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thaurisil's review against another edition
5.0
This is a rags to riches story, starting with Oliver's birth in a workhouse to a nameless woman who dies in childbirth. Oliver is brought up in a farm, where he is ill-treated, starved, and deprived of affection. He gets the same treatment when transferred to a workhouse at the age of nine. Amongst those who torment him include Mr Bumble, the beadle, who thinks that any grumble from a pauper is a result of overfeeding. One day, Oliver draws a short straw (literally) and is made to ask for more gruel. For this, he is punished in solitary confinement, and eventually sent to work for the undertaker, Sowerberry. He is bullied by the other apprentice, Noah Claypole, a charity boy, and when Noah insults Oliver's mother, Oliver goes into a rage and attacks Noah. This gets him punished and beaten. The next day, Oliver escapes to London, on the way meeting Jack Dawkins, nicknamed the Artful Dodger. The Dodger introduces Oliver to Fagin, a miserly Jew who trains children to be pickpockets and makes money from selling the stolen goods. Other members of the gang include Charley Bates, a boy who laughs at everything, Nancy, an illegitimate teenager who has been trained by Fagin from young, and Bill Sikes, a cruel housebreaker. When Oliver first accompanies the Dodger and Bates on a trip out and sees them pickpocketing a gentleman, he runs off in fear, is caught and brought before a magistrate, then cleared of the crime and brought to the gentleman and Brownlow's house to live. Mr Brownlow treats him well, but one day when he sends Oliver on an errand, Oliver is kidnapped by Nancy and brought back to Fagin's house, leaving Mr Brownlow disappointed. Oliver is forced to participate in a burglary with Sikes, but Oliver gets shot, Sikes leaves him lying in a ditch, and Oliver is rescued by the people of the house, Rose and her guardian Mrs Maylie. With the perfect, soft, gentle Rose and her companions, which include the impetuous but big-hearted Dr Losberne and Harry Maylie, Mrs Maylie’s son, Oliver lives blissful days. But Rose has her sorrows – she and Harry are in love, but she declines his proposal to avoid burdening him with the reputation of having an illegitimately-borne girl as his wife. Back in London, we meet Monks, a mysterious man, and find out that Oliver, for some reason, is worth hundreds of pounds to Fagin. At this time, Mr Bumble has entered an unhappy marriage with the matron of the workhouse, the former Mrs Corney. Monks meets the Bumbles secretly, and pays for a locket and ring that Mrs Bumble has, with the name Agnes inscribed on the inside of the ring, that was stolen by Oliver’s mother at her death by a nurse, and has made its way to Mrs Bumble. Monks then drops the locket and ring into the bottom of a river. Nancy eavesdrops on a conversation between Fagin and Monks, and meets up with Rose to reveal the secret to her. She tries to protect Sikes, her boyfriend, but her betrayal, coupled with Sikes’ innate cruelty, results in her being murdered by Sikes. Mr Brownlow, who by this time had been reunited with Oliver, now arranges a meeting with Monks and the Maylie group, and reveals that Monks is Oliver’s half-brother who had tried to take Oliver’s portion of his father’s will by burning the will. Rose is the younger sister of Oliver’s mother, and therefore his aunt. At the end of the novel, Sikes accidentally hangs himself while trying to escape a mob, Fagin is sentenced to death, Oliver is adopted by Mr Brownlow, and Rose and Harry wed.
This book is another example of Dickens’ excellent writing. Despite the tragic plotline, it is humorous, albeit in a dark humour sort of way. It is sarcastic, ironical, hyperbolic, full of puns and written with perfect comic timing. Reading it is like watching a comedic play. It is melodramatic, but the characters, while often stereotypical, are not far-fetched. The phrasing is imaginative and the diction spot-on. And because the story was released serially chapter by chapter, each chapter advances the story, and ends with something to look forward to in the next chapter.
But the humour serves as a contrast to the grimness of the story. Having worked in a workhouse himself in his youth, Dickens criticises the Victorian society’s treatment of the poor. The paupers in the workhouse are treated as less than human. They are given little food but are worked hard, and if they grumble or fall sick or are too weak to work, their rations are cut back further as punishment. Farms for children like the one Oliver grew up in had a mortality rate of 90%, so Dickens’ portrayal of them are not exaggerated in the least.
And yet these farms and workhouses are sponsored by the parish. That institution that should be glorifying God, instead shows only hatred and oppression to the poor. Dickens is not criticising Christianity. He makes that clear in his penultimate paragraph, which says that “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 whose great attitude is Benevolence to all things that breathe, happiness can never be attained.” To Dickens, mercy and love are an offspring of Christianity. What Dickens rails against is organised religion, and the hypocrisy of the beadle and the other characters in the book who think of themselves as Christians are really not Christians at all. Outwardly, they keep up a reputation of being so, but they are no better than Fagin’s gang, torturing and stealing from the poor, then either hide their actions or justify them.
