How Are A Safe Place by Lorenzo Carcaterra And Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Similar And Different?
How Are 'A Safe Place' by Lorenzo Carcaterra
And 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens Similar
And Different?
'A Safe Place' by Lorenzo Carcaterra and 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens both have similar characters, being Oliver Twist and Lorenzo Carcaterra. They also have similar themes of poverty and childhood. Yet they were set in very different places at very different times. 'Oliver Twist' is the story of an orphaned boy and his struggle to survive in Victorian London. 'A Safe Place' is an autobiographical account of Lorenzo Carcaterra's childhood in 1940's Hells Kitchen, New York. It tells of how his father beat him and how his family was always trying to escape poverty. Therefore both books tell of a lonely and poverty-ridden childhood filled with abuse and false hope.
The first chapter of 'Oliver Twist' describes his birth. The way this event is described gives you an idea of his destiny. It writes him off from the beginning.
"He was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once - a parish child - the orphan of a workhouse - the humble, half-starved drudge - to be cuffed and buffeted through the world - despised by all". This quote sums up the mood of the entire first chapter. There is no hope for Oliver. Before Oliver runs away to London he is subjected to the labours of being an orphan in Victorian times. Charles Dickens manages to make the reader feel sorry for Oliver by condemning the way he is brought up and describing all the bad events in Oliver's life in great detail, "It was his ninth birth-day; and he was keeping it in the coal cellar". There are no references to anything good happening to Oliver in his early years. Similarly Lorenzo Carcaterra makes us feel sorry for him in his early life by describing the beatings he and his mother received and his fathers schemes to make money, "My father took a deep breath and hit my mother in the face, his closed fist landing just below her right eye".
However, later in the book Lorenzo Carcaterra almost justifies these acts by saying they helped him to grow up. Although we all know that beating your son is wrong in 'A Safe Place' it appears as just a regular part of New York family life. You are also made to feel sorry for both characters from their physical appearance. Oliver Twist is described as "A pale and thin child" and Lorenzo Carcaterra, although never described by himself, is referred to by others as being "small" and "weak".
'A Safe Place' is a modern novel about 1940's New ...
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However, later in the book Lorenzo Carcaterra almost justifies these acts by saying they helped him to grow up. Although we all know that beating your son is wrong in 'A Safe Place' it appears as just a regular part of New York family life. You are also made to feel sorry for both characters from their physical appearance. Oliver Twist is described as "A pale and thin child" and Lorenzo Carcaterra, although never described by himself, is referred to by others as being "small" and "weak".
'A Safe Place' is a modern novel about 1940's New York. This is shown in the way it is written and the language that Lorenzo Carcaterra uses. Lorenzo Carcaterra had a poor education, speaking only Italian for the first years of his life. This shows in the language used in 'A Safe Place'. It is colloquial and conversational throughout and everything is described in a matter-of-fact way, if described at all. There is also a lot of swearing used, especially in dialogue, as this was the way most New Yorkers spoke. Dialogue in the book is kept to a minimum and most events are described from Lorenzo Carcaterra's point of view looking back on them. The book is written in this way to bring to life the feel of New York at the time. Despite the lack of description the simple dialogue and colloquial feel of the book give it an atmosphere that matches the sombre mood of the stories being told. The language in 'Oliver Twist' is a stark contrast. It is very proper, Victorian language due to this being the style of writing at the time it was written. There are large amounts of elaborate description, often using long, structured sentences, and in-depth character descriptions at every introduction. Charles Dickens effortlessly switches between physical description and more in depth character analysis, "Now, Mr. Bumble was a fat man, and a choleric; so instead of responding to this open-hearted salutation in a kindred spirit, he gave a little wicket a tremendous shake". There is also a lot of flowing dialogue, which can often become confusing to read, as it is hard to follow who is talking. Conversations often last more than two pages. The language in the two novels is very different but both fit the era in which they were written. Charles Dickens and Lorenzo Carcaterra use very different descriptions for both characters and settings but both work to the same effect. Charles Dickens painting an elaborate and dark view of the back streets of Victorian London and Lorenzo Carcaterra telling tales of a rough yet close neighbourhood in 1940's New York.
'Oliver Twist' is written from a 3rd person point of view. It is as though Charles Dickens is watching the events unfold before him and telling the reader how he sees them, although often with a slight bias towards Oliver. It is told by an omniscient narrator. When Oliver Twist was first written it was in weekly sagas for a magazine. This explains the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter and the way the storylines jump around and are unpredictable. "And still the two old gentleman sat, perseveringly, in the dark parlour, with a watch between them." is an example of one of these cliffhangers. This writing style makes the book more exciting and unpredictable. 'A Safe Place' is narrated as an autobiographical account of Lorenzo Carcaterra's life. It is mostly his thoughts and opinions on events although occasionally he tries to show other peoples feelings about situations in his writing. He talks about delicate events without compassion as though they were an everyday occurrence, "His wife's head hung to one side, her arms and legs weightless and limp, her mouth half-open, her tongue curled near the edge of her lower lip. She had been dead for less than a minute". Unlike most autobiographies, 'A Safe Place' is not written in chronological order. Instead it is written as though Lorenzo Carcaterra is piecing together the events in his mind to work out what happened in both his and his father's life. This erratic, unconventional writing style is often hard to follow but makes the book more interesting to read. The two novels contrasting styles help make both an interesting read although 'Oliver Twist' does seem dated now.
In 'Oliver Twist' Charles Dickens is, as well as telling a story, giving a social commentary on Victorian times. Throughout the novel he condemns the way Victorians treated the poor, women's role in society, the amount of crime in London at the time and the unfairness of the workhouse system. "What a pity he isn't a prig!" the Artful Dodger says about Oliver at one point, showing Dickens' thought on how criminals were criminals for life in Victorian times. There was no other option. Each one of Charles Dickens characters has something to say about the way they are treated, abused, mistaken. Oliver himself experiences all of these cruelties during his hardships and Dickens uses him to give what can only be described as a rant on the government and society of the time. 'A Safe Place' also has a lot to say about the way the poor are treated by society as well as each other. Despite this it contrastingly talks about a "unity" and feeling of "closeness" between members of the neighbourhood. The beatings Lorenzo Carcaterra and his mother received at the hands of his father are seen as both disturbing and an integral part of family life. It is a view of volatile family life from a member of such a family. This position gives 'A Safe Place' a very personal feel to it as Lorenzo Carcaterra tells us all his thoughts on his unpleasant childhood and then continues these themes into his adult life. The books are written from a suitable point of view for the theme although 'A Safe Place' is probably a slightly more in-depth and realistic view of the issues it deals with. 'Oliver Twist' is more of a commentary although Charles Dickens childhood was also filled with poverty so he was in a better position than most to write about struggling to survive. In both books the poverty of certain characters leads to large amounts of stress, which leads to murder. This is an underlying theme in both books, saying that people only commit crimes because they are put in a position where they have to.
I conclude that 'A Safe Place' and 'Oliver Twist' have very similar themes, those being poverty, poor upbringing, isolation and death, but are written in very different styles, based on very different stories set in different periods and different places. Despite these differences both books provide a very good view of life at the time they were written and are as much about society and history as they are about being stories.
Matthew Estall