Oliver’s mother died when she was giving birth to him in the workhouse and no father claimed him so he was sent to live in an orphanage, where he was treated badly. He grew up there until he was nine years old and he was moved into the workhouse. At the workhouse he was an outcast and did not talk to any one. The others made him ask for more porridge, as he was the one who drew the short straw. This resulted in him being kept on his own and the workhouse wanting to get rid of him. From the workhouse he was taken to be an apprentice undertaker where he worked until he had a fight with another employee because he insulted his mother. Oliver then ran away from the town he was in and went to London to escape The Beadle of the workhouse.
There are similarities in the childhoods of Frank and Oliver. They both were unhappy in their childhood due to their poor backgrounds. Oliver was undernourished at his care homes and Frank was to become malnourished because his family had no money. “Italians are not known for giving away money especially to the McCourts who owe them money already for groceries… I make sure no one is looking grab the bunch of bananas outside the grocery shop and run”. This shows that they were poor and hungry. They both found it difficult to survive because of this and it made them both miserable.
The differences between these two novels are that Frank’s childhood is an autobiography and therefore it is more factual and based on memories, where as Oliver is a fictional story and based in realistic circumstances drawn from when the author worked in a workhouse. This makes Franks story more realistic although it is very detailed for his memory since he was about six years old so I imagine that parts of it made up from bits of memory.
Franks story was written in the time he was growing up, which was the early 1900’s and Oliver’s story was set in the early 1800’s. The two books were set in different countries with Frank growing up in America and Ireland, and Oliver in England. They both show the effect of poverty in their situations. Frank found it difficult to cope after his siblings died “your lovely little sister dead Frankie. Dead. And where is your father? Drinking. There isn’t a penny in the house. He cant find a job but he gets money for the drink.” The significance of the time and the place in both stories plays a large part in both of them. In Franks book they are suffering through the depression in America and poverty in Ireland. In the time Oliver was written poor children were not treated well by society. “So they established the rule, that all poor people should have the alternative, of being starved by gradual process in the house or by a quick one out of it.”
Oliver did not have any family to support him or look after him. He had no support from people who ran the places he lived in so he had a lonely life. Frank came from a large family with brothers and sisters and parents. He also had lots of aunts and uncles around him. He was a well-liked boy because people took a shine to him and his brother when they saw them.
Religion was an important factor in their daily life, as it defined their moral values and lifestyle. Although in “Oliver Twist” religion is mentioned in daily life it seems to have no effect on their actions towards poor children.
“Angela’s Ashes” is written in a factual manner and the author uses the Irish dialect to make it seem more realistic. “Aw, Gawd, look at Frankie McCourt an’ his pig’s snout.” In “Oliver Twist” the author uses Victorian English because that was the time it was written.
The novel I preferred was “Angela’s Ashes” this was because it has a better more interesting story line. The book is written from the mind of frank when he was a child and you can understand the logic he is thinking and it is amusing some of the ways he thinks and deals with things. Although in “Oliver” it is written in a more difficult language and I found it boring and not a very addictive story line.
“Angela’s Ashes” describes poverty in Ireland, the lack of support for poor families in the time Frank McCourt was growing up. “Oliver Twist” is commenting on the cruelty that children suffered at the hands of society during the 1800’s.
