In what ways does dickens create effective images of people and places. Explore this idea with reference to 3 people and places vividly described.
In what ways does dickens create effective images of people and places. Explore this idea with reference to 3 people and places vividly described.
"Among other public buildings in the town of Mudfog, it boasts one of which is common to any town great or small, to wit, a workhouse." Being born in a parish workhouse is bad enough, but when his mother dies, he becomes an orphan in the care of Mr Bumble the parish beadle. Not knowing what is right or wrong Oliver dares to ask for more after dinner and is sent to different places to be an apprentice. When another apprentice taunts him about his mother they end up fighting and Oliver runs away to London. For the first time he meets up with people and experiences he shouldn't.
Oliver is one of the main characters, but he is different to all the others because he is built up from all of the experiences he goes through. This makes him seem rather boring at the beginning. Whereas other main characters such as Fagin, are set as they are and don't change because nothing that they go through changes their character as much as it does to Oliver. He is very adaptable and makes it look like he fits in but in some cases he doesn't, for example, " The gruel disappeared, and the boys whispered each other and winked at Oliver, while his next neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger and reckless with misery. He rose from the table, and advancing, basin and spoon in hand, to the master, said, somewhat alarmed at his own temerity.
'Please, Sir, I want some more.' "
As Oliver was doing this you can imagine that the other children were sitting behind him sniggering about the trick they played on him. He doesn't realise that he is doing wrong as he wasn't brought up knowing what is right and wrong. He doesn't fit in because Oliver is spirited, full of hopes and dreams whereas the others have convinced themselves that they will never get out of the workhouse and therefore it will never happen. Dickens uses Oliver to reach our emotions and makes us feel for him. In another situation he is much happier, for example,
" 'Oh, don't tell me you are going to send me away, sir, pray!' exclaimed Oliver, alarmed by the serious tone of the old gentleman's commencement; 'don't turn me out of doors to wander in the streets again. Let me stay here and be a servant. Don't send me back to the wretched place I came from. Have mercy upon a poor boy, sir; do!' "
This tells the reader that he likes staying there and wants to stay here he is comfortable and by the looks of things can tell the old gentleman almost anything. Again Dickens is using Oliver to reach out to us and makes us see that the workhouse system never worked. You seldom see Oliver with children of his own age and I think Dickens done this on purpose so that it seems like he is alone in the world with no to turn to especially when he is in the dark situations or places. When Oliver is with Fagin and his boys in Fagin's den is the only time you see Oliver with people his age but he still doesn't fits in because the one thing he fears is a life of crime. "'What's that?' said the Jew. 'What do you watch me for? Why are you awake? What have you seen? Speak out, boy! Quick--quick! for your life.'
'I wasn't able to sleep any longer, sir,' replied Oliver, meekly.
'I am very sorry if I have disturbed you, sir.'
'You were not awake an hour ago?' said the Jew, scowling fiercely on the boy.
'No! No, indeed!' replied Oliver.
'Are you sure?' cried the Jew: with a still fiercer look than before: and a threatening attitude.
'Upon my word I was not, sir,' replied Oliver, earnestly. 'I was not, indeed, sir.' "
This quote shows that Oliver is rather frightened when he is shouted at by Fagin and is worried ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
'I wasn't able to sleep any longer, sir,' replied Oliver, meekly.
'I am very sorry if I have disturbed you, sir.'
'You were not awake an hour ago?' said the Jew, scowling fiercely on the boy.
'No! No, indeed!' replied Oliver.
'Are you sure?' cried the Jew: with a still fiercer look than before: and a threatening attitude.
'Upon my word I was not, sir,' replied Oliver, earnestly. 'I was not, indeed, sir.' "
This quote shows that Oliver is rather frightened when he is shouted at by Fagin and is worried when he questions him again but as soon as he leaves Oliver and is sure he wasn't awake watching him the whole time, Oliver is relieved. You can also see the different effects of what different people say to Oliver, for example when Mr Brownlow speaks to him he reacts kindly and answers politely, " 'There are a good many books, are there not, my boy?' said Mr. Brownlow, observing the curiosity with which Oliver surveyed the shelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling.
