Occasionally I grab a subject out of the suggestion box presented by Associated Content and this is one of those occasions. In this instance the subject is my favorite novel. I certainly do have one and that would be Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. I read the book the first time when I was eight years old and although the first part is very sad and dreary, I love the way the characters are uplifted in the end. This was the way Charles Dickens wrote and he based a lot of his novels on events going on in England during his lifetime.
Dickens was appalled by the conditions of some of his countrymen. Many of his novels conveyed a need for social reform and better opportunity for the poor. He wrote books that portrayed realism and one wonders if many of the characters in his books were actually real life people that he had observed along the way. Dickens living only to the age of 58 was a literary genius and his books will live forever, many great ones David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Great Expectations, and of course my favorite novel Oliver Twist.
Oliver Twist was Dicken’s second novel and was published in 1838 by Richard Bently. Oliver Twist is the story of an orphan boy who is sent to a workhouse where he is mistreated and finally escapes. He then makes his way to London where he meets The Artful Dodger, a child no older than Oliver. The Artful Dodger works for Fagin, a career criminal, who has a gang of young boys like the Dodger spending the day stealing and picking pockets for him. Fagin is elderly and treats the boys well as long as they are meeting their quotas of stealing for him.
Dodger leads Oliver to meet Fagin and Oliver is immediately trained to joins Dodger and the other boys in their criminal exploits. On his first day on the job Oliver is caught by Mr Brownlow, the man he was trying to steal from and taken to the magistrate. Once there Brownlow suddenly has a change of heart and decides instead not to prosecute, but to take Oliver home with him. There Oliver learns about the better things in life and gets great care under the hands of Mrs. Bedwin, the housekeeper for Brownlow.
Life is grand for Oliver until one day Mr. Brownlow sends him out to pay for some books and Oliver is kidnapped by Nancy and Bill Sikes, some members of Fagin’s crime ring. Oliver is again forced into crime, but on a burglary led by Bill Sikes, Oliver forced to crawl through a window is heard by the residents and shot. Sikes leaves him there where Oliver is cared for by the people he was intended to rob, Miss Rose and her guardian Mrs. Maylie. The criminals certainly have not given up in getting Oliver back again and Mr. Brownlow still has a huge role in Oliver’s life as the story progresses. Here we say read the book —
In the novel Oliver Twist Charles Dickens gives his audience a story of grim realism mixed with occasional satire. The brilliance of the novel is that it serves as a harsh critique to the Poor Laws of that era. The novel takes a swipe at the system in those days which failed to create proper care for orphans and abandoned children of that time. Poor Oliver has no other resource except the workhouse or the life as a criminal. Faced with all this choice Dicken’s character Oliver remains pure hearted and maintains his hope for a better life.
Oliver Twist is a novel about poverty, slums, and mistreatment of children. He conveyed in this novel as well as many others that social injustice existed and flourished in too much of society. Dickens sought to bring about social reform and although he provides a very harsh picture for a young boy in this novel. He leads us to a satisfying ending and resolution for young Oliver as good conquers bad.
Oliver Twist is a fantastic novel that leads us into a view of all the social injustice that existed in those days and the need for reform. Dickens used his novels to entertain, but also to bring about the conscience of a nation to do better for all the poor and downtrodden in society at that time. I hope everyone that hasn’t read the book will take time to do so. It is an exciting trip into a world that certainly existed and one child’s determination to overcome.
The novel Oliver Twist was made into several movies the best of which are the 1948 movie with Robert Newton and Alex Guiness, and the classic 1968 musical version that stars Ron Moody, Mark Lester, Oliver Reed, and Jack Dawkins. Moody was brilliant as the thief Fagin and Lester portrays with great effect the young innocent Oliver.
Oliver Twist is my favorite novel because it has a little bit of everything, and in the end it gives us hope and happiness.
