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Oliver Twist Essay

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Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist provides insight into the experience of the poor in 1830s England. Beneath the novel's humor and dramatic plot runs an undertone of bitter criticism of the Victorian middle class's attitudes toward the poor. Dickens's Oliver Twist very vividly critisizes the legal system, workhouses, and middle class moral values and marriage practices of 1830s England. Basic Situation: Oliver Twist is born a sickly infant in a workhouse. His birth is attended by the parish surgeon and a drunken nurse. His mother kisses his forehead and dies, and the nurse announces that Oliver's mother was found lying in the streets the night before. The surgeon notices that she is not wearing a wedding ring. Oliver is then placed into a …show more content…

Brownlow takes Oliver into his home and nurses him back to health because Oliver had fallen ill during the trail. While living with Mr. Brownlow, Oliver sees a picture of a young woman who has a very dramatic affect on him. "A portrait of a young woman catches Oliver's eye. It seems to affect him so much; that Mrs. Bedwin fears the emotion will wear him out". (Dickens; chp.10) Shortly after this incident Oliver is kidnapped by Nancy, a girl who works for Fagin, and forced to rob a house where he is shot by the owners of the house and left to die in a ditch by the men forcing him to rob the house. The day after he is shot he is taken in by the people who shot him and lives there safely until Fagin finds him again. As it turns out Fagin wasn't the only person looking for Oliver, a man by the name of Monks is also looking for him. Monks is also Oliver's brother but does not want his identity to be revealed in order to receive his father's inheritance. Nancy then tells Ms. Maylie a caretaker of the family where Oliver was staying his true identity. That very same night Nancy was beaten to death by Sites, the man she stayed with. Resolution: Meanwhile, Mr. Brownlow has captured Monks, whose real name is Edward Leeford. Brownlow was a good friend of his father, Mr. Leeford, who was a young man when his family forced him to marry a woman ten years older than he. The couple eventually separated, and Monks

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