This hypocrisy arises largely from society’s obsession with class distinctions. Mr Bumble, the workhouse matron, and others like the magistrate think they have a right to bully Oliver because he is of the lowest class while they are middle class, while they grovel to those of higher class than them, such as the Board of the workhouse. Even Noah, a charity boy, is slightly higher in class compared to Oliver, who doesn’t even know who his parents were, and hence he is allowed to lord it over Oliver. Even amongst the good, there are class distinctions. Rose, for instance, cannot marry Harry because her illegitimate birth, despite her rich upbringing, places her in a class lower than Harry. Giles too sees himself as superior to the other servants, but shows deep respect to his mistresses. Dickens shows that not only is class identity artificially created, but also that the assumptions of morality associated with classes are not always true. Oliver, the prime example, is assumed to be bad simply because he is a poor orphan, but he proves himself pure and innocent despite his trials. And those of higher classes than him, who are universally respected, often show themselves to be mean.
Dickens also explores good and evil, and whether morality is the outcome of nature or nurture. In some cases, he seems to argue for the former. Oliver, for instance, despite having grown up in a cruel environment destined to make a crook of him, retains his goodness and innocence. Monks, on the other hand, is said to have been born evil. But in other cases, Dickens strongly advocates that a person’s character is an outcome of the environment that that person is brought up in. The Artful Dodger and Charley Bates, for example, are likeable characters, intelligent and easygoing respectively. They aren’t greedy or selfish, and see pickpocketing as a skill and livelihood rather than as something borne out of evil desire. They are so because Fagin has brought them up that way. There is a hint that they may have turned out good if they had been taught to put their talents to good purposes, and indeed, Bates ends up making an honest fortune in his later life. There were probably many thieving street children at that time, as there are now, and Dickens places the blame not on the children themselves but on their environment. The Poor Laws did not provide these vulnerable children with decent homes, so to survive they had to take up homes with criminals. Dickens seems to say that what these children need is not imprisonment or judgment, but hospitality and mercy.
Nancy is one of the more complex characters who demonstrates this dilemma between good and evil. She is the rose of Fagin’s gang, and her talents are beautifully shown when she kidnaps Oliver. But she is ashamed of her life, and when confronted with Rose’s kindness and nobility, her shame overwhelms her. Yet she denies Rose’s offer of a home and protection out of loyalty to the only person she has ever loved, Sikes, despite he not caring for her. Her loyalty is built from the mistaken love of one who has never known love, and in her death, she is a martyr, dying for her twin desires to do good and help Oliver, and to protect the people she has spent her life with. There is a suggestion that if only she had been brought up in the right environment, she could have been redeemed, and this is brought to light most clearly when confronted with Rose, who is also and orphan and was also poor, but who has a different destiny due to her upbringing. Nancy is a victim, but though she had no realistic hope on earth, she had hope for eternity. Before her death, she tried to make Bill repent, and in dying, she held Rose’s handkerchief to heaven in prayer.
Dickens also explores ways of implementing justice. He criticises the legal system. The magistrate who seeks to charge Oliver with the theft of Mr Brownlow’s handkerchief is clearly corrupt and perverts justice, and the investigators Blathers and Duff who investigate the attempted robbery of the Maylies’ house are inept. Yet in an apparent contradiction, justice on Fagin is served by the judicial system. The justice of the people is also flawed – the mob that comes for Sikes is bloodthirsty and animal-like. But the ultimate justice is served by God and one’s own conscience. Sikes dies through a stumble when he sees a vision of Nancy’s eyes, but even before his death, justice had been served on him when he is tormented by visions of Nancy’s ghost everywhere. And although I disagree with Dickens’ portrayal of epilepsy and his suggestion that epilepsy is a punishment wrought on Monks for his vice, I do agree with his idea that Monks’ biggest punishment in the form of his disease was served not by the legal system but by God.
This book is another example of Dickens’ excellent writing. Despite the tragic plotline, it is humorous, albeit in a dark humour sort of way. It is sarcastic, ironical, hyperbolic, full of puns and written with perfect comic timing. Reading it is like watching a comedic play. It is melodramatic, but the characters, while often stereotypical, are not far-fetched. The phrasing is imaginative and the diction spot-on. And because the story was released serially chapter by chapter, each chapter advances the story, and ends with something to look forward to in the next chapter.
But the humour serves as a contrast to the grimness of the story. Having worked in a workhouse himself in his youth, Dickens criticises the Victorian society’s treatment of the poor. The paupers in the workhouse are treated as less than human. They are given little food but are worked hard, and if they grumble or fall sick or are too weak to work, their rations are cut back further as punishment. Farms for children like the one Oliver grew up in had a mortality rate of 90%, so Dickens’ portrayal of them are not exaggerated in the least.
