Throughout the book Oliver has support from lots of different people, for example Dick, Fagin, Nancy, Mr Brownlow, and The Maylies. ‘A Child called it’ focuses on one individual with no support, not even from his family. In Oliver Twist, though it only describes one boy’s sufferings, it is also about the social injustices in general to people of a low social status, due to the stigma of poverty. Unlike A Child called it, which is about cruelty to one individual.
Charles Dickens was a social commentator of a period when social class was important and where lower classes were stigmatised as being evil crooks, which couldn’t be trusted, and were to be avoided. Another example of a reason people were discriminated against was race, in the book Fagin is constantly referred to as ‘The Jew,’ in Victorian times Jewish people were seen as immigrants, and people treated them with much the same discourtesy. Though in Victorian’s racism was not a recognized form of prejudice so these comments would have been acceptable, today it is strongly recognized and such references to his race would be unethical.
He spoke generally about society social conditions at that time, and sympathized with people they effected. His childhood was a great influence on his writing and especially in Oliver Twist. He himself was born into a debtor’s prison, and experienced such similar social conditions. In another of his books, Little Dorrit, he wrote about a young woman who was in a debtor’s prison, and again this greatly reflected the images of his own life. In ‘A Child called it’, David is born into a middle class family, and unlike Oliver Twist stays this status throughout. Oliver Twist starts off in the lowest class and gradually, through coincidences, ends up in a middle class family. Victorian society associates positive qualities with the middle class. Charles Dickens is making the point that Oliver gets social status through luck, and is the same person irrespective of his social standing. He is saying that society is unfair to judge people’s characters, by their social class, which is one of the main themes in the book. This cannot be said for ‘A Child called it though’, and isn’t illustrated as being important, which just shows how times have changed in that respect.
I will now examine the effects of family life and lifestyle on childhood. Oliver’s family only emerges at the end of the novel, though Fagin temporarily takes the place of a father figure. This is shown when Oliver is described as being one of his boys. Mr Brownlow also acts as a substitute dad when he takes Oliver in and looks after him. Mrs Bedwin, Brownlow’s housekeeper, cares for Oliver and provides his first real mothering when Brownlow rescues him from Fang. This character shows the contrast between kindness from a mother figure, and in David’s case cruelty from a mother figure. Pelzer has an established, complete family for the majority of the novel, up until when his father eventually leaves his mother. David’s experiences are about cruelty to one person by one person, his mother. In contrast, Oliver experiences cruelty from several people, such as Bill Sikes who on a regular basis abuses Oliver, the difference here though is that he also abused Nancy, and to such an extent that he murdered her. Another person who is cruel to him is Mr Sowerberry, who for a short period is Oliver’s master; he is forced by his wife’s cruelty to mistreat him until he is forced to run away.
Though both boys experience cruelty at times they are shown kindness at some points, though more in Oliver’s case. In ‘A Child called it’, one of David’s teachers shows him sympathy, and tries to voice her concerns for his neglect. Other times it is shown by neighbours, and sometimes complete strangers, who occasionally give him food. In Dickens’s novel such acts of humanity are shown by more prominent characters, in which there are several. First of all there is Mr Brownlow and Mrs Bedwin who take him in off the streets and make it their business to help him. Another is Nancy, who despite her loyalty to her partner Bill Sike’s, tries to protect Oliver as best she can, and because Rose knew what it was like to be rescued from an unhappy childhood, she urgently wanted to rescue Oliver, and Nancy also.
In that way, she is a representation of all the good instincts of Victorian society. On the surface, Rose is very different from Nancy. Though both were orphans, Rose was rescued as a child by Mrs. Maylie and grew up secure and protected. Like Nancy, she is compassionate and devoted to Oliver, but in contrast Rose is innocent of the hardships and evils of the world.
Finally I will look at crime, in ‘A Child called it’, David is forced to beg and steal for food, as his mother deprives him of this right. He doesn’t turn to this for long though, as sooner than later this venture is discovered. Another way in which crime is involved in this book, is simply the way his mother treats him, she deprives him even the simple things he is entitled to as a human being, such as food, love, and adequate living conditions. Though it is only after many years that her ongoing ill treatment of her son is discovered, eventually she pays her price, and David is rescued. This is similar, to Oliver in that he too is rescued. People eventually take pity on them, they are removed from their injustices, and their quality of life improved.
Oliver is exposed to crime many times in the novel, for instance with Fagin and Bill Sike’s. One of the main acts with Fagin is when he was sent out with the Artful Dodger and Charlie Bates pick pocketing. Oliver watches in horror as he witnesses Dodger attempting to steal a wallet from a respectable old gentleman, who is later known to be Mr Brownlow. Another memorable time was when Sike’s used Oliver’s stealth and vulnerability, in one of his schemes to overturn a house, this is later discovered to be that of The Maylies. In both cases there are positive outcomes to the crimes, and they both coincidently bring about characters like Mr Brownlow, and The Maylies, who help to secure Twist’s future.
After carefully studying the two novels Oliver Twist, and ‘A Child called it’, I conclude that I prefer the messages conveyed by Dickens. He depicts the unfairness of Victorian society well, especially when it comes to the treatment of children and the lower classes. Whilst ‘A Child called it’ conveys vividly one individual’s poor treatment and experiences, I feel that Oliver Twist contains underlying messages that are still relevant today.
