Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist is an 1838
novel by
Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a
serial.
Like most of Dickens' work, the book is used to call the public's attention to various contemporary social evils, including the workhouse,
child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. The novel is full of sarcasm and dark humour, even as it treats its serious subject, revealing the
hypocrisies of the time.
It has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and the basis for a highly successful
British musical,
Oliver!.
Encyclopedia
Oliver Twist is an 1838
novel by
Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a
serial.
Like most of Dickens' work, the book is used to call the public's attention to various contemporary social evils, including the workhouse,
child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. The novel is full of sarcasm and dark humour, even as it treats its serious subject, revealing the
hypocrisies of the time.
It has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and the basis for a highly successful
British musical,
Oliver!.
Plot summary
Oliver Twist is born into a life of hardship and misfortune. Orphaned from the onset of his life due to his mother’s death in child-birth and his father’s conspicuous absence, Oliver is meagerly provided for under the terms of the Poor Law. Thus, Oliver spends the first nine years of his life within a branch-workhouse of the one in which he had the misfortune to be born. Along with other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws, Oliver is brought up with little food and few comforts.
Around the time of the orphan’s ninth birthday,
Mr. Bumble, a parish beadle, removes Oliver from the branch-workhouse and puts him to work in the main facility. Oliver, who toils with very little food, remains in the workhouse for six months. After that period, Oliver breeches regulations by requesting, on behalf of another boy, that he receive another portion of gruel. The board of gentlemen who administer the workhouse are outraged by Oliver’s request, perceiving him as ungrateful. Desiring to get rid of Oliver, the board offers a sum of money to any person wishing to take on the boy as an apprentice. Mr. Sowerberry, an
undertaker employed by the parish, eventually takes Oliver into his service.
While in the service of the undertaker, Oliver is abused by Noah Claypole, a charity boy and apprentice of Mr. Sowerberry. On one particularly occasion, in an attempt to bait a reaction out of Oliver, Noah insults the orphan’s late mother. Oliver takes great offense to Noah’s words and proceeds to attack the boy. The disagreement between the two is heightened when Mrs. Sowerberry, who dislikes Oliver, is summoned. Following an administration of punishment for attacking Noah, for the charity boy twists the circumstances of the fight to make Oliver seem like an unprovoked murderer, the orphan decides to flee from the undertaker. Leaving during the night, he wanders aimlessly at first. However, he soon sets his destination as
London.
During his journey to London, Oliver encounters Jack Dawkins, who is also known as the Artful Dodger. Dawkins provides Oliver with a free meal and tells him of a gentleman in London who will aid him in becoming established. Grateful for the assistance he has been given, Oliver follows Dawkins to the gentleman’s residence. Thus, Oliver unwittingly stumbles into the association of a Jewish criminal named Fagin, the gentleman of whom Dawkins spoke. Oliver resides with Fagin and his criminal associates for some time, unaware that of their unlawful occupations.
With time, Oliver goes out upon a pick-pocketing expedition with two of Fagin’s underlings: Dawkins and a boy named Charlie Bates. Though he is unaware of the criminal intentions of the other boys until a robbery actual takes place and does not participate, Oliver finds himself accused of stealing. He is eventually freed from accusation and put under the nurturing custody of an old gentleman named Mr. Brownlow, who he was previously thought to have robbed, after falling ill in court. Oliver resides with Mr. Brownlow for a while, living in great happiness as a result of being treated well. His bliss, however, is interrupted when Fagin orchestrates the kidnapping of Oliver back to his haven of thieves. This is done for Fagin fears that Oliver will tell the authories of his criminal operations.
After being captured by Fagin and abused for some time, Oliver is again employed in an illegal operation. Bill Sikes, a violent thief who had helped kidnap Oliver away from Mr. Brownlow, uses the boy to break into a house via a small window. The robbery goes wrong, however, and Oliver is shot. After being abandoned by Sikes, a wounded Oliver ends up under the care of the people he had attempted to rob: Rose Maylie and the elderly Mrs. Maylie. Convinced of Oliver’s innocence, Rose Maylie take the boy in and nurses him back to health.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Monks has found Fagin and is plotting with him to destroy Oliver's reputation. Nancy, fearing their intentions, goes to Rose Maylie and Mr. Brownlow to reveal their plot. She manages to keep her meetings secret until Noah Claypole agrees to spy on Nancy and then tells Fagin. Angry at the notion of his plot being foiled, Fagin passes it on to Sikes, twisting the story just enough to make it sound as if Nancy had informed on him. Believing that she has betrayed him, Sikes murders Nancy in a fit of rage, and is himself killed when he accidentally hangs himself while being pursued by an angry mob. Monks is forced by Mr. Brownlow to divulge his secrets and give half of his inheritance to Oliver. Then Monks moves to
America, where he quickly spends his money, reverts to crime, and ultimately dies in
prison. Fagin is arrested and
hanged for his misdeeds. Rose Maylie turns out to be the long-lost sister of Oliver's mother Agnes; she is therefore Oliver's aunt. She marries her long-time sweetheart Harry, and Oliver lives happily with his saviour, Mr. Brownlow.
