Oliver twist - I am going to analyze how Charles Dickens portrayed Oliver's life to show his audience the poverty, sickness and desperation that he saw around him ever since he was young.

Oliver twist essay I am going to analyze how Charles Dickens portrayed Oliver's life to show his audience the poverty, sickness and desperation that he saw around him ever since he was young. The fictitious character Oliver twist was born into extreme poverty. As Dickens writes: 'It remained a matter of considerable doubt whether the child would survive to bear any name at all.' Charles Dickens had first hand experience of poverty; his parents were imprisoned for a year for being offenders of the poor laws- they hadn't enough money to support their family and got into debt, which they couldn't pay. So Charles spent most of his time walking around the dirty back streets of London, where he witnessed a great deal of poor people who had been reduced to criminals, prostitutes and beggars who lived surrounded by poverty, disease and abandoned children whose parents were either dead or not able to look after their offspring financially. The vast division in society of lower and upper classes influenced Dickens to write to tell other people what the conditions for the poor were really like. He had to be subtle; he didn't want to alienate his upper class audience. So he wrote a novel, revolving around memorable characters and places to entertain his audience. Dickens knew that people learnt more and were more willing to listen whilst being entertained, so he wrote history as

  • Word count: 1987
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How are the men in the two stories, 'The Withered Arm' and 'Sweat', portrayed? How far does this portrayal reflect the contexts in which the stories were written?

How are the men in the two stories, 'The Withered Arm' and 'Sweat', portrayed? How far does this portrayal reflect the contexts in which the stories were written? The Withered Arm, written by Thomas Hardy and Sweat, written by Zora Neale Hurston both have a setting in a rural area. Both stories use dialect, however Sweat contains a stronger use. In both stories, the end is anticipated in the beginning and their titles reflect the contexts of the stories. The Withered Arm, which was written in the 19th Century, is partly set on a diary farm in the imaginary village of Holmstoke and town of Casterbridge in Wessex. The story involves a triangle situation with one man 'Farmer Lodge' and two women 'Rhoda' and 'Gertrude'. These three people are the main characters of The Withered Arm. Farmer Lodge's mistress Rhoda, is the mother of his child John, and Rhoda soon becomes jealous when she hears of Farmer Lodge's new wife Gertrude. Many problems arise when Gertrude has a withered arm and dies along with the death of Farmer Lodge's son. In the story, Farmer Lodge is portrayed as a man with great means. He is the offspring of land, which has been owned by his family for over two hundred years. Evidence of this is shown on page 42 "...Family who occupied the valley for some two hundred years". Farmer Lodge is portrayed as a proud man. This is shown when he brings his new wife home in

  • Word count: 1967
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Chapter 5 of Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist

Chapter Five of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist Charles Dickens was a very important writer in the Victorian era. He was a very successful and respected author of many well known books, including Oliver Twist. His stories were published in magazines and newspapers of his time and focused mainly on the social issues of the poor. Dickens felt strongly about the welfare of poorer classes because he live in both fortunate and unfortunate conditions, so can easily compare both lives. His situation when his parents were sent to prison for debt were unfortunate; he had to go earn money for the family and lived in poverty during his younger years. This is when he decided to raise awareness, and he felt he was in a right position to too, coming from a well-off family and suddenly falling into a completely different lifestyle. Dickens main concern, which he portrayed in the majority of his stories, was the hate and segregation between rich and poor. The poor, if they did work, worked in claustrophobic workhouses with minimal pay. The rooms they lived in were filthy and infested with vermin. The families got terrible diseases, which they couldn't afford to get treatment for, and would eventually die at an early age. The conditions of the slums were squalid. They were filthy and dangerous; making it almost impossible to believe people actually lived in them. They were built like this

  • Word count: 1215
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Dickens portray his attitude to charity in the

