In this description of London he uses the sense of sight when he talks about how the states of the streets look e.g. ‘A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen. The street was very narrow and muddy’ these words can create different thoughts and images in our mind, the words he uses sets the scene as dull and ugly and not a very nice place.
Also he uses the sense of smell e.g. ‘...and the air was impregnated with filthy odours.’ Dickens uses this to make an impression that the air is filled with horrible smells such as rotting and decay and pollution.
He uses the sense of sound e.g. ‘heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out of doors, or screaming from the inside.’
There are social abuses in this such as ‘and from several of the door-ways, great ill-looking fellows were cautiously emerging, bound, to all appearance, on no very well-disposed or harmless errands,’ which basically means people going out and doing no good and causing a nuisance, often getting drunk as well which at this time would have been appalling towards the upper class especially as it was very un lady like to get drunk at that time.
Dickens makes this seem that the description is through Oliver’s eyes by saying at the beginning ‘Although Oliver had enough to occupy his attention in keeping sight of his leader, he could not help bestowing a few hasty glances on either side of the way as he passed along.’ This makes it sound like Oliver is describing the streets of London as he’s walking through.
Dickens uses emotive language to make it clear he feels strongly about the state of London, he uses negative descriptions of London to say it’s not a very nice place e.g. ‘A dirtier more wretched place he had never seen’ and ‘air was impregnated with filthy odours’. Also he says ‘where drunken men and woman were positively wallowing in filth.’ He has a good use of adjectives; the words underlined don’t seem very nice describing words and makes us feel uncomfortable.
In chapter 9 Oliver meets the rest of the gang.
The Artful Dodger is the one who picked up Oliver off the streets; he is one of the older boys in part of the pick-pocketing team as well as Charley Bates who are ruled by Fagin. The Artful Dodger comes across to us as a young boy trying to be a man. Fagin is referred to as the ‘Jew’ he runs the boys and works for Sikes.
Fagin is portrayed as sly and ugly. He is seen as a villain and a repulsive old man. "...before the fire...with a toasting fork in hand, was a very old shrivelled Jew, whose villainous-looking and repulsive face was obscured by a quantity of matted red hair."
Oliver is polite and naïve and he does as Fagin says. He’s more innocent than the other boys. Oliver stays a night, then in page 108 Oliver awakes from his sleep to see Fagin with his precious secret jewels he has kept from Sikes, from this we can learn a lot about the character of Fagin. From this Oliver has information he could pass onto Sikes, so at this point Fagin becomes scared of Oliver and what he could do, so he treats Oliver nicely. Fagin sticks up for Oliver and looks out for him.
The atmosphere is calm and cosy. When the Jew notices Oliver is awake; the mood immediately changes. The Jew becomes violent and his actions are dramatic. ‘… a loud crash; and, laying his hand on bread knife which was on the table, started furiously up.’ The description is so dramatic and emotive. The words mean danger and the reader is desperate to read on. Fagin uses short, quick questions. The sudden change in the mood is exciting and is memorable because you see a side of Fagin that has not yet been shown before.
In chapter ten, Oliver is taken out with the Artful Dodger and Charlie Bates.
They steal a gentleman’s handkerchief and Oliver is frozen with fear and shock. The gentleman thinks that Oliver is the pickpocket. The chapter introduces Mr. Brownlow (the gentleman stolen from) who is a wealthy, respectable, old gentleman. Oliver is very scared and this line shows this ‘… blood tingling through all his veins from terror…he felt as if he were in a burning fire…’
Oliver runs away, we understand that Oliver runs because he is afraid and Charles Dickens makes this adventure very memorable by making the reader feel saddened and sympathetic. Oliver is portrayed as a young vulnerable boy with no family.
In chapter eleven, Oliver faces the magistrate to answer for what he is accused of. The police-magistrate is called Mr. Fang. This character plays a very important part in the trial because he is over-bearing and obnoxious. There is then a speech by Mr. Brownlow who feels that Oliver may be innocent. This is almost a relief to the reader because you feel sorry for Oliver.
