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Analysis Oliver Twist

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Submitted By emycroft
Words 1004
Pages 5
Emily Mycroft
23 November 2015
William Skiles
History 102
Term Paper: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, written in 1837, illustrates what is like to be a child in the 1830’s in London. This novel shows the truth about how the Victorian society’s viewed and treated the unfortunate. The foolishness of individualism, failure of charity, clarity of an immoral city, and how the countryside is overemphasized are all main themes of this novel. With being a child in this time period it was really hard to be noticed as an innocent; these kids were growing up in the middle class as workers in terrible conditions. Survival of the fittest was what the Victorians lived their lives by. They believed that if everyone in their society would look out for their own interests, that everything would run effortlessly. But that isn’t at all what happened; Dickens shows us that there was much more issues and problems with they way children were being treated. “[…] as Oliver looked out of the parlour window, and saw the Jew roll [his old clothes] up in his bag and walk away, he felt quite delighted to think that they were safely gone, and that there was now no possible danger of his ever being able to wear them again” (14.8). At the end of the novel everyone is starting to turn against each other and give in to the philosophy, of everyone for himself or herself. However, the second group of Oliver and his many friends prove their community and society wrong by linking together and not being selfless. These were the only people who didn’t get greedy and they symbolized the “perfect happiness.” A good example of this is from chapters one through four when Mrs. Mann, dresses the children she is caring for improperly, ignores their poor hygiene, and starves them. Oliver Twist liked to challenge the organizations of charity, which was ran by the

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