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Poverty and Crime in Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist between 1837-1839 as a critique of 19th century English poverty. The novel explores major themes of poverty, crime, religion, free will versus fate, mob mentality, and appearance versus morality. Poverty rose significantly in large, industrialized cities and some resorted to crime like theft or begging. Religious institutions that operated workhouses and orphanages were often cruel and inhumane in their treatment of the poor. The story of Oliver questions whether characters are fated to behave as they do or can exercise free will despite harsh circumstances.

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224 views11 pages

Poverty and Crime in Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist between 1837-1839 as a critique of 19th century English poverty. The novel explores major themes of poverty, crime, religion, free will versus fate, mob mentality, and appearance versus morality. Poverty rose significantly in large, industrialized cities and some resorted to crime like theft or begging. Religious institutions that operated workhouses and orphanages were often cruel and inhumane in their treatment of the poor. The story of Oliver questions whether characters are fated to behave as they do or can exercise free will despite harsh circumstances.

Uploaded by

Parawgay Danar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Oliver Twist_Analysis

Week 2
Basics
• Author: Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

• Publication: 1837-1839, appeared in


installments in Bentley's Miscellany magazine.
Historical Background
As the cities got bigger with the Industrial Revelution, poverty rose.
Some poor people relied on selling newspapers, carrying packages
for passerby and begging. The very poor depended on charity. The
Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 made it possible for the poor to
live in workhouses where they were given a place to sleep, minimal
wages, some clothing and a limited amount of food. They, of course,
had to work in return. The poor sometimes turned to crime, usually
theft. Crime rates rose in cities like London. Child crime, especially
pickpocketing, was popular. Poor women turned to prostitution to
make a living.
Major themes
• Poverty: how it is treated?
• Crime: not only lower classes
• Religion: treatment of the poor
• Free will and fate: Why didn’t Oliver become a thief?
What about Nancy’s sacrifice?
• Mob mentality: when they chase Oliver
• Appearance versus morality
Poverty
• Poverty in the 19th Century England. With the Industrial
Revolution, cities got bigger and so did poverty
• Dickens himself experienced poverty. His father went to
prison for debts. Dickens had to work in a dirty factory to ease
family debts
• The novel is a social criticism of poverty in that time, also
known as novel of protest
• The baby farm
Failure of institutions
• The workhouse
Crime
• Crime was a problem in the 19 th century England,
especially in the over 1 million people city of
London
• Fagin’s band: pickpocketing was among the
popular crimes
• The environment and upbringing
• Mr. Bumble, Monks = crime in the novel is not
limited to the lower classes
Religion
• Baby farms, orphanages and workhouses
were maintained by the religious
establishment
• The way the poor and the needy are treated
by the establishment is questionable
• The religigous men are portrayed as cruel and
inhumane
Free will and fate
• The idea of fate implied that characters behave and
live in the way they do because it is their fate and
they cannot choose otherwise
• Free will, on the other hand, means that there is a
level of freedom to make choices
• Oliver not turning into a thief and Nancy sacrificing
her life both imply that there is choice and that no
matter how harsh the circumstances, one can choose
not accept it as their fate.
Mob mentality
• A mob is a large crowd of people, especially one that
is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence.
• Dickens deals with mobs in Oliver Twist and in his
other works such as in A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens
shows the danger of mob mentality
• In Oliver Twist, a mob chases Oliver, believing that he
is a thief. It turns out, however, that Oliver was
innocent
Appearance versus morality
• Physical appearance as reflection of morality
• Fagin and Sikes=ugly
• Oliver and Rose= beautiful
Thank you for your
attention ☺

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