At the beginning we see the contrast between Oliver on the one hand and Mr Bumble and the board on the other. These fat, well-fed and round-faced board members treat Oliver without any sensitivity or care. Dickens uses stereotyped characters to symbolise the superior. Oliver is being treated as a ‘poor boy’ and it is not his fault that he is poor, but the society of the time see him as an orphan, unwanted and as a burden. Orphans or poor people are considered as an inconvenience due to the moral injustice of the society of the time, therefore Oliver’s social class is lowered. Oliver’s social class is also lowered because it was thought that his mother became pregnant because she was a prostitute.
Contrasts are used continuously to highlight the institutionalised bullying of Oliver, for example Mr Bumbles violent actions or position of power is contrasted with Oliver’s vulnerability and lack of power. Dickens’ is an omniscient narrator, coming in with criticisms occasionally (God-like). He does this in order to criticise the authorities, and he also attacks the Poor Law Amendment and the thinking behind it, “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.” The workhouse, instead of providing protection for the poor becomes, in Dickens opinion a place where people starve and families are split up; it becomes a means to solve the problem of poverty by bringing about the death of the poor.
Fagin ‘the Jew’ is another person who bullies Oliver. Fagin dominates the novel from chapter eight with his manipulative scheming and grovelling malice. The first description of Fagin immediately hints at his character, Dickens uses imagery to describe him “…a very old shrivelled Jew, whose villainous-looking and repulsive face was obscured by a quantity of matted red hair.” This description is also almost suggesting he is the devil. Just from the word ‘Jew’ an image is created of dislike, also at that time Jews were stereotyped as evil, and this all adds to the effect of Fagin being a replica of the devil. Words like ‘fangs’ and ‘ phantom’ are used to describe the physical appearance of Fagin’s house, connecting Fagin to being animal like. Dickens uses animal imagery to express that sense of evil within Fagin.
Fagin is the leader of the gang of child criminals, and leads Oliver to a life of crime. Oliver is an innocent boy; he is a morally righteous person, who is scared of Fagin. Fagin tries to change Oliver and break his innocence. Although Oliver does attempt to do what Fagin says Oliver is still innocent at heart. Fagin is willing to corrupt an innocent soul for the sake of his own greed.
At the end Fagin pays the ultimate price for his crimes by being sentenced to death. At this point Fagin is desperate and ‘repulsive’, which contrasts to the description of Fagin at the beginning, “villainous-looking”. Originally Fagin was “devil-like’ dark and scary, but his character progressed to a lonely and desperate man. In this chapter of Fagin’s death Dickens builds up the suspense, first through sentencing Fagin to death, then further in the presentation of an old desperate man who is scared and reluctant to die. Fagin appears to lose much of his power and degenerates particularly in the final scene with Oliver. The final line of the chapter has a powerful impact upon the reader, “the black stage, the cross-beam, the rope, and all the hideous apparatus of death.”
Bill Sikes also bullies Oliver throughout this novel. When we first meet Sikes, Dickens describes him as a 'stoutly built fellow of 35' with a 'bulky pair of legs and large swelling carves.' This automatically gives the reader an impression of Sikes’ power. It looks as if he intimidates people with his body size, he not only uses his body but his eyes also give a sense of ‘ ‘power’ or ‘demand’, “two scowling eyes”.
‘Sikes attacks his dog for no reason, “come here, you born devil! Come here! D’ye hear?’ this quote shows Sikes’ aggressive nature. The overuse of exclamation marks shows that he is shouting and therefore highlights his how violent and aggressive he is. Sikes uses the word; ‘devil’ which in Victorian times would have been classed as swearing which again shows his violent nature. This quote also shows Sikes attacking his dog, which connects Sikes to being animal like. Sikes believed that by beating up the dog he would be more powerful. “Began to assail the animal most furiously.”
The environment Bill lived in shows the aspects of his character, he lived in “a dark gloomy den” and the “filthiest part.” Dickens stresses the word ‘den’, which sounds illegal and secretive in order to emphasize that he is a criminal. Sikes was a stereotypical rogue. The surroundings of Sikes also reflect his dark, harsh character. Also Dickens characterizes Sikes as a ‘ruffian’, “Growled his engaging ruffian.” This makes Sikes seem even more violent and dangerous and it also gives the impression that he is a criminal. Sikes aggressive language is sometimes connected to Christianity 'hell's fire' (Dickens was a Christian.) Sikes at times in this novel blasphemes God and in the Victorian age, language like that was not acceptable, so in order to cover it up Dickens uses the letter G with a dash alongside it to show that he respected people's feelings. The reason why Sikes has an explicit tongue is because of his violent temper and it may also be due to the way in which he had been brought up.
Sikes has no respect for Fagin and you can tell this by the way he speaks to him. You can see Fagin is afraid of Sikes but Fagin does like to have the last word, Fagin also knows that Sikes has full control over him. If Fagin doesn't show fear then he will only be putting himself at risk. “I've got the upper hand over you.” Fagin knows that if Sikes ever makes a wrong move Fagin will go down with him, so Sikes uses this excuse to blackmail Fagin and take advantage of him. “If I go, you go, so take care of me.” If Sikes does not get his own way he will turn to violence as we see with the arguments over Oliver, "… Looking sternly at him, and ostentatiously passing a pistol into a more convenient pocket. That's lucky for one of us." This shows that Sikes is unpredictable and therefore this adds to the tension.
Sikes thinks of Nancy as his property, a part of him just like his dog. Nancy and his dog are like the pure and good side of Sikes’ character. Sikes is a dark and criminal character and in contrast to this Nancy and the dog ‘Bulls-eye’ are the white, and pure side of Sikes, but Sikes relationships are based on intimidation. Nancy is very fearful of Sikes, this is clear from her body language, as she draws her scarf around her when Sikes is nearby. Even though she is scared of leaving him, she admires his power perhaps that's what she likes about him and because Sikes has never experienced love, and that's what made him so emotionless and unsentimental. He feels that by over-powering her, she will stay with him. In spite of the fact that Sikes treated her like everyone else he still showed signs of appreciation towards Nancy, 'She's an honour to her sex'.
Sikes ended up beating her down with a club. Nancy's death is a presentation of Christianity; she represents the innocent Virgin Mary while Sikes portrays the Devil. Nancy died holding a white handkerchief, which symbolises her purity.
Nancy is by no means innocent as she played a vital part in kidnapping Oliver from Mr Brownlow. In spite of her environment and her conditioning, she shows that she has a sense of moral decency by attempting to help Oliver when she hears the plans of Fagin and the monks. She pays the price for betraying the gang and doing something right. This betrayal effectively brings about her murder by Sikes.
Various people bully Oliver constantly throughout this novel, but he maintains his innocence, even when he is forced into an underworld of crime and violence, ‘ “I saw it was not easy to train him to the business, “ replied the Jew, “ he was not like the other boys in the same circumstances.” ’ Oliver’s capability to adapt and survive at brutal times in his life presents Oliver as a much more complex and three-dimensional character than we would at first assume. Oliver’s loving and determined nature is unaffected by the environments he finds himself in, and in spite of all the difficulties he experiences, he remains upright and virtuous. We see Oliver mature from an innocent victim of the workhouse to a worthy young gentleman.
The reason Oliver is bullied is because he is seen as a lower class within society than everyone else, this is due to being an orphan and because his mother was thought to have been a prostitute. Even a charity boy bullies Oliver.
Overall Oliver is seen as the hero, despite being forced into a life of crime. All those who have done wrong pay the price, by loosing their life, but the innocent shine through and survive, victorious.