'A great number, sir,' replied Oliver. 'I never saw so many.' "
Oliver reply is much more laid back than this,
" 'Did you see any of these pretty things, my dear?' said the Jew, laying his hand upon it after a short pause.
'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver."
In this quote it seems like he is answering because he has to, not because he wants to. Dickens has managed to plant in our heads what each character is like and how they react to each other, this allows us to make very accurate images of what is going on. Oliver seems to look for a mother figure everywhere he goes and in most places he finds it, in the Fagin's den he had Nancy, at Mr Brownlows house he has Mrs Bedwin and at the Maylies he has Rose. He does this because his mother died and he has never had a mother as such so therefore is searching for one.
Another of the main characters is Fagin, he tends to live on power and loves to boss the boys around. Fagin tries to have power over Oliver but does not succeed as he has hope and dreams and when he finds out what they were doing at Fagin's den he wanted to get out and believed he could. Fagin also has considerable power over female characters like Nancy. There are times when he seems not so powerful, for example, " 'It's all passed safe through the melting-pot,' replied Fagin, 'and this is your share. It's rather more than it ought to be, my dear; but as I know you'll do me a good turn another time, and-'
'Stow that gammon,' interposed the robber, impatiently. 'Where is it? Hand over!'
'Yes, yes, Bill; give me time, give me time,' replied the Jew, soothingly. 'Here it is! All safe!' As he spoke, he drew forth an old cotton handkerchief from his breast; and untying a large knot in one corner, produced a small brown-paper packet. Sikes, snatching it from him, hastily opened it; and proceeded to count the sovereigns it contained.
'This is all, is it?' inquired Sikes."
In this part of 'Oliver Twist' Sikes is more the one that has power over Fagin, rather than the other way round. This makes it seem like Fagin is almost bullying the boys because he is being bullied himself, also he seems to be tormenting him although Sikes could easily over power him and get what he wants by force.
"He sat down on a stone bench opposite the door, which served for seat and bedstead; and casting his blood-shot eyes upon the ground, tried to collect his thoughts. After awhile, he began to remember a few disjointed fragments of what the judge had said: though it had seemed to him, at the time, that he could not hear a word. These gradually fell into their proper places, and by degrees suggested more: so that in a little time he had the whole, almost as it was delivered. To be hanged by the neck, till he was dead--that was the end. To be hanged by the neck till he was dead." In this extract it seems as if Dickens is trying to make him appeal to the reader as if we were God and ask us not to let him die. Fagin is a trapped man, even at the beginning he has trapped himself into a life of crime and has sentenced himself to death. His thoughts always center on himself even at the end when he is sentenced to death, though the crime he was charged with is not made clear. Right from the beginning we know at the back of our minds he is going to go the same way as every other person like him has and Dickens gradually hints that Fagin is more sinister than the reader first thinks and that is why the reader almost knows he would be convicted because of Dickens hinting.
Mr Bumble is introduced in chapter 2 and seems quite fair and reasonable at the beginning as he is taking Oliver to be apprenticed, but when we find out that he is giving money to the person who is to take him on it makes him seem more and more self-centred and selfish. "Oliver was ordered into instant confinement; and a bill was next morning pasted on the outside of the gate, offering a reward of five pounds to anybody who would take Oliver Twist off the hands of the parish. In other words, five pounds and Oliver Twist were offered to any man or woman who wanted an apprentice to any trade, business, or calling." This suggests that both M Bumble and the workhouse are selfish and self-centred. Mr Bumble and Mrs Bumble are bullies although when Mr Bumble meets a confrontation he becomes cowardly, "Mr. Bumble drew a long breath, as if he were glad to find that the story was over, and no mention made of taking the five-and-twenty pounds back again; and now he took courage to wipe the perspiration which had been trickling over his nose, unchecked, during the whole of the previous dialogue." This extract makes him seem even more cowardly as it is after him and Mrs Bumble have been bargaining for the locket with Monks and they throw it in the river. Dickens is using the Bumbles to attack the way the poor law works and what it does, he wanted to show the difference between who were deserving poor and those who were poor because they were idle. There is a saying that God pays debts without money and Dickens shows this saying in action when in a peculiar twist, the Bumbles end up in the very workhouse they once ran. This seems like God (Dickens) has turned the tables on them and because of all their selfishness they have been put in their own workhouse.
