OliverTwist By DickensThe story of an orphan boy without the “easy life” dares to take on theworld in his many journeys, and countless adventures. He goes from the lowestpart of London, to a part that he never knew existed.
He makes many freinds anda few enemys. No one can turn down his sensitive, helpless looks and you end upcaring about him whether you want to or not. Mr. Bumble is a rat man, is alwayspicking on people, and is very fond of bullying others. He likes to be incharge. Halfway through the book, Bumble changes.
When he marries Mrs. Corney,heloses authority. Then she makes all the decisions. Jack Dawkins, known as theartful dodger, is a charming rogue. Fagin’s best pupil.
He is a dirty, wild,hyper boy. Dickens makes Dodger look more appealing by describing his outrageousclothes and untamed manners. Fagin is a master criminal, whose specialty isselling stolen property. He employs a gang of thieves and is always looking fornew recruits. He is a man of high intelligence, although does not use it enough.
Mr. Brownlow is a generous man, concerned for other people. A very respectablelooking person with a heart large enough for any six ordinary men. Bill Sikes isa bully, a robber and a murderer.
He is an ally of Fagin. Fagin plans the crimesand Sikes carries them out Monks, also known as Edward Leeford, is Oliver’s halfbrother. He wants to destroy Olivers chance of inheriting their fathers estate. Nancy is the the pupil of Fagin, and the abused mistress of Sikes.
Although sheis a prostitute and an accomplice of crooks, she has the instincts of a goodperson. Rose Maylie is very differnt from Nancey on the surface. Both wereorphans, but Rose grew up with more family values. She is sympathetic to Oliver,but unlike Nancy, Rose is does not know of all the evils of the world. OliverTwist, a loving, innocent orphan child; the son of Edwin Leeford and AgnesFleming. He is generally quiet and shy rather than aggressive.
Oliver’s kindnature earns him the pity and love of the good people he meets. Dicken’s choiceof Oliver’s name tells a lot, because the boy’s story is full of”twists” and turns. Dickens uses his skills at creating to make Olivera character for everyone Oliver Twist is orphaned at birth, he grows up in theworkhouse until he is apprenticed ,at an early age, to Mr. Sowerberry, theundertaker. Unhappy and mistreated, Oliver runs away. In London, he meets TheArtful Dodger.
The slightly older boy takes Oliver to the hideout of a Londongang of juvenile delinquents. Looked after by Fagin, an old Jew who teaches themhow to perfect pick-pocketing, the boys roam the city by day practicing theirtrade. Also associated with the gang are the sinister Bill Sikes and hissoft-hearted girlfriend, Nancy. Oliver, too, learns to steal, but, on one of hisfirst lone attempts, he is caught. Oliver is taken to the police station, wherea kindly and wealthy old gentleman, Mr. Brownlow, intervenes on the boy’sbehalf.
Planning to educate and care for the boy, Mr. Brownlow takes custody ofOliver. Bill Sikes and his friend Monk learn of Oliver’s newly acquired positionand see an opportunity to rob the Brownlow house, using Oliver to let them in. They kidnap him and return with him to the gang. When Nancy tries to returnOliver to Mr. Brownlow, she is brutally murdered by Sikes.
The attempted robberyfails, and Sikes drags Oliver over the rooftops of London as he is pursued bythe police and an enraged torch-carrying mob. Sikes falls and hangs himself. Oliver is rescued and returns to Mr. Brownlow to discover that he is the lostgrandson Brownlow has been looking for. The major action of Oliver Twist movesback and forth between two worlds: The filthy slums of London and the clean,comfortable house of Brownlow and the Maylies.
London is a world of crime. Things happen there at night, in dark alleys and in, abandoned, darkbuildings. Maybe he is suggesting evil dominates this world Charles Dickens grewup in London, very poor. His father ended up in prison and the young Charles hadto start working at a factory. It only lasted for a few months, but he neverforgot the humiliation and the suffering. In the 1830s Dickens started to workas a journalist in London.
In 1837 he gained fame with the novel “ThePosthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club”. “Oliver Twist” came theyear after, and was followed by “Nicholas Nickleby”. Charles Dickensis considered one of the greatest authors of the 19th century. I found this bookvery interesting and got more out of it then I thought that I would.
It was alight on the real world today. Which is why I think Charles Dickens is such anoutstanding author because his work still reflects on the world we live intoday. So I say that if you have to pick any book to do a report on, let it beOliver Twist.
