Hello folks,
Believe it or not, I keep reading English books. Last
time I wrote a review about The Old Man and the Sea and some others about Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and Golding's The Lord of the Flies. The
last of my readings was Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens, probably one of the most famous books in the English
literature and certainly one of Charles Dickens’s masterpieces. This realist
work depicts accurately the poor working conditions of the bustling city of the
London of the industrial revolution in contrast with the peaceful life in the
countryside.
The main character is Oliver, an innocent young orphan with a heart of gold who spends part of his childhood in an orphanage where he, alongside all his
mates, is misfed and maltreated. One day, when he is hungry, he innocently asks
for more food, which is interpreted by the beadle, Mr. Mumble, and the other “religious”
people as a rebellion against them and they decide to get rid of him and sell
him to an undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry. Dickens make a demolishing critique of
the church and all its people. The deacons will let other children starve to
death in order to save money and to be able to afford a wealthy life, full of
luxuries and sins.
Oliver’s life is not easy and he goes from one
misfortune to the next. One of Sowerberry’s employees mistreats him and gloats
at his being orphan, so he gets furious and, after walking tirelessly for a lot
of days, he gets to the busy city of London, where he is adopted and accepted
by a bunch of robbers lead by a despicable and ruthless Jew called Fagin (see picture), who
taught him nothing more than progressing in the art of theft and stealing. When
they are in the street, stealing, Oliver, unaware of what they are actually
doing, is arrested and beaten by a mob of citizens and a cop. He recovers in
the house of Mr. Brownlow, the old man who Oliver’s gang stole from. Mr.
Brownlow treats Oliver like a son and he lives happily there. However, when he
is an errand, he is kidnapped again by the gang, who force Oliver to break into
a house. There, Oliver is shot and is about to die, but he is accepted and
looked after by Mrs. Maylie, the owner of the house. She allies with Mr.
Brownlow to put all the gang of robbers behind bars…
Charles Dickens humourously describes the miserable
conditions of London: child slavery, criminal slums, piteous working
conditions,…. London is bustling and crowded with people but is regarded as a
sinful city flooded with misery, sadness, and fear. All this seems to be the
result of the industrial revolution. Machines have transformed the life of
London. People have transferred from the countryside to the city, but in the
city some workers are losing their jobs in favour of machines. Many families
are left with no choice but to steal and commit other crimes.
Another topic dealt with in the book is the contrast
between the rich and the poor. The aristocrats and the upper class workers lead
a happy life full of comforts, whereas the lower classes live in misery, a life
with illnesses, hunger and misery, a life with petty salaries. This contrast is
also reflected in their behaviour. The upper classes are prestigious and respected
by the community while the lower classes are disregarded and considered mere
criminal. They are alienated and treated as outcasts. According to Dickens, the
aristocrats have a responsibility: they should contribute to help to improve
the situation. This is what Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Maylie do. They help Oliver
no matter the consequences. The author also compares the peaceful, calm,
idyllic countryside with the sinful, miserable and depressing city of London,
where all the people suffer.
To conclude, Oliver
Twist reflects the working of the society of the nineteenth century though
the eyes of the innocent Oliver, who awakens nothing but sympathy. The readers
suffer Oliver’s fate much like Oliver himself. Dickens manages to describe this
gloomy atmosphere with humour, with a riveting plot that attracts the reader’s
attention until the very end.
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