As the story was written in 1800’s the language spoken is very different from that which is used now. Dickens uses slang
“blowed upon”,
Blocks out swearing
“d----me”,
And abbreviates words
“d’ye hear me”.
This is how people talked then, especially in the underworld of London. When Sikes talks like this it makes him sound tougher as if he is speaking in a very loud, angry voice.
Many adjectives are used to describe Sikes and his appearance “stoutly built”,
“growled out”,
And
“drab beeches”
These perfectly allow us to visualise the character, which Dickens is trying to portray, an aggressive man. Sikes is both verbally and physically very violent, examples of both of these are,
“ “lie down!” This command was accompanied with a kick”
This was he talking to his dog Bullseye.
Strong words and phrases are used by Sikes, which further more shows his authority on others around him, he is portrayed as a bully.
“I’d have settled somebody”,
“come in”,
“D’ye hear?”
And
“lie down!”
Some of these examples are of Sikes being a bully towards his dog. Other instances of Sikes being a bully are in the ways he treats other characters in the story, particularly Nancy and Bullseye. Nancy is Sikes ‘personal friend’, however Sikes chooses when and where she is. This I believe is how it’s portrayed in the story. Nancy works for Sikes as a prostitute, this is another example of Dickens raising awareness of women as well as young boys and men to the ‘upper class’ people.
I think that Dickens was very bold by writing about a nice young women being a prostitute and how others treated her because of her past and present. I believe this to be bold as Victorian authors were not supposed to acknowledge the shuddering reality of prostitution.
Colloquial language is also present in the story with the phrases
“as if you was ashamed”
And
“who pitched that ere at me”,
This was used by Dickens to represent the true speech of the Victorian era.
Nancy is used to really show Sikes bad nature as she takes on a role of motherhood to the boys and like Oliver is only into this ‘life’ because she was not brought up knowing the difference between right and wrong I feel that during the story you see signs of her realising what a mess her life is, but by this time it is too late, so she tries to help Oliver and give him at least the chance to have a decent life. Points that back up my theory are the facts that she tries to help Oliver and feels sorry for him constantly. By showing Nancy as a mothering and caring person, we see Sikes as a bully, because he is the opposite too Nancy.
Nancy’s background is one of crime from an early age. He has a very low opinion of her, you can tell this by the way he talks to her
“she’ll go, Fagin”
And
“what do you mean by that?…… Looking up in a surly manner”,
He treats her very poorly.
Nancy shows resilience towards Sikes
“no, she won’t Fagin”,
But then eventually gives in, as his authority shows through. Bullseye, Sikes dog is used brilliantly by Dickens to show some of Sikes’ actions both brutally towards others and bullying towards the dog. Bullseye appearance is similar to Sikes, scruffy
“his face scratched and torn”
And generally very intimidating, however the dog is treated the same as or if not worse than others as he is kicked
“accompanied with a kick”
And shouted at
“lie down!”.
Sikes again shows his superiority with Fagin as he talks down to him, insults him and bosses him around. Fagin also calls Sikes “Mr” this again shows his authority.
The backgrounds are used excellently to show the moods of the characters in particularly Sikes, as I feel it mirrors his emotions and actions. Some of the scenes are described as
“dark and foggy”,
“heavy mist”,
“gloom”
And
“dismal and depressing”,
This further more adds to the already dark and scary atmosphere. The backgrounds used, I feel show in great detail the fact that Dickens has written about poverty, evil (Sikes), crimality (pick pocketing), uncertainty, depression (prostitution), and fear (Of Sikes). This creates a good and lasting image of the story in our heads.
Sikes death is a gruesome and brilliant end to his character.
“He lost his balance and tumbled over the parapet. The noose was on his neck. It ran up with his weight, tight as a bow-string, and swift as the arrow it speeds. He fell for five-and-thirty feet. There was a sudden jerk, a terrific convulsion of the limbs; and there he hung, with the open knife clenched in his stiffening hand”
This is the passage from the story that describes, in great detail Sikes’ death.
Some of the words used like swift, speeds and sudden I believe are used because Dickens as he wanted to kill of Sikes quickly, implying that justice would be done, to make up for all the evil he has put into the world.
Dickens has been clever with the way he has written Sikes’ death because all the way through the story we have hated Sikes’ character and the bad things he has done to others but at the end some of the people get their own back on him, like Fagin as he tricks him, which then causes his death. Also the way he dies makes us feel a bit sorry for him as its painful and grotesque.
But on the other hand were glad to see Sikes die in this way because throughout the story he has been abusive, selfish and brutal towards others and not forgetting the fact that he was a criminal, a kidnapper AND a murderer. Dickens may have also written about Sikes ‘accidentally’ hanging himself because if the hundreds of people who had gathered and were know after him, caught up with him, then he would of got hung by them in the town anyway.
Why the chase is on to catch Sikes, hundreds of people hear of what he has done and want to see him brutally killed because they believe that it would be justice.
“Each little bridge (and there were three in sight) bent beneath the weight of the crown upon it. Still the current poured on to find some nook or hole from which to vent their shouts, and only for an instant see the wretch”.
This shows how much Sikes was hated in his last few moments alive.
I also believe that justice was done when Sikes died, he was a bully, a woman beater, a murderer, a kidnapper and both physically and verbally cruel to everyone he met.
