Oliver Twist

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For my English coursework, I will be focusing on the character of Nancy in Oliver Twist.

The story of Oliver Twist is about an orphan called, Oliver who was born in the workhouse. He grew up their with other children and they ate gruel every single day. One day, Oliver went to the chef and asked for more gruel, which led him to big trouble. A couple of days later, Oliver was sold to, the Undertakers, people who sold coffins. Oliver ran away from them and was found by two thugs on the streets, named Jack Dawkins the “artful dodger” and Charlie. They took Oliver to a large house owned by two criminals, Fagin and Bill Sikes. They introduced Oliver into a life of crime. Oliver met a lot of people during his stay, including a young prostitute named, Nancy. Nancy looked after Oliver in Fagin’s house.  

People were treated like, “dogs” in the workhouse. They were treated like poor people (even though they were).  The poor had to work hard in the drenching atmosphere. They were treated cruelly and were shown no respect, whatsoever. People were probably being picked on and chucked around like some, “bunch of potatoes”. It was not easy for the poor, because they had to struggle with those conditions, but they did have to get the money, for them and their family.

In the Victorian times, it was very unfair to the poor. A law was passed on, saying that if you could not provide food for you and your family, you would have to go to the workhouse to earn the money.  Charles Dickens has seen how the poor were treated when his father got into debt and he wanted the rich people to understand what it was like and how so many poor people became involved in crime.

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I think at first, Victorians treated Nancy as a dirty prostitute and a thief. They would have thought that she was a beggar and a woman who is desperately in need of money, but Oliver does not think of her like that, he respects her, treats her as his own blood and he also thinks that she is a heart-warming and caring person. It says in this quote, “Nancy wore a good deal of hair, not very neatly turned up behind and were rather untidy about the shoes and stockings. She was not exactly pretty, perhaps; but she had ...

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