Oliver Twist: The Life Of an Orphan Child During Victorian England

Throughout Dickens journey through life, the poor laws of Great Britain were closely intertwined. The first major impact that his childhood experiences had on him was his exposure to the factory system. The Industrial Revolution created large urban areas with a central factory that employed most of the area’s people. The factory was full of lower-class people in unsanitary conditions. In the days of Dickens’ factory experience the old poor laws were in effect. This helped Dickens’ situation greatly. His father lived in a fairly nice and sanitary prison, and was given time to find the money he owed. The old poor law system of giving aid to the poor helped to save the Dickens family. When Dickens grew up and was a parliamentary reporter, the new poor laws were about to be passed. Dickens realized that the new poor laws would bring doom to many families. The new poor laws did not help the poor but worsened their condition in order to drive them to work.

From the moment of his birth, Oliver Twist is besieged by pure evil, and while he grows up without knowledge of what being good is like, having never seen it, having never experienced it, he is able to maintain a level of morality that most of the adults around him cannot. His disposal into the workhouse, an institution original designed to help the poor but has been transformed into a house of punishment by the New Poor Law which callous

Charles Dickens, the author of a Christmas Carol, once said, “Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.” Just by reading this quote, it is safe to assume that Dickens is a strong believer in justice and helping others. He even wrote the book a Christmas Carol with similar themes. Although it is not always clear to understand what Dickens most wanted Londoners to learn, because of several lessons in his story, based on several pieces of evidence, there is one main theme. After learning about London in the past, his faith, and morals from the spirits in the novella, it was clear that Dickens most wanted Londoners to understand the importance of helping others and being generous.

Oliver twist is one of the well known novel during the Victorian era. Charles Dickens, a nineteenth century writer mentions the the story of the young boy named Oliver twist in England and the advantures that happen to him.the novel theme up with many interrelated ideas.it is concentrated with the miseries of poverty and the spread of its degrading effects through society,Many evils are awaken in the society because of poverty for instance hunger, homelessness illiteracy etc.which was shown clearly in the novel.one of the worst consequences of poverty and being deprived of life’s essential is crime,with all of its corrosive effects on human nature.in the Victorian era,poverty experienced was extreme in case of the working classes.the

Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned British writers with well-known and widespread work. Dickens was born in England in 1812 and died in 1870. During this time, Victorian England experienced an Industrial Revolution, which impacted his life tremendously. New factories and industrial machinery changed many lives of the lower class citizens. The family grew up impoverished and struggled to maintain a good lifestyle. The family’s financial situation was strained as John Dickens, Charles’s father, spent money that the family didn’t have. These societal factors were influential in Charles Dickens’s life, and the same themes present themselves in his works. When an author creates a work, frequently themes of their life events are incorporated into the theme of the book, consciously or unconsciously. Victorian Age industrial-influenced strife was a common theme in Dickens’s life and presented itself throughout Dickens’s books.

Fagin’s power lies within him being the elite in a criminal group; his “masculine’ qualities position in an area of ‘great and dangerous power”. White upper class males are seen as being the far more superior group then the lower social class. Whereas it could be argued that “A masculine gendering is supposed to evoke positive connotation”, the men 's in Oliver Twist are most typically linked to violence. The greed of Fagin is shown when he says ‘if you do it well, a pound my dear" this gives a reflection of his character in the story. His portrayed as being arrogant as he uses children for his own good as they are seen to steal money for him. His arrogant side is shown through his treatment of the children “what 's your name you hardened scoundrel” indicates his dominating behaviour toward the children as he has control over them and he doesn’t let Oliver speak "what is his name officer" show his controlling character indicate how people are scared of the way he presents and deceive

Throughout the novel Oliver was being mistreated because he was an orphan and was poor .In the began of the novel Charles Dickens refers to Oliver as the item of mortality' suggesting that he is at a low position in society is. Another way dickens prove that the poor were treated rudely is by describing the uncaring drunk nurse that is tasting in the corner instead of taking care Oliver and dying mother . Another way Charles dickens show that poor were treated horrible is when Mrs. Sowerberry first met Oliver she stated that “I see no saving parish children , not I for they always cost more to keep”( Dickens 57). When he lived in the workhouse Oliver was in solitaire confinement and threaten to be

England. Dickens addresses these issues in his timeless masterpiece Oliver Twist. In the story of Oliver Twist, Dickens uses past experiences from his childhood and targets the Poor Law of 1834 which renewed the importance of the workhouse as a means of relief

Combining entertainment with a deep critique of the contemporary socioeconomic system and philosophy, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist explores the reality that in Victorian London, crime was neither heroic nor romantic. A setting of debauchery, thievery, prostitution, and murder, Fagin's underworld didactically illustrates the "unattractive and repulsive truth (36)," that one's environment--not birth--influences character. Attempting to introduce society to the evil it had created, Dickens penned "Fagin's Last Night Alive," manipulating both his literal and figurative audience, capitalizing on the current sentiments and issues. By typifying Fagin as the absolute

Banerjee, Jacqueline. “Ideas of Childhood in Victorian Children’s Fiction: Orphans, Outcasts, Rebels.” The Victorian Web. N.p., 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. .

In a biography journal about Dickens, a passage states that “His early life is a current element in most of his novels. The bitter experiences of his childhood helped him to empathize his topics. The main problems Dickens mentioned in Oliver Twist were the deplorable conditions of children in the Victorian

The novel depicts the story of an orphan, Oliver Twist who starts his life in a workhouse and is then auctioned into apprenticeship with an undertaker . He doesn’t get food over there and has to starve for food .When his stomach is not filled he always says ,”Please, sir, I want some more.” He flees from there to London where he meets a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by criminals. Oliver was asked to do several tasks which he didn’t wanted to but he had to do. The consequence of these tasks were not good for Oliver , he was once caught and jailed . At the end of the novel Oliver is handed over to a person who later happens to be his

Charles Dickens came from a working class background and was taken away from his family to work in a dirty, filthy warehouse. Some of his brothers and sisters died when they were young. He did not have a good childhood. All his work, his novels were based on the main characters being poor, working class, uneducated with some sort of disability.

People tend naively see orphans and those without caring families as hopeless and loveless creatures. However, the goodness of strangers can easily prove these thoughts nonsensical as people can provide an abundance of support and love to those with no blood relation to them and can embrace strangers as family. In Charles Dickens’ two novels Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, Dickens challenges the typical idea of parentage and suggests the through love and generosity anyone can become a guardian or mentor figure. Therefore, people should not place as much faith in blood relations and look to others for sources of guidance and compassion.

"Please, sir," replied Oliver, "I want some more." No one will ever forget the simple plea made by the poor hungry little orphan named Oliver Twist. Nobody will be able to omit from his mind the painful blows that Oliver suffered. Nor will anyone cease to recall what it felt like to be young and helpless in a much bigger and stronger world. In an effort to bring the ostracized poverty situation of so many children to the public's attention, Charles Dickens wrote an unforgettable book to touch the hearts of millions. Whether he knew it then or not, he was also bringing a new connotation and worldwide innuendo to the term "child labor".