How does Dickens portray his attitude to charity in the Opening chapters of Oliver Twist The novel Oliver Twist was written by Charles Dickens in the mid 1930's. Society in the mid 1800's had a huge gulf between the rich and the poor, This was because before 1834, the cost of looking after the poor was growing more expensive every year. This cost was paid by the middle and upper classes in each town through their local taxes. There was a real suspicion amongst the middle class and upper classes that they were paying the poor to be lazy and avoid work. This made a divide between the rich and the poor, this was because the middle and upper class people did not want to be paying for the lower class people with there hard earned money to sit around all day and just be given a home and food for nothing, while they have to work all day and pay out for the lower class people,when they would mush rather be using their money on their own families. The poor law was a burden of the parishes top care for the poor through alms and taxes. The poor was the main form of charity around at the time. After 1834 these laws where supposedly changed so that the poor law provided aid and assistance to impoverished people. However the system had serious flaws.The New Poor Law was really a series of measures enacted in 1834. It was deisgned that the workhouses would not be pleasant places.

  • Word count: 3832
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In this essay I will be writing about how Charles Dickens uses the story Oliver Twist to expose the appalling treatment of poor children in Victorian Britain.

In this essay I will be writing about how Charles Dickens uses the story Oliver Twist to expose the appalling treatment of poor children in Victorian Britain. Oliver Twist was written in 1837-9, this period in Britain history was known as the Victorian period. Life in Britain was changing a lot at this time, more and more people were moving to the city due to the Industrial Revolution. Most of the people, who were moving to the city, were living in the country. There were a lot of negative effects of lots of people moving to the city, it was getting really overcrowded and there was a lack of housing. The housing conditions of poor people in cities like London at the time, were absolutely disgusting, there was no running water and no heating. At the time their was a really cruel and sick law called the 'Poor Law', the poor law meant that all poor people had to go to a workhouse. I think the workhouse was absolutely disgusting and sick. I think that this law was very bad and unfair to the poor people. Now on to Oliver Twist. The surgeon and nurse were present at the time of Oliver's mother giving birth. The nurse was very drunk and the surgeon a contract worker. The attitude of the surgeon and nurse, towards Oliver's mother was very disrespectful; the surgeon had asked the woman where did she come from? The woman replied "She was brought here last night," adding "She was found

  • Word count: 1590
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Charles Dickens Expose Victorian Society Awful Treatment Of The Children Of The Poor?

How does Charles Dickens Expose Victorian Society Awful Treatment Of The Children Of The Poor? In Victorian times life was very hard for the poor. The rich looked down on them when mostly they didn't understand the hardships the poor had to face in day-to-day life. The industrial revolution led to rapid growth of cities, which meant poor housing and great overcrowding occurred making the poor people's live worse. The French Revolution created fear in Britains Government causing a stronger justices system and the poor law. The poor law said that poor people were to be provided for by the workhouse. The Government felt that introducing workhouses would save parishes money and deters people from claiming unfairly. The workhouses saved money but the conditions were made as unpleasant as possible and increased the suffering, which meant that the lives of the poor were endangered further. Dickens emphasises the plight of the poor through conditions in the workhouses and through Oliver's journey. Dickens shows the mistreatment in the workhouses but also makes jokes of the officials in charge. He uses characternyms ' Bumble' and malapropisms to show the officials as misunderstood, clumsy, ignorant people. Which emphasises his feelings toward the poor. Dickens shows the mistreatment of the poor children by using emotive language and some pathos. "Please, Sir, can I have some

  • Word count: 790
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Dickens criticise the 1834 poor law in the first five chapters of Oliver Twist ?

English coursework How does Dickens criticise the 1834 poor law in the first five chapters of Oliver Twist ? Dickens criticised the 1834 poor law in many different ways within the first five chapters. He does this firstly by cleverly portraying the Victorians attitudes towards the poor. He does this in chapter 1 by referring to Oliver as 'the item of mortality' suggesting how lowly his position in society is. Also the difficulty of Oliver's birth and the fact his mother dies, gives us some idea of the dangers of child birth in Victorian society and the amount of negligence his mother receives from the surgeon. Another way he shows the attitudes towards the poor is by describing the unfeeling and clearly drunk nurse who was 'tasting in the corner' instead of taking care of Oliver and his dying mother. Dickens characterisation is another form of criticism he gives the poor law. He gives the characters names which reflect the type of person they are and the lives they lead. He does this very well in chapters two and three where he describes Mrs Mann. He describes her as nothing but a common thief that steels money from children. The care she gives is described by Dickens sounds more like abuse as he lists cases of infants dying from hunger or sheer neglect. His criticism extends from the actual carer to the authorities that are supposed to keep check on how the new law is

