Tina: Oliver Twist

Title: Oliver Twist



Author: Charles Dickens



Copyright Date: 1962



Number of Pages: 112 p.



Genre: Fiction; Social criticism



Oliver Twist is an orphan. His mother dies right after giving birth to him. The little crying baby is left alone in a world of sorrow and trouble. In his childhood he never hears good words spoken to him, nor does he feels the wormth of a mothers love, but he remains kind-hearted and never yields to the criminal life, which is offered to him.

The other characters divide into two main groups. The first group consists of thieves and criminals: Fagin, the leader of the band; the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates, thieves of Oliver's age; Nancy, a young woman, who loves the cruelest thief Bill Sikes; Monks, criminal half brother of Oliver. The second group are kind-hearted, rich, and honest characters, who help Oliver: Mr Brownlow, Dr Losberne, Rose Maylie.

The story starts with the beginning of the life of little Oliver Twist. Oliver's young mother dies right after giving birth to him in a workhouse. The baby waites for considerable time to cry and announce that he will live, but as the book says: "If he had known, though, what the future held for him, the motherless child would have cried even louder.".

After eight or ten months Oliver is sent to a smaller workhouse. He lives with other young orphans in dirt and hunger. In charge of this twenty or thirty children is the selfish Mrs Mann who keeps most of the government allowance for herself.

When reaching the age of nine, Oliver is taken to the bigger workhouse, where he was born, by Mr Bumble, a man with a strong sense of his own importance. There young Twist again suffers from hunger and bad treatment, but he also has to work to earn his three daily meals of thin soup. After three months suffering from the terrible hunger, Oliver decides to ask for more after supper. The ungrateful boy is immediately offered to be taken away from the workhouse for a reward of five pounds.

A chimney sweep doesn't succeed to take him away; however, Oliver is forcefully given to the undertaker Mr Sowerberry. There the young boy works under the chief of Mr Noah Claypole who isn't much older than him, but treats him with rudeness. After Noah offends Oliver's mother, the poor workhouse boy decides to leave the undertakers' family.

On his way to London, Oliver meets Jack Dawkins also known among his closest friends as "The Artful Dodger". Jack takes Oliver to his masters house. The master of the thief gang is an old Jew by the name Fagin. He's in charge of many juvenile criminals. In the dirty house Oliver meets some of them- like Charley Bates who laughs a lot and two young ladies called Bet and Nancy. Oliver doesn't understand what is the real "job" of the children and is very confused how pulling out a handkerchief from Fagin's pocket will make him a great man.

One day young Twist goes out with Charley Bates and The Artful Dodger to "work". Oliver is terrifyingly surprised when he sees the Dodger pickpocketing a respectable old gentleman. The confused boy starts running a minute after the robbery and is mistaken for the thief.

After that Oliver is arrested and then released. He stays at the kind- hearted Mr Brownlow who is the robbed old gentleman. Unfortunately he falls in Fagin's hands once more and is forced to take part in a big robbery with the cruel Bill Sikes and Toby Crackit- very skillful in breaking into others peoples houses. During the robbery Oliver is wounded and left by the thieves. He reaches the house of Mr Giles who is a servant of the delicate young lady Rose Maylie. Oliver was cured in the Maylie's house by the kind Dr Losberne. The boy lives in perfect happiness for three months in the countryside villa of Rose and Mrs Maylie. When the Maylies go to London for three days before leaving for a distant part of the coast, Rose is visited by Nancy who tells the lady of a conversation about Oliver's history and relations she heard between Monks and Fagin.

On the next day Oliver announces that he has learned the address of Mr Brownlow and wishes to thank him for his care and kindness. Rose and Oliver go to the gentleman's house. After leaving alone, Miss Maylie tells Mr Brownlow the information Nancy shared with her. They decide to learn more about Oliver's past.

Nancy meets again with both Rose Maylie and Mr Brownlow on the London Bridge to tell them where to find Monks. There is a spyer, who hears their conversation and runs back to report to Fagin. The old Jewel gets angry that Nancy betrayed him and lies his next visitor Bill Sikes that Nancy told his name to the young lady and the gentleman. Bill is bad- tempered and furiously waits for Nancy to come back in the house, where they live. Meanwhile Nancy is offered to abandon her "friends" and be send to a safe far place, where to forget her past and start a new better life. She has a lot doubts but refuses, for she loves Bill Sikes and can't leave him. However, when Nancy comes "home", her cruel "lover" beats her with a wooden stick till she dies.

Bill Sikes leaves the house with the corpse of Nancy, laying in a praying pose, and runs into the country. Nevertheless, he doesn't find peace and is followed by Nancy's eyes everywhere. Her eyes even become the reason for Sikes to accidentally hang himself. Fagin also finds his death by being hanged after spending one night of madness in prison.

Finally Mr Brownlow finds Monks and forces the truth of Oliver's past out of him. The gentleman learns that Monks was a half brother of Oliver. Their father didn't love his first wife- Monks mother, so he married a second time. When he died, his first wife destroyed his last will and left Oliver's mother in great poverty. In the will was written that if Oliver becomes a respectable man, he would inherit all his fathers property, but if he becomes a man of low character, the property would be equally shared between the two brothers. That's why Monks wanted Oliver to get involved in a crime. Monks fears how much the gentleman knows and signs a document, where he confirms everything. After that he is left to go away.

Oliver lives in happiness with his friends, who love him.

The book is a classic novel which everyone should read. The description of the character's intimate nature is marvellous, especially the ambivalent feelings of Nancy. I found the book easy to understand and read, but also with a lot of questions for good and evil to think about. The novel both "moves your brain cells" and is very entertaining.