OLIVER TWIST
Oliver Twist, a poor, innocent orphan boy, stands out in this story as
the main character but it is the supporting characters that allow this
novel of much content to develop a much more satisfying and believable
theme. With "Good V.S. Evil" as one of the major conflicts, in such
categories are the secondary characters found as well. Three main
auxiliary characters of Oliver Twist aid the elaboration of the story;
these significant characters are Mr. Brownlow representing purity,
integrity and goodness, Nancy as partially righteous, partially villain
and lastly on the other extreme of the scale: Fagin, the symbol of evil,
corruption and manipulation. Throughout the story we are introduced to
each of these characters through an omniscient point of view, and are
able to categorize them according to their personalities, thoughts and
actions. With their differing levels of honesty and social status, each
of them play a crucial role in the development of the story's theme.
As most of the author's characters, Mr. Brownlow too, is brought out
with an indirect presentation but it is not long after introducing him
that his wholesome goodness is revealed to us. Though at first he
accuses Oliver of thieving, his concern over Oliver's welfare on the
street is a direct hint of his innocence which successfully helps him
convince Oliver to board at his house.
A generous and trusting man he was, perhaps too good a man to be true;
but with all the malicious characters in the story, a heroic and pure
persona was needed to ensure a happy ending. With honesty and great
wealth as his prime qualities, he assists Oliver in his times of need
and demonstrates to society with an exemplary touch, the attributes of a
perfect citizen. As the positive extreme in both social status and
benevolence, Mr. Brownlow is a definite aid in the development of the
theme throughout the novel.
Nancy, for us, must be the weakest character. Trapped between wanting
to help Oliver evade Fagin's exploitation and her dedicated love for
Sikes; she fails to survive to the end as she is convicted and
ironically murdered by her own husband : Sikes, a brutal and abusive
man. But there is a great need for this secondary character in the
story, she serves not only as a tie between the scenes at the different
house holds but as well she is the only hope of salvation for Oliver.
Without her, Oliver may have never had the chance to grow up in a loving
home and learn to be proper in his actions and pure in the soul. Even
though her ununderstandable love for Sikes is honest most of the time,
her own soul held an even greater devotion to Oliver, for she gets her
own husband drunk and comes to Oliver's rescue. Nancy sees in Oliver the
innocence of her own childhood being robbed by Fagin's deceiving
malpractice. Nancy provides the story with a second chance for Oliver
into a proper, honest world. It costs her, her life, but she prospers in
helping Oliver as well as doing a lot of justice for society. Able to
save Oliver from evil and putting evil itself in prison, Nancy triumphs
above all her devilish acquaintances and is the pivoting point of
Oliver's return to safety. Not only as a way to introduce new plots in
the tale, but as well as the theme's greatest support, she is a genial
character that could have only been created after much planning and
thought.
Fagin was a jew described by the author in such a manner that one may
think Dickens were racist to some extent. His beliefs of Jew's were
that a Jew seldom thieves, but is worse than a thief when he encourages
others to thieve. In his opinion, "In every town there is a Jew,
resident or tramping;... if a robbery is effected, the property is hid
till a Jew is found, and a bargain is then made." Fagin is described in
such a style in this tale that one is almost forced to dislike his
character. Old, ugly and a "Jew", Fagin is associated with principal
atmospheric devices that give the novel unique power. Not only does
Fagin seek to capture Oliver forever by making him an accomplice in
crime, but it also seems that he has supernatural powers to seek him out
of wherever his good friends may hide him. Truly the antagonist, Fagin
and his amoral forces are to Oliver as the devil himself is to a sinless
human. Even though highly complex and interpretive in its content,
"Oliver Twist", like an escape story, where the bad guy gets what he
deserves and the good guy lives happily ever after, its main plot
follows this same pattern. Fagin, as he deserves, ends up in prison and
goes mentally insane, while Oliver, the innocent young boy, gets a great
home and a loving family. But Fagin is not all vile, because after going
to jail, where he realizes that all his stolen goods will do him no good
now, he gives Oliver back what was once his, his mother Agnes' ring;
which in turn unleashes Oliver's ancestry and gives the story a more
coherent plot.
It is the complex secondary characters of this story that permit it to
reach out and touch all the levels of society; these being the rich, the
poor and the man in the middle. These same three characters are what
grants this story with a theme that captures reality in the midst of
England's nineteenth century. As revealed throughout the tale, England's
nineteenth century was an epoch of much poverty and great social
problems which resulted in a society of two opposing classes: the
wealthy and the poor. Within these two classes lay two other opposing
forces: the good and the bad. In the same way that good and bad exist
within all classes in the novel, the same thing can be said about real
life. What the theme of this story says about reality is that in todays
society, it doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor, educated or
not, most competent human beings possess the ability to judge right from
wrong and are therefore free to make whatever choices in their lives
they wish to make, provided though, that they can live with the
consequences of their decisions. In Oliver's case, even just as a very
young boy, he too was able to judge right from wrong and ends up chosing
not to steal. As a result of his decision, young Oliver is given a
happy home and a promising future. On the other hand, Fagin's judgement
is not so proficient, and concluding, he remains with nothing but
insanity and a solemn life in jail 'till his last day comes about.