And yet these farms and workhouses are sponsored by the parish. That institution that should be glorifying God, instead shows only hatred and oppression to the poor. Dickens is not criticising Christianity. He makes that clear in his penultimate paragraph, which says that “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 whose great attitude is Benevolence to all things that breathe, happiness can never be attained.” To Dickens, mercy and love are an offspring of Christianity. What Dickens rails against is organised religion, and the hypocrisy of the beadle and the other characters in the book who think of themselves as Christians are really not Christians at all. Outwardly, they keep up a reputation of being so, but they are no better than Fagin’s gang, torturing and stealing from the poor, then either hide their actions or justify them.
This hypocrisy arises largely from society’s obsession with class distinctions. Mr Bumble, the workhouse matron, and others like the magistrate think they have a right to bully Oliver because he is of the lowest class while they are middle class, while they grovel to those of higher class than them, such as the Board of the workhouse. Even Noah, a charity boy, is slightly higher in class compared to Oliver, who doesn’t even know who his parents were, and hence he is allowed to lord it over Oliver. Even amongst the good, there are class distinctions. Rose, for instance, cannot marry Harry because her illegitimate birth, despite her rich upbringing, places her in a class lower than Harry. Giles too sees himself as superior to the other servants, but shows deep respect to his mistresses. Dickens shows that not only is class identity artificially created, but also that the assumptions of morality associated with classes are not always true. Oliver, the prime example, is assumed to be bad simply because he is a poor orphan, but he proves himself pure and innocent despite his trials. And those of higher classes than him, who are universally respected, often show themselves to be mean.
Dickens also explores good and evil, and whether morality is the outcome of nature or nurture. In some cases, he seems to argue for the former. Oliver, for instance, despite having grown up in a cruel environment destined to make a crook of him, retains his goodness and innocence. Monks, on the other hand, is said to have been born evil. But in other cases, Dickens strongly advocates that a person’s character is an outcome of the environment that that person is brought up in. The Artful Dodger and Charley Bates, for example, are likeable characters, intelligent and easygoing respectively. They aren’t greedy or selfish, and see pickpocketing as a skill and livelihood rather than as something borne out of evil desire. They are so because Fagin has brought them up that way. There is a hint that they may have turned out good if they had been taught to put their talents to good purposes, and indeed, Bates ends up making an honest fortune in his later life. There were probably many thieving street children at that time, as there are now, and Dickens places the blame not on the children themselves but on their environment. The Poor Laws did not provide these vulnerable children with decent homes, so to survive they had to take up homes with criminals. Dickens seems to say that what these children need is not imprisonment or judgment, but hospitality and mercy.
Nancy is one of the more complex characters who demonstrates this dilemma between good and evil. She is the rose of Fagin’s gang, and her talents are beautifully shown when she kidnaps Oliver. But she is ashamed of her life, and when confronted with Rose’s kindness and nobility, her shame overwhelms her. Yet she denies Rose’s offer of a home and protection out of loyalty to the only person she has ever loved, Sikes, despite he not caring for her. Her loyalty is built from the mistaken love of one who has never known love, and in her death, she is a martyr, dying for her twin desires to do good and help Oliver, and to protect the people she has spent her life with. There is a suggestion that if only she had been brought up in the right environment, she could have been redeemed, and this is brought to light most clearly when confronted with Rose, who is also and orphan and was also poor, but who has a different destiny due to her upbringing. Nancy is a victim, but though she had no realistic hope on earth, she had hope for eternity. Before her death, she tried to make Bill repent, and in dying, she held Rose’s handkerchief to heaven in prayer.
Dickens also explores ways of implementing justice. He criticises the legal system. The magistrate who seeks to charge Oliver with the theft of Mr Brownlow’s handkerchief is clearly corrupt and perverts justice, and the investigators Blathers and Duff who investigate the attempted robbery of the Maylies’ house are inept. Yet in an apparent contradiction, justice on Fagin is served by the judicial system. The justice of the people is also flawed – the mob that comes for Sikes is bloodthirsty and animal-like. But the ultimate justice is served by God and one’s own conscience. Sikes dies through a stumble when he sees a vision of Nancy’s eyes, but even before his death, justice had been served on him when he is tormented by visions of Nancy’s ghost everywhere. And although I disagree with Dickens’ portrayal of epilepsy and his suggestion that epilepsy is a punishment wrought on Monks for his vice, I do agree with his idea that Monks’ biggest punishment in the form of his disease was served not by the legal system but by God.
hamishthepyro's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shar_htet's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
indiawilliamsrakestraw's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Murder
renardthefox's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
humatariq's review against another edition
3.0
This edition is actually an illustrated version of Oliver Twist; only more like a comic book style. I think I enjoyed reading this edition of the requisite primary school novel.
godelewa's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
ursodasrflat's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
4.0