  • Word count: 549
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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English Coursework - Oliver Twist - Fagin

Presentation Of Fagin In Charles Dickens's Novel Oliver Twist In the novel Dickens makes his personal opinions well known. He felt very strongly that the laws were unfair for poor people and that the way children were treated in those days were also extremely dreadful. Oliver is portrayed as a typical orphan of the Victorian era, in that he is placed in the workhouse after his mother died and is given food and shelter during his childhood, However he is treated very badly by the head of the workhouse. It is important to understand that the way Dickens uses his language to illustrate his views on social reform and how loose the laws were that allowed characters such as Fagin to exploit the system. Dickens wanted the laws changed to help he poor and also wanted children to be treated . In Victorian times the attitudes towards Jews were extremely negative, Jews were viewed as the lower class. Dickens also appears to have this attitude as he describes Fagin in a very negative way. Dickens describes "the Jew" , Fagin, in an extremely bad light, as a dirty red haired man who uses children to pick pocket for his own living. The area around where Fagin lives is also dreadful; Dickens uses his language to describe the area in a very dreadful way. Dickens describes the area where a Fagin life as the worst place Oliver has ever seen. He starters off by saying "A dirtier or more

  • Word count: 2434
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How Does Dickens present the theme of childhood in Oliver Twist.

How Does Dickens present the theme of childhood in Oliver Twist. This essay shows the theme of childhood in Charles Dickens in the book Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist's story begins with his birth in a workhouse. His mother dies shortly after giving birth to him, though long enough to kiss him on the forehead. As an illegitimate workhouse orphan Oliver seems doomed to a life of misery. Though deprived of education, affection and adequate food, Oliver still manages to triumph from rags to riches, when he finally finds happiness with his Aunt Rose Maylie and his guide Mr Brownlow. Oliver Twist is born into poverty as an orphan with no known family or inheritance. He is forced to be the property of the workhouse. He spends several years there where he is overworked, and suffers from exhaustion and malnutrition. Even though he is exposed to these injustices, he feels safe there, this being the only home he's ever known. Throughout the book Oliver has support from lots of different people, for example Fagin, Nancy, Mr Brownlow, and The Maylies. However Fagin's friendship was used for Fagin's personal gain. Oliver was exploited just as many children in Victorian Britain were. Charles Dickens was a social commentator of a period when social class was important and where lower classes were stereotyped as being evil untrustworthy crooks, and were to be avoided. Another example is the

  • Word count: 798
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Charles Dickens expose Victorian society's awful treatment of the poor?

How does Charles Dickens expose Victorian society's awful treatment of the poor? In my essay I am going to talk about the way Charles Dickens uses Oliver Twist to expose the maltreatment of the poor, by analysing the text. In the early 19th century the industrial revolution started (the building of lots of factories and mills) which drew many countryside paupers into the towns. They hoped for a better life and job, but this was seldom the case because conditions were bad and wages were a pittance even if they were lucky enough to be employed. The owners of the factories got very rich and the workers were extremely poor. The desperately poor unemployed people were rounded up and put into an institution called the workhouse. The local authorities (or parish) ran the workhouses extremely cheaply with inmates only getting enough food to keep them alive. Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist to try and expose this treatment of the poor to his readers. Oliver Twist was extremely unfortunate to be born into the workhouse and the book charts some of his early life. Charles Dickens's intention of chapter one is to describe to his readers the lack of care attitude taken up by workhouse individuals. The surgeon is described indirectly as not possessing profound wisdom: 'If he had been surrounded by doctors of profound wisdom...' Charles Dickens is trying to point out to his readers that

  • Word count: 2546
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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