‘The humble, half- starved drudge- to be cuffed and buffeted through the world- despised by all, and pitied by none.’ Oliver’s unfortunate entrance into life is exaggerated by Dickens but is symbolic of all the poor orphan’s lives. He did this for effect and for the sympathy of the audience.
‘For the next eight or ten months, Oliver was the victim of a systematic course of treachery and deception.’ There was no woman at the workhouse that could breast feed Oliver, so he was ‘farmed out’ to a branch workhouse three miles away to join other baby boys who were also juvenile offenders against the poor laws. Dickens writes with great irony about this, to make the fact that babies were labeled juvenile offenders look ridiculous. They can’t possibly be; they are not old enough to speak let alone be legally responsible. He was sent to the care of Mrs. Mann; an uneducated poor lady who’s only hope was to use orphans to make money. She was paid seven pence- halfpenny per head per week, which Dickens states is a good round diet for a child, but she took most of the money for herself.
‘She knew what was good for children; and she had a very accurate perception of what was good for herself.’ Dickens words drip with sarcasm whilst describing Mrs. Mann’s character. He calls her a
‘Very great experimental philosopher’ and also
‘A woman of wisdom and experience.’ Mrs. Mann neglected the orphans; many died from starvation, beatings, diseases through horrific Hygene conditions and many other factors of her bad care such as simply being too cold. Babies were not watched over- some rolled into the open fire, and some were found dead in their beds on the rare occasion that the bed linen was changed. Mrs. Mann is not a suitable carer for those boys; far from it. But the parochial board do not care either; they see children from the same view as Mrs Mann- a moneymaking business. Dickens purpose in doing this was to shock his upper class audience by exaggerating the poor conditions in which Oliver lives.
At Mrs. Mann’s, Oliver, along with the other children, are punished for wanting food or warmth. But Mrs. Mann gets a surprise call from Mr. Bumble, the local beadle.
'Only think of that! That I should have forgotten that the gate was bolted on the inside, on account of them dear children!’ locking the beadle out of the house gave her enough time to get the boys a little bit cleaner, because if Mr. Bumble found out she was mistreating the boys she would have lost her job. ‘Buttering up’ Mr. Bumble is the only way to get on his good side, before he sees the starved, dirty and beaten children. The reason for the beadle’s visit is that Oliver, now being nine years old, is now too old to remain under her care, and the parochial board want him in the workhouse. When dickens writes
‘He had sense enough to make a feint of feeling regret at going away.’ It is evident that Oliver had been beaten too many times not to know that the way she treats him is their ‘secret.’ Mrs. Mann is scared that he might tell someone of the way they are treated, so she threatens him with her fist. When Mr. Bumble tells Oliver that she would come and visit, it was no great consolation to him. Dickens used Mrs. Mann’s character to show what the system was really like. The board chose a totally unsuitable person to look after the orphans, but that doesn’t worry them. This shows the reader that in dickens’ life and times people didn’t care about children. There were no laws protecting them, or special requirements for adults caring for children. He chose to write non- fiction, in episodes every month, to captivate people and make them want to find out more. He always finished each instalment on a cliffhanger, a trick to get people to read the next chapter, and so on. People are more likely to read the story and recommend it if it is enjoyable, which is why he didn’t write fiction.
‘They established a rule… of being starved by a gradual process in the house.’ The board decided, that as an incentive for people to lift themselves out of poverty, they would give them only thin gruel to eat, plus an onion twice a week and half a bread roll on Sundays. It was quite expensive at first, with the undertaker’s bill and having to alter everyone’s clothes for they were hanging loose off their thin bodies. But the plan turned out cheaper in the long run; there was less demand for food and the gruel was greatly diluted with water. This slow starvation discouraged people from going to the workhouse; enrolling became their very last and desperate option. The boys started to think of ways to get more food. One afternoon, a council was held and lots were cast who should walk up to the master after supper that evening and ask for more, and it fell to Oliver Twist. Oliver was desperate with hunger and miserable, like all of the other boys. So he did it. This caused the famous scene: Oliver Twist asking for more.
‘‘Please sir, I want some more.’’ The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale/ there was a general start. Horror was depicted on every countenance.’ This scene must be one of the most impacting out of the story. It is remembered to this day, (everyone has heard of the story of Oliver Twist asking for more). It is the most symbolic scene in the play of workhouse life: the master was amazed that this boy was daring to ask for more! But with his actions came the consequences, and his punishment was extensive. Each cold morning he had to pump the water pump while Mr. Bumble ‘kept him warm’ by beating him with a cane. Every other day, at dinner, he was publicly flogged in front of the other boys as a public warning and example. Also, at prayer time he would be made to listen to the boys praying to be guarded from the ‘sins and vices’ of Oliver Twist.
This line, I feel, sums up the torture that Oliver went through, how miserable and depressed he became:
‘He wished, as he crept into his narrow bed, that that were his coffin, and that he could be lain in a calm and lasting sleep in the churchyard ground’
Considering that Oliver is only nine years old, to know that the only way to find peace is through death would be very disconcerting in this day and age, but then Oliver had no one to love, or to love him or even pity him.
Everyone has either read, seen, heard about knows of the story of Oliver Twist. The story is so deeply rooted in our culture; the plot and characters are so well known to us that they have become almost myth like. You don’t have to have read the book to know the story of Oliver Twist. The story was turned into a successful musical too. Dickens gave the story distinct characters that made the plot so memorable, this was done purposefully to get the story and its messages known and remembered. Dickens used very old English language, his sentence structure is complex and his words long and old fashioned. For example, dickens would write a whole paragraph that would consist of just one sentence. One of his reasons for doing this was because he was being paid per word, so it makes sense to write long sentences. Now, we would not use the same language and his way of writing today. But, although his language may sometimes be difficult to understand, the way he depicts Oliver and the other characters is clear. The early chapters of the novel are episodic, and Dickens makes references to Oliver’s uncertain future, for example:
As I purpose to show in the sequel whether the white waist coated gentleman was right or not, I should perhaps mar the interest of this narrative (supposing it to possess any at all), if I ventured to hint just yet, whether the life of Oliver Twist had this violent termination or no. Dickens was uncertain of who Oliver was going to turn out to be until the novel was well established. He was planning the story as he went along, writing each chapter separately instead of planning the whole novel.
Overall, Oliver Twist is one of the great novels written with a desire to send a message out to people, and a message that changed people’s perspectives of poor life in those times, which I believe is the reason that it is remembered so well to this day. From reading this book I have learnt about the circumstances of those times in a way not possible from reading a textbook. I saw it through a child’s eyes.