All of the characters are affected by the places they are in or the places they go. Oliver for example flourishes in a happy, bright environment with a loving family around him looking after him and this is what he has always dreamed of because of the way he was brought up. On the other hand a character like Fagin seems to fit in better in a dark and dingy place like Fagin's den because that is his type of character. Mr Bumble seems to flourish where ever there is profit for him and where ever he can make money. When you muddle all these people and places up you tend to reveal more about the character. For example when you have Oliver in Mr Brownlows house he is quite happy, " 'Oh, don't tell me you are going to send me away, sir, pray!' exclaimed Oliver" saying this it is obvious that Oliver doesn't want to leave the Brownlow house hold because they "he was tended with a kindness and solicitude that knew no bounds." He was happy there but when he was at the Sowerberrys he wanted to get away so much that he ran away, "It was not until he was left alone in the silence and stillness of the gloomy workshop of the undertaker, that Oliver gave way to the feelings which the day's treatment may be supposed likely to have awakened in a mere child. He had listened to their taunts with a look of contempt; he had borne the lash without a cry: for he felt that pride swelling in his heart which would have kept down a shriek to the last, though they had roasted him alive. But now, when there were none to see or hear him, he fell upon his knees on the floor; and, hiding his face in his hands, wept such tears as, God send for the credit of our nature, few so young may ever have cause to pour out before him! For a long time, Oliver remained motionless in this attitude. The candle was burning low in the socket when he rose to his feet. Having gazed cautiously round him, and listened intently, he gently undid the fastenings of the door, and looked abroad." This is the extract in which he runs away and he does so because he doesn't fit in with them and is taunted by the other apprentice about his mother. You can see the difference in the 2 places and what he is like in the 2 places. At Mr Brownlows house he is very laid back about things and love talking to people there but when he is at Mr Sowerberrys house he is more uptight especially when talking to Noah Claypole, the other apprentice, who taunts him about his mother.
Fagin's den seems very fitting to Fagin's character because it is very dark and dingy. Dickens makes it sound like a disused house, with leaks and almost like it was burned out at some point. Fagin almost seems like a caricature of an evil headmaster whose boys will graduate in crime. This is what makes him seem so fitting to this setting. When you see Fagin in his setting he is very relaxed and knows what he wants and know how to get it, "'This is him, Fagin,' said Jack Dawkins; 'my friend Oliver Twist.'
The Jew grinned; and, making a low obeisance to Oliver, took him by the hand, and hoped he should have the honour of his intimate acquaintance. Upon this, the young gentleman with the pipes came round him, and shook both his hands very hard--especially the one in which he held his little bundle. One young gentleman was very anxious to hang up his cap for him; and another was so obliging as to put his hands in his pockets, in order that, as he was very tired, he might not have the trouble of emptying them, himself, when he went to bed. These civilities would probably be extended much farther, but for a liberal exercise of the Jew's toasting-fork on the heads and shoulders of the affectionate youths who offered them. 'We are very glad to see you, Oliver, very,' said the Jew. 'Dodger, take off the sausages; and draw a tub near the fire for Oliver. Ah, you're a-staring at the pocket-handkerchiefs! eh, my dear. There are a good many of 'em, ain't there? We've just looked 'em out, ready for the wash; that's all, Oliver; that's all. Ha! ha! ha!'" In this extract Fagin is very relaxed because he is in his territory and knows where things are and feels at home and powerful because he has allowed him into his lodgings to sleep.
The language Dickens uses makes it see like you are actually there with all the characters in the story. He uses it to make the reader join in with the plot and to attack the way things worked in the 1830's. Dickens manages to create effective images by using his well known descriptive writing of the people and how they fit in with the places they go or end up in. these images change the whole way the plot of the text 'Oliver Twist' affects its reader.
Alex Fulker Page 1 Jan 2004
