Jan
2015
Say ‘Ello to This British Classic
When spoken to students who have taken high school English, the name Charles Dickens is enough to evoke shudders and sighs. Dickens’ reputation as an Old English-enthusiast and unnecessarily lengthy and flamboyant writer is not often viewed in a positive light. After reading the first chapter of Oliver Twist, I was ready to join the Dickens hate club. However, I am awfully glad I didn’t; as the story went on, I found myself drawn to the valuable messages that Dickens was sending through his creative work of art, Oliver Twist.
Set in mid-nineteenth century Victorian England, Oliver Twist revolves around the main character who gave the book its namesake, Oliver. The reader learns about Oliver’s tragic birth circumstances and about his equally challenging childhood, spent in a miserable orphanage. He is transferred to a workhouse despite his young age, where he meets the miserable Mr. Bumble who all too happily sells him to become an apprentice. After an angry outburst, Oliver runs away: only to be to get caught up in a pack of thieves, a common feature of London at the time. Dickens goes on to recount young Oliver’s encounters and eventual rescues from this horrible pack; a rescue accompanied by a thrilling secret about Oliver’s deceased parents.
While the story certainly can identify with the “good guys, bad guys” story line, it is far from superficial and cliché. Dickens uses many symbols and themes throughout the novel to signal the deeper messages he wishes to send about the society in which he was living. Perhaps most obviously, Dickens juxtaposes the hypocritical middle-class, which professes to be charitable, with the harsh treatment of London’s poor. In addition, he places Oliver’s childlike innocence alongside London’s rampant crime at that time. These juxtapositions draw the reader’s attention to the duplicity and insincerity that Dickens believes has captured Victorian England.
Ultimately, Dickens’ Oliver Twist is a social and political commentary that still holds relevant truths for us today. Dickens subtly critiques his government’s 1834 amendment to the Poor Laws. By this amendment, the government refused to give handouts and instead offered the poor food and shelter only in workhouses. Families were separated and the conditions in the workhouse worsened in an effort to teach the poor their lesson. Many in the upper and aspiring middle classes viewed their self-sufficiency as a reward from God for their hard work and patience; likewise, the poor had received their punishment for being irresponsible and incapable of taking care of themselves.
Through Oliver Twist’s commentary, Dickens brings these harsh realities to the eyes and hearts of its readers. The scenes in Dickens’ Victorian England are full of injustice; from child abuse to poor maltreatment, from orphan criminals to hypocritical “do-gooders”. While every reader will derive his or her own message from Oliver Twist, a common message that I derived from the novel was this: in a world of misfortune, a genuine deed goes a long way, creating ripples whose impact we may never see. But as individuals and as members of a collective society, leaving behind the poor by our actions and by our laws is not an option if we wish to make the world a better place.
English workhouse. Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/britishsociety/thepoorrev1.shtml%5B/caption%5D
The cover of one of Dickens’ most famous novels. Source: http://www.pagepulp.com/wp-content/124.jpg%5B/caption%5D
Links
-For more on the novel: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/oliver/summary.html
-For more on the history of the Poor Laws: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/britishsociety/thepoorrev1.shtml
-For more on world poverty: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-global-poverty
3 Comments on Say ‘Ello to This British Classic
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
ybb5011
January 25, 2015 at 4:05 pm (9 years ago)I have never read any books by Charles Dickens, although he has been suggested to me many times by my friends. Your summary already has me interested in reading the book. From your description, this book seems to be fast-paced and filled with action and adventure. I think that you did a great job of being very descriptive about various events that contribute to the story without spoiling the ending. In addition, I like how you mentioned that after reading Dickens’ books, each reader will derive his/her own message. I think that it is important to acknowledge that there isn’t necessarily one single message that readers can take away from each story, and that every reader may have a different way of interpreting his writing.
Gabrielle Cilea
January 24, 2015 at 7:41 pm (9 years ago)I have never read a Dickens’ piece, which some are jealous of and others look at me with disappointment. I do know a bit of Dickens’ life from english classes in high school and various answers on Jeopardy! He uses his life experiences to draw inspiration for his novels.
I think that I would not like this type of novel because it has such rich, flowery language. Your summary of the story does intrigue me. I like how you describe the many messages that can be interpreted from the novel while leaving it open ended.
I am really excited to see the rest of the books you review this semester! I hope to gain some valuable recommendations.
Chris Messner
January 23, 2015 at 11:57 am (9 years ago)Aww no way I love Dickens, I would never join the hate Dicken’s club! A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorite stories ever, it is just so great and complicated with dozens of characters and one of the best ending to a story I have experienced. I also saw Oliver Twist at the Hershey Theater with my grandmother when I was little, and that was a fantastic story as well. But lets not forget about a Christmas Carol, gosh that is such an amazing tale. I will watch it every Christmas in every form, be it the old stop-animation style, the Muppets version, or the new one with Jim Carrey. Main point here being I am a Dickens nerd, I really like the era he wrote about and it is good to see that finally someone else I know actually appreciates his work. Nobody in my class in high school liked A Tale of Two Cities because it was so much reading, but that was honestly my favorite homework assignment of the year.
But now back to your blog post. Oliver Twist is very cleverly written story, and Dickens is an absolute master at interpreting the (then current) state of London. Also, lets be honest, when has a law governing the poor in any nation ever done anyone any real good? The higher-ups in the past were notorious for saying they were being charitable and then surprisingly despising the base-born struggling folk and condemning them to working for nothing. In fact if I remember correctly, I believe Dicken’s father was put in debtor’s prison? I will look that up right now.
Okay so the Internet does say that John Dickens (his father) was put into a debtor’s prison, and the family was so poor that they had to sell almost all of their belongings just to keep their house. This could explain why Dickens can so astutely see the troubles with the lower class, because he lived there himself for ages.
What a fascinating life, to go from living as a poor boy with his father in prison, to a very famous man who’s name will be remembered throughout history. This seems very parallel to Oliver Twist, funny enough. Maybe there was some kind of connection there?
Either way good blog post, I am excited to see the rest.