The document provides an overview of the novel "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens. It discusses that Oliver Twist was born into poverty in a workhouse and spent his early life in poor conditions. As a character, Oliver represents purity and virtue despite being raised in a corrupt environment. He does not become angry or resentful when mistreated, but remains good-natured. The document asserts that through Oliver's character, Dickens aimed to challenge the Victorian idea that criminals are born evil and instead show that environment shapes morality.
3. ‘Oliver Twist’,
subtitled ‟The Parish
Boy's Progress’, is the
second novel by English
author Charles Dickens,
published by Richard
Bentley in 1838.
„Oliver Twist’ is notable
for Dickens's unromantic
portrayal of criminals
and their dirty lives.
The book exposed the
cruel treatment of the
many orphans in London
during the Dickensian
era.
Introduction
4. Oliver means „holly‟ „Pure‟ and also
extreme power of tolerance.
In French word „Puer aeternus‟(child
Hero) and „Senex‟ archetypes which
means Old hero.
Oliver is symbol of holiness which present
in his name.
5. Oliver Twist was born into
a life of poverty and
misfortune in a workhouse
in an unnamed town.
This novel subtitled as The
„parish boys progress-
Oliver's journey back to
his origin.‟
Oliver is meagerly
provided for under the
terms of the Poor Law,
and spends the first nine
years of his life at a baby
farm in the 'care' of a
woman named Mrs.
Mann.
6. "Please, sir, I want some more“
The many symbols Oliver faces
are primarily good versus evil,
with evil continually trying to
corrupt and exploit good, but
good winning out in the end.
On many levels, Oliver is not a
believable character,
because although he is raised
in corrupt surroundings, his
purity and virtue are absolute
As the child hero of a
melodramatic novel of social
protest, Oliver Twist is meant to
appeal more to our sentiments
than to our literary sensibilities.
7. In the novel, Dickens uses
Oliver‟s character to
challenge the Victorian
idea that paupers and
criminals are already evil at
birth, arguing instead that
a corrupt environment is
the source of vice.
Oliver‟s moral principles
about the holiness of
property seem inborn in
him.
Even when he is ill-treated
and manipulated, Oliver
does not become angry or
indignant.
8. Oliver does not present a
complex picture of a
person torn between
good and evil—instead,
he is goodness
personified.
“I Wished to show in little
Oliver the principle of
good surviving through
every adverse
circumstance and
triumphing at last”
-Charles Dickens
9. An early example of the social novel, the
book calls the public's attention to
various contemporary evils, including
child labour, the employment of children
as criminals, and the presence of street
children.
His dramatic escape from situation we
can see that some how someone help
him for escaping this shows that he is
Devine child.