‘…there is something in that boy’s face… something that touches and interests me… can he be innocent?’
Oliver then faces his court trial. There is a little humour at the beginning of this because the magistrate acts very rudely towards Mr. Brownlow. Mr. Fang refuses to listen to Mr. Brownlow until he is sworn.
‘… I was standing at a bookstall’ Mr. Brownlow began…
‘Hold your tongue, sir.’ Said Mr. Fang…”
This chapter ends in Oliver becoming ill and being taken home by Mr. Brownlow. Oliver is finally shown love and sympathy. The innocence of Oliver shines throughout the volume. He has the blood of a first class family and this is seen as a sign of innocence. His birth gives him the purity that is shown throughout. This shows that the law is very strict, Mr. Fang has already decided and is leaning towards his verdict and doesn’t need to hear Mr. Brownlow, whereas nowadays the accused are innocent until proven guilty.
In this story Dickens comments on social conditions of this time.
Charles Dickens himself was immensely concerned with their hard lives and campaigned for better conditions. Charles Dickens was a social commentator and his novels and writings were based on the bad conditions that he saw that the working class in general, and children in particular, suffered on a daily basis. There was no welfare state in Victorian times, nobody to look out for the children, and they really suffered as a result. In workhouses, homeless people were given a roof over their head and food of sorts in return for hard work. Charles Dickens knew what he was talking about because his own life wasn’t easy and he worked to contribute to family income from the age of twelve.
The workhouse conditions at that time were terrible; it was harsh, overcrowded, unsafe, underfed, brutal treatment, cold.
In the paragraph on page 98 ‘Oliver walked 20 miles that day……he soon fell asleep and forgot his troubles’ this makes us feel sorry for Oliver especially in the line ‘and all that time tasted nothing but the crust of dry bread, and a few draughts of water…’.
In the bottom paragraph on page 98 Charles Dickens shows the difference between the upper and lower class, and the way the upper class react with the lower class, so when Oliver begs for a halfpenny they don’t take him seriously and tell him to run up the steep hill after their carriage, but this is too much for a weak boy and Oliver doesn’t succeed. He says ‘Poor Oliver’ and this tells us to feel sorry for him.
In page 107 Fagin describes how the fate of others led to his advantage. ‘…what a fine thing capital punishment is…dead men never bring awkward stories to light… five of ‘em strung up in a row, and none left to play booty, or turn white livered…’ This speech is said in amusement. It is hard to believe that someone can be pleased that others have been killed. The readers, I think are meant to be quite shocked and in disbelief as to the slightly evil side of Fagin. It means if the criminals are hung then they do not live to tell the tale of the offence to others who may follow in the footsteps and may do the same thing hoping they’d get away with it, also it could mean its better to hang criminals than to let them have fun at other peoples expense.
In page 117 he is caught from running, everyone thinks he is a thief, we are meant to be sympathetic towards Oliver and angry with Dodger and Charley Bates as they just ran and left him. Oliver is upset and scared and he knows that stealing is bad. And when he is caught he is punched by a member of the crowd chasing him ‘Poor fellow…he has hurt himself’
‘I did that, sir…and I preciously I cut my knuckles agin’ his mouth. I stopped him, sir’ from this we are meant to feel even sorrier for Oliver as this was not called for and he was not to blame. It must have hurt and the reader is meant to be against the man who threw the punch as well as the others that gave him eyed him with an expression of dislike.
Overall I feel this is a very moving story, it gives us a range of different feelings and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My favourite part of the novel was when Sikes took Oliver up onto the roof, and was been very selfish, in chapter 50. Also I think the most memorable part of the play was when the police were trying to get into Fagin’s place. Sikes and the boys had locked themselves upstairs but Fagin had been locked out on the stairs and was actually scared and we felt sorry for him, because I think this also opened another side to Fagin’s character.
