This wideranging book examines the writings of Dickens, not only in his time but also in ours. it looks at the author as a Victorian 'man of letters', and explores his cultural and critical impact both on the definition of the novel in the nineteenth century and the subsequent development of the form in the twentieth. Lyn Pykett focuses on Dickens as journalist, literary entrepreneur, the conductor of magazines, the shaper of the serial novel, the manipulator of the multiple plot, and the creator of eccentric characters. She also assesses the modernity of the writer's alienated protagonists and their social environments, as well as reassessing his representations of the vivid, bleak and at times menacing spectacle of the metropolis, from the late modern/postmodern perspective of the twenty first century. Each chapter of this text analyses the work of a particular decade in Dickens's career, providing a lively contextual study which places his writings in relation to the worlds that made him, and the literary worlds which he made. It is essential reading for all those with an interest in one of the most popular, and enduring, British novelists of all time.
Charles Dickens was one of the most popular and influential authors of the 19th century, and through his novel Oliver Twist he portrayed the lives of marginalised groups of Victorian society, with the orphan as a main focus. This essay examines how the role of the orphan child is employed within the novel and how the interplay between novel and reality affects the reading. By situating Oliver Twist in its contemporary social context, the essay discusses how the social situation influenced Dickens and his readers, including how the author chose to construct the character and how the reading public responded to it. The discussion reveals that the orphan child was a useful literary figure, as it appealed to Victorian sentiments and could thereby constitute the foundation for the author’s moral claim. Additionally, Victorian readers were indeed influenced by their social context when reading the novel, as fiction and reality reciprocally illuminated each
other. Thus, Dickens’ portrayal of the young orphan boy in Oliver Twist invited readers to alter their perception of orphans in real life. Oliver Twist is a novel by Charles Dickens, written and released in the 1830s. It is his first book to realistically show poverty within London at the time, underlining the author’s belief that poverty could lead to a life of crime and misfortune.The book was first released in monthly instalments under the title Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress, until eventually being released as a three-volume novel.It has been adapted many times for film, television and the stage, making it a popular moral story for children and adults alike.
This is not an easy book for young children. Its historical context, dark themes, length and tricky subject-matter all mean that it requires a mature and confident reading ability to get the most out of it. Even concepts like a
‘workhouse’ will require sensitive explaining. In fact, at the time of its release, the focus on crime and death made it a bit of a scandalous text! However, it’s a classic story for a reason, and the wide range of adaptations means that there are childfriendly versions available if you think that there are important lessons to be learned within Oliver for your children. The Oxford English Classics Collection recommends the book for ages nine and up for this reason. It is best that you find a version of the Oliver Twist story for children, as the original text would be a difficult read for young learners.
Oliver Twist is a book about a young orphaned boy living in London in the Victorian era. After his mother dies during childbirth, Oliver is sent to live in a workhouse, where he is mistreated along with the other children who live there.
There’s not enough food to go around, and no role models to call on. Despite this, Oliver keeps his innocence and good nature, which stay with him throughout the story. One night, when served a tiny portion of ‘gruel’, Oliver asks for a second helping, and is punished by being sent to work for an undertaker. After being mistreated for long enough, Oliver decides to flee, and heads for London, which is around 70 miles away. There, he meets ‘The Artful Dodger’, a boy called John Dawkins who survives by pick-pocketing. The Dodger introduces him to an old man named Fagin, who has trained many boys to steal for him. Now, Oliver has become part of their gang without really having a choice. One day, the boys attempt to steal a handkerchief from an elderly gentleman named Mr Brownlow. This makes Oliver confused and fearful, so he attempts to run away. The man assumes that Oliver has fled because he’s guilty, so he catches him. Thankfully, the man realises that Oliver couldn’t have committed a crime like this, and he offers to take care of him at his home. Oliver is free of Fagin’s gang for a while, but because he’s seen them commit crimes, they soon come looking for him. We’re introduced to Nancy, a kind-hearted woman who is under the control of her boyfriend, Bill Sikes. She is sent to look for Oliver and bring him back, which is does successfully. Oliver is forced to take part in a burglary of a family called the Maylies, and is shot during in the arm. The Maylies decide to look after him, as
Fagin plots to get Oliver back. While on a trip to London, Rose Maylie meets with Mr Brownlow and Nancy, and they all work to find a safe home for Oliver away from Fagin and his gang. Bill Sikes finds out about this plan. Enraged by this betrayal, he kills Nancy, and accidentally dies in the process too. Oliver is eventually reunited with Mr Brownlow, who has discovered that Oliver is the halfbrother of a man called Monks. Not only does learn about his family for the first time, but he finds out he is entitled to a large fortune, which was left behind by his mother. Fagin’s plot is uncovered, and he is sentenced to death for his crimes, while Oliver, the Maylies and Mr Brownlow are able to leave London and live peacefully. ⁶
As the child hero of a melodramatic novel of social protest, Oliver Twist is meant to appeal more to our sentiments than to our literary sensibilities. On many levels, Oliver is not a believable character, because although he is raised in corrupt surroundings, his purity and virtue are absolute. Throughout the novel, Dickens uses Oliver’s character to challenge the Victorian idea that paupers and criminals are already evil at birth, arguing instead that a corrupt environment is the source of vice.
At the same time, Oliver’s incorruptibility undermines some of Dickens’s assertions. Oliver is shocked and horrified when he sees the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates pick a stranger’s pocket and again when he is forced to participate in a burglary. Oliver’s moral scruples about the sanctity of property seem inborn in him, just as Dickens’s opponents thought that corruption is inborn in poor people. Furthermore, other pauper children use rough Cockney slang, but Oliver, oddly enough, speaks in proper King’s English. His grammatical fastidiousness is also inexplicable, as Oliver presumably is not well-educated. Even when he is abused and manipulated, Oliver does not become angry or indignant. When Sikes and Crackit force him to assist in a robbery, Oliver merely begs to be allowed to “run away and die in the fields.” Oliver does not present a complex picture of a person torn between good and evil— instead, he is goodness incarnate.
Even if we might feel that Dickens’s social criticism would have been more effective if he had focused on a more complex poor character, like the Artful Dodger or Nancy, the audience for whom Dickens was writing might not have been receptive to such a portrayal. Dickens’s Victorian middle-class readers were likely to hold opinions on the poor that were only a little less extreme than those expressed by Mr. Bumble, the beadle who treats paupers with great cruelty. In fact, Oliver Twist was criticized for portraying thieves and prostitutes at all. Given the strict morals of Dickens’s audience, it may have seemed necessary for him to make Oliver a saintlike figure. Because Oliver appealed to Victorian readers’ sentiments, his story may have stood a better chance of effectively challenging their prejudices.