130 pages • 4 hours read
Charles DickensOliver Twist
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1838A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
The Inescapability of Identity
The inescapability of identity is a central theme in Oliver Twist. Dickens explores this theme as he critiques the social stratification of 19th-century England. Identity is a fluid yet inescapable thing in the novel, altered by newly-discovered bloodlines and friends while it also seems to be a permanent fate destined by one’s roots. This is vaguely reminiscent of Michel Foucault’s theory on identity. While Foucault rejects the notion that identity is a permanent essence of a person’s being, he does believe that selfhood is composed of a multitude of constantly-shifting relationships with other people and society. This can be seen in the attention Dickens pays to Oliver’s name. Oliver’s name is capriciously chosen for him by Mr. Bumble and it means nothing and everything at the same time. The titular character of the novel has no real connection with his name and yet the signifier of Oliver’s identity (and the novel’s) becomes irreplaceable, despite the later reveal of his parents’ identities. Names—something that one is born into and have no control over—thus also symbolize the vital yet arbitrary nature of social roles and class designations.
Dickens portrays both the inescapability of identity and the eternal-evolving nature of it. At the beginning of the novel, Dickens comments on the malleability of identity and the ephemeral material nature of wealth and status. Dickens writes of the newborn Oliver, “[w]rapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his only covering, he might have been the child of a nobleman or a beggar; it would have been hard for the haughtiest stranger to have assigned him his proper station in society” (6). Oliver’s blanket is the only thing that might have suggested his status in life and yet it, too, blurs the boundaries of social strata.
Dickens thus suggests that social constraints are unnatural and entirely manmade. A newborn child is free from these limitations only temporarily, as upon its birth, it is instantly declared and coded as a wealthy or impoverished person. Dickens thus speaks to the superficial nature of society. However, Dickens’s decision to reveal Oliver’s real parentage might undermine this message. By connecting Oliver’s innocence and goodness to his lineage and parents rather than to his own credits, Dickens weakens his own critique of identity and class systems. Dickens writes that “the child would share her gentle heart, and noble nature” (612). The emphasis on Oliver’s goodness being propagated from his mother speaks more to the inescapability of one’s identity than it does to Dickens’s attempt to critique class stratification.
The Inherent Goodness of the Human Soul
Dickens’s characters are largely polarized across the spectrum of good and evil. There are only a couple of characters that find themselves morally ambiguous. Oliver undoubtedly represents the inherent goodness and purity of humanity. While the book tracks the many pains and difficulties that he overcomes, his character does not change one iota. Oliver Twist remains innocent throughout the book; his purity, kindness, and faith is tried but never shaken.
Despite Fagin’s best attempts to corrupt Oliver, he is unable to do so. Dickens writes that Fagin was “slowly instilling into his soul the poison which he hoped would blacken it, and change its hue for ever” (212). However, Fagin’s endeavor is unsuccessful. When Fagin sends Oliver to help Sikes rob the Maylie’s home, Oliver’s goodness is never thrown into shadow or doubt. Oliver is threatened with death over and over by Sikes and Crackit; he cries, “Oh! Pray have mercy on me, and do not make me steal. For the love of all the bright Angels that rest in Heaven, have mercy upon me!” (254). Even when faced with death, Dickens does not allow the audience to doubt Oliver, nor does Oliver doubt his faith in God.
Dickens seems to utilize Oliver as the physical embodiment of the goodness and purity that can be found in humanity. The frequent religious allusions likewise speak to the heavenly quality around Oliver. Though many villainous individuals around Oliver attempt to misrepresent and corrupt the young boy, those around him who choose to believe in him are ultimately rewarded. This is seen most clearly in the difference between Mr. and Mrs. Bumble and Mr. and Mrs. Maylie’s respective ends. Mr. and Mrs. Bumble mistreat Oliver and utilize him for their own financial gain and eventually become paupers in the same workhouse where they used to work. Rose and Harry Mailey, on the other hand, place Oliver’s well-being over their own and gain complete happiness. Their goodness is intertwined with their ultimate happiness. Dickens writes, “I have said that they were truly happy; and without strong affection and humanity of heart, and gratitude to that Being whose code is Mercy, and without great attribute is Benevolence to all things that breathe, happiness can never be attained” (641).
Oliver inspires goodness and kindness in those around him. His innocence spurs some individuals into action, the most evident of whom is Nancy. Nancy has led a life of crime and has grown up in Fagin’s gang. She is used to the moral corruption and sin necessary to survive on the streets. However, Nancy soon begins to stand up for Oliver. Nancy even fights against Fagin and Sikes, attempting to protect the young boy. Nancy shouts for the other man to “Let him be–let him be–or I shall put that mark on some of you, that will bring me to the gallows before my time” (183). Everything Nancy has done has been to survive and yet she is suddenly moved to action, to risk her own life to protect Oliver. This spark of morality and goodness is fanned by Rose’s kindness and eventually Nancy does give her life for the good of Oliver. Oliver’s influence allows Nancy to believe in her own morality once more, no matter how slight. Her sacrifice likewise inspires Charley Bates to escape the criminal life.
Dickens thus uses Oliver as a symbol of goodness and faith, one that has the capacity to remind others of the kindness and purity inherent to the human spirit.
Institutional Corruption and Greed
Dickens’s tone throughout Oliver Twist is highly satirical. Dickens makes no effort to hide his open mocking of the church and the government. His portrayal of government and church workhouses, boards, and officials is scornful and derisive. In doing so, Dickens does his best to display the corruption, hypocrisy, and blatant exploitation inherent in Victorian England. Dickens writes of the appalling workhouse conditions, “What a novel illustration of the tender laws of England! They let the paupers go to sleep!” (17). Dickens is clearly disgusted by the lack of empathy found in institutions and he does his best to portray not only the dastardly conditions that Oliver and the other paupers are forced to face, but also the reasons behind the decisions made by the board.
Most of the decisions made by these supposedly charitable institutions are entirely financially motivated. Yet Dickens goes one step further; not only are most officials portrayed as incredibly greedy and hypocritical, but their actions are also exposed as cruel. One of the board members attempts to persuade Mr. Gamfield to take Oliver off their hands. The board member says, “Take him, you silly fellow! He’s just the boy for you. He wants the stick, now and then: it’ll do him good; and his board needn’t come very expensive, for he hasn’t been overfed since he was born. Ha! ha! ha!” (28). The above quote epitomizes and captures the attitude of the system towards the people it is supposed to protect. The board member sees Oliver as a drain of resources and finds it amusing, a point of pride almost, that they have starved him his whole life.
The board and other officials fail to see Oliver, and by extension all the other paupers, as human beings deserving of compassion. Instead, these officials view them as nothing more than leeches on potential sources of income. Another moment that makes this clear is the church and Mr. Bumble’s solution to the problem of two paupers needing aid. Mr. Bumble tells Mrs. Mann that he is headed to London to deal with a “settlement” and “legal action” to do with two paupers (191). Two parishes continuously push the responsibility of caring for two poor people onto each other, more concerned with money than actually aiding the impoverished and ill. Putting the bottom line ahead of the vulnerable people in their care, the church has calculated that it will be cheaper to move the paupers than to actually bury them.
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