Characters in "Oliver Twist"
- Oliver – the main protagonist, a boy born in a workhouse
- Fagin – a Jew who recruits and trains boys for thievery
- Bill Sikes – a violent thief
- The Artful Dodger aka Jack Dawkins – one of Fagin's boy pickpockets
- Charley Bates; another of Fagin's boy pickpockets
- Nancy – barmaid and Bill's girl
- Betsy – a thief of Fagin's and friend of Nancy
- Noah Claypole – apprentice to Mr Sowerberry
- Mr. Brownlow
- Monks, aka Edward Leeford – Oliver's half-brother
- Rose Maylie
- Mr. Bumble – the parish Beadle
- Mr. Sowerberry – an Undertaker who takes Oliver into his service
- Mrs. Sowerberry
- Charlotte – servant to Mrs Sowerberry
- Gamfield – a vicious chimney-sweep
- Mrs Bedwin – housekeeper to Mr Brownlow
- Mr Grimwig – an old friend of Mr Brownlow's
- Barney – a villainous friend of Fagin's
Major themes
The novel is characterized by the use of various motifs.
Charity and love are motifs because even though Oliver is treated horribly by most people, he is shown love by a few good people – Mr. Brownlow, Mrs. Maylie, and even Nancy.
Greed and corruption are also motifs because of how people take advantage of Oliver. He is taken advantage of by Mr. Bumble at the workhouse and the thieves. Mr. Fagin tries to control Oliver, to use him for his own wealth. Monks tries to steal his identity and his inheritance.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
There have been many
theatrical,
film and
television adaptations of Dickens' novel:
- The earliest film adaptation is a silent film made in 1909.
- Oliver Twist is an 1838 [i] novel [i] by Charles Dickens [i]. ...
, a feature film from 1948 by David Lean, starring Alec Guinness in one of his most defining roles as Fagin, is still considered the classic film version. - In 1960, Lionel Bart's musical play Oliver! opened to rave reviews in London. It became the longest-running musical there up to that time, playing six years. Producer David Merrick brought the show to the United States. The show toured nationally in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit before opening at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway on January 6, 1963, where it received less ecstatic reviews and did not run nearly as long as it did in London.
- Lionel Bart's musical was adapted for the big screen in Oliver! , and won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1969, featuring Mark Lester as Oliver. It received better reviews than the show had. The film also won an Oscar for its director, Sir Carol Reed.
- A 1985 BBC television drama adaptation in their Classic Serial strand, produced by Terrance Dicks and starring Eric Porter as Fagin.
- An animated interpretation by Disney called Oliver & Company is a 1988 [i] animated feature [i] film [i] that was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation [i] ...
, loosely based on Dickens, about an orphaned cat named Oliver who meets a dog called Dodger. - A television movie, Oliver Twist is an 1838 [i] novel [i] by Charles Dickens [i]. ...
, was released in 1997. - An ITV/PBS production, Oliver Twist is an 1838 [i] novel [i] by Charles Dickens [i]. ...
, from 1999, adapted by Alan Bleasdale and starring Robert Lindsay as Fagin, and Andy Serkis
...
as Bill Sikes. This version is heavily influenced by notions of political correctness.
- The 2003 movie Twist by director Jacob Tierney is loosely based on the novel but set in modern-day Toronto with male prostitution and drugs, rather than pickpocketing.
- Boy called Twist by director Timothy Greene is set in Cape Town, South Africa, in the street-kid scene. With its unglamorous but sympathetic account of city poverty, the film is true to Dickens' story.
- In 2005 director Roman Polanski released a new big-budget version of Oliver Twist is an 1838 [i] novel [i] by Charles Dickens [i]. ...
.
Adaptations of the novel tend to simplify the original story.
The way the book is normally interpreted on screen causes modern readers to focus on Bill Sikes as the villain. They thus fail to recognise how Fagin has trained Sikes and made him what he is; part of Dickens' message is that he might have done the same with Oliver had chance not intervened.
The renowned comic book creator,
Will Eisner, disturbed by the
anti-semitism in the typical depiction of Fagin, created a
graphic novel in 2003 titled
Fagin the Jew is the title of a Graphic novel [i] by Will Eisner [i]. ...
. In this book, the back story of the character and events of
Oliver Twist are depicted from his point of view.
External links
- Online Text** - Easy to read HTML version.
- – complete book in HTML one page for each chapter.
- - Searchable HTML version.
- - Read Oliver Twist in the RSS Version.
- Critical analysis
