What does the character of Bill Sykes bring To the novel of ‘Oliver Twist’?

"You won't be too violent Bill?"

This statement shows that they have no trust in him. Bill Sykes also has a problem with alcohol, he drinks far too much, and this probably accounts for some of his unpredictable behaviour. We see evidence of his drinking problem when he says,

"...to prevent my standing treat for a pint of so...."

This shows that he thinks that he thinks drinking is a treat and does not himself think that he has a drinking problem.

Bill Sykes us the archetypal Victorian villain. To be a real villain Sykes must show no compassion for anyone and we see that on many occasions. When Nancy has nursed him back to health, staying up for nights looking after him, he turns on her the moment he wakes up. This shows he is very ungrateful for any sympathy given to him.

"Illness had not improved Mr Sykes' temper, for as the girl raised him up and led him to a chair, he struck her ...."

He is also quite ready to send Nancy out to work and possibly profit from what she does. From all of this we can gather further evidence that he is ungrateful for any help he received.

Sykes treats his dog very badly, it receives regular kicks and is threatened constantly. At one time when he was going to escape he contemplates killing,

"The dog, though. If any descriptions of him were out, it would not be forgotten that the dog was missing."

Sykes is a typical bully who shows no remorse for what he does to others. We see evidence of this when he takes Oliver on the burglary with him and does not care whether Oliver gets injured.

Sykes has no respect for Fagin and you can tell this by the way he speaks to him. You can see Fagin is afraid of him but Fagin does like to have the last word. If Sykes 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 again Sykes is unpredictable and a bully and brings more tension. When Bill Sykes sees Fagin, Fagin changes the tone of his voice at once. Fagin is obviously afraid of the physical strength of Sykes but Sykes is still wary of Fagin.

Sykes is very selfish and does not care how he treats people. An example of this is when Sykes takes Oliver on a burglary when he forces Oliver to climb though the window. When Oliver recognised they were going to burgle a house he tries to escape but Sykes threatened to shoot him with a gun,

"Get up, or I'll strew your brains upon the grass."

Sykes is obviously jealous of Oliver and hates it when Nancy gives any kind of attention to Oliver. Evidence of this is clear Nancy receives a beating from Sykes each time she tries to defend Oliver from Sykes.

Sykes shows no feeling for those around him and he is thoroughly bad, in the convention of the time, to carry out the cruel murder of Nancy. Sykes alone is capable of beating to death the woman who loves him,

" ...seized a heavy club and struck her down."

This act of violence shows that he is selfish and shows no help or sympathy to others. Although he shows no feeling towards others Sykes suffers very badly after Nancy's death as he keeps seeing Nancy's eyes,

"The eyes again!" he cries in an unearthly screech.

He finally comes to his death on the rooftops with people chanting him. This gives the novel more anticipation and suspense to make it compelling and interesting.

When Dickens uses the word unearthly this shows that it is not normal and that people hated Bill Sykes and would be happy with his death. Dickens does make us feel some sympathy for Sykes : his desperate flight across the rooftops, pursued by the baying crowd, is a typical dramatic Dickens.

I have come to the conclusion that Sykes is a criminal and an evil man who represents the brutality of life in London at this time in the 19th Century. Yet, Dickens also gives him little human touches and so reminds us that perhaps the harsh environment of London has made Bill Sykes this way. Those human touches make him more believable to the reader.

James Vandenbussche

10-3

10.01.01