themes of Oliver Twist

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themes of Oliver Twist

1. Themes of Oliver Twist Hitesh Galthariya Roll No :- 08 M.A. Sem :- 2 Year :- 2015-16 Paper :- 06 The Victorian Literature Submitted to : Smt.S.B. Gardi Department of English M.K.Bhav.University

2. Introduction Oliver Twist, subtitled The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838.

3. Theme of Society and Class "Society and Class" is one of the central themes of most of Dickens’s novels. In Oliver Twist, Dickens often shows how superficial class structures really are – at the core, everyone’s really the same, regardless of the social class into which they’re born. Dickens also exposes how callous and uncaring Victorian society was – folks just ignored the plight of the less fortunate because they were so self-satisfied, and so convinced that the systems they had in place to take care of the poor were the best and most humane systems possible.

4. Theme of Poverty The theme of "Poverty" is obviously related to the theme of "Society and Class." But while the "Society and Class" theme is concerned with showing how the social class system is basically just invented by society to justify the status quo, Dickens is also very concerned in showing just how miserable the lower classes really were. With Oliver Twist, he doesn’t shy away from depicting the conditions of the poor in all their misery with gritty realism.

5. Theme of Criminality Crime was a huge problem in London in the 1830s, when Dickens was writing, just as it is now. Novels and plays about crime were hugely popular. Some novelists wrote about crime because they had a particular point to make about the source of criminal behavior, or possible solutions to the crime wave. Other novelists wrote about crime just because they knew it would sell. Oliver Twist was hugely popular, but Dickens definitely had a point to make: he wanted to show how criminals really lived, in order to discourage poor people from turning to crime.

6. THEME OF RELIGION Organized , institutionalized religion – especially the Church of England – gets a pretty bad rap in this novel. Dickens was Anglican himself, but he felt like the Church was too impersonal and institutionalized, and didn’t do enough to take care of the poor and miserable folks who turned to the Church for help.

7. THEME OF CONTRASTING REGIONS In Oliver Twist, London itself seems to be part of the overall system of control that threatens and entraps Oliver at every turn. The streets are like a filthy labyrinth – once you turn wrong, it’s impossible to escape. The country, on the other hand, is pristine and harmonious.

8. THEME OF FATE AND FREE WILL Some characters in this novel are liberated and live happily ever after. Others aren’t able to escape the "labyrinth" that the city, their social class, and the systems of justice and religion seem to have created. Why is that? Certain characters seem to give up their free will at certain points, and to abandon themselves to a kind of bizarre fatalism.

9. THEME OF IDENTITY This novel is all about mistaken identities, changed names, etc. Many characters don't know where their parents are, or even who their parents are. Names are supposed to be society’s main marker for identity – the way everyone around you knows you – and, in Oliver Twist, Oliver’s name is thrust on him almost arbitrarily (or not…) by Mr. Bumble.

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