Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist

Posted: March 26th, 2020

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Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist

My Questions

1. What is the theme of the novel?
2. What real world issues does the story reveal regarding society?
3. Does Oliver’s last name aid the plot’s development?

My Key Points

Main Events

The protagonist, Oliver Twist, is born into the life of a street urchin after his mother dies right after his conception. After escaping a cruel orphanage, Oliver is provided with a place of residence by a boy, Jack Dawkins, which belonged to the criminal, Fagin. Oliver is adopted by Mr. Brownlow, the victim of a theft orchestrated by Fagin’s pickpockets due to the resemblance that he bears with the portraiture of a youthful woman placed in his house (Donovan 123). The truth regarding Oliver’s father is discovered after Mr. Brownlow confronts Monks regarding the protagonist’s actual parentage. Eventually, Oliver is finally adopted by Mr. Brownlow where he lives a blissful life together with the Maylies.

Characters

Oliver is a street urchin unaware of his paternal parentage. Monks is his half-brother who has attempted to restrict him from gaining a share of their father’s inheritance. Mr. Brownlow is responsible for taking care of Oliver and eventually adopts him after the truth is revealed.

Summary

Born as a street urchin, Oliver is a young man that naively enters into a world of crime as an outcome of his escape from the orphanage. Under the tutelage of Fagin and Jack Dawkins, he attempts to engage in pick pocketing only for him to be arrested and taken in by Mr. Brownlow – the man from whom Oliver’s associates stole from during his first mission. Despite thriving in Mr. Brownlow’s home, Oliver is kidnapped by members of Fagin’s gang, specifically Bill Sikes and Nancy and returned to Fagin. Eventually, Fagin sends him together with Sikes to orchestrate a burglary only for the protagonist to be shot by the house servant. After Sikes escapes, Oliver is taken by the house’s owner, Mrs. Maylie, and her espoused niece. Eventually, it is revealed that Oliver’s mother left behind a locket made of gold, which Monks attained and destroyed. However, upon confrontation, Oliver’s paternity is revealed and he is adopted by Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies.

Wordmaster

The word selected is handkerchief (Dickens 34). It is a piece of fabric commonly used for cleanliness. The handkerchief is essential to the narrative’s development.

Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist, or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. Edited by Philip Horne. Penguin Classics, 2006.

Donovan, Frank. The Children of Charles Dickens. Leslie Frewin, 1980.