Scarica Oliver Twist di Charles Dickens e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! OLIVER TWIST Dickens began writing Oliver Twist in 1837 and published it in 1838. Oliver Twist is a little boy who is abandoned in a workhouse by his mother, who is a so-called fallen woman, an unmarried woman who gave birth to him in a workhouse. Oliver will be later recognised as the son of a middle-class father, who had died before he was born. The fact that children didn't know who their parents were and were then recognised as being their children was quite typical of Victorian novels, which were particularly sentimental. Oliver Twist first appeared in instalments in 1837 and was later published as a book. The novel fictionalises the economic insecurity and humiliation Dickens experienced as a child. The name “Twist”, though it is given to the protagonist by accident, represents the outrageous reversals of fortune that he will experience. Oliver Twist is a poor boy of unknown parents, he was born in a workhouse in a small town near London in the early 1800s. His mother dies almost immediately after his birth and he is brought up in a workhouse in an inhuman way. The boy commits the unpardonable offence of asking for more food when he is close to starving, so the parish official offers 5 pounds to anyone willing to take Oliver on as an apprentice. In fact, at the age of 9, he is later sold to an undertaker, but the cruelty and the unhappiness he experiences with his new master make him runaway to London. Then he falls into the hands of a gang of young pickpockets trained by Fagin, who runs a school for would-be thieves. Unfortunately, Oliver is not a successful student, he is called on his first attempt at theft. Mr Brownlow, the victim, is stricken by the ragged and unhealthy appearance of Oliver and rather than charging him with theft, he takes him home and takes care of him. Oliver is eventually kidnapped by Fagin’s gang and forced to commit burglary; during the job he is shot and wounded. Oliver is adopted by Mr Brownlow and at last receives kindness and affection. Investigations are made about who Oliver is and it is discovered that he has noble origins. In the end the gang of pickpockets and Oliver's half-brother, who paid the thieves in order to ruin Oliver and have their father's property all for himself are arrested. The name “Twist” is given to the protagonist by accident: children who were born in workhouses were given names according to the alphabetical order; when Oliver was born, they had come to the letter T. Dickens often used names to sum up important characteristics of the characters of his novels: “Twist” is verb (= aggrovigliare) refers to the fact that Oliver’s life is twisted, full of problems and accidents which make it not easy for him; David Copperfield’s step-father is called Mr Murdstone (= il sasso che uccide) and actually he is a very rigid and violence person who abuses David in all possible ways; in Oliver Twist, Mr Bumble’s name refers to his psychological and physical characteristics (a bumble is a large hairy bee; Mr Bumble, who is actually the beadle so the person who should take care of the children, is presented as an ugly person). With this novel, Dickens denounces some critical aspects of the Victorian society. Although he didn't wish a revolution which will cause a complete change of the relationships between social classes, he wished the introduction of reforms which could improve miserable life conditions of the lower classes. Oliver Twist represents all the children that at Dickens’ time were abused by the adults, who instead of protecting and taking care of them tried to make profits by obliging them to work. So, whereas in Hard Times Dickens focuses on factories, in Oliver Twist he focuses at least in the first part of the novel on the world of workhouses and all their negative aspects: there children were not actually taking care of and lived in miserable conditions because parish officials, who were given money by the State to take care of them, actually tried to get the more they can, so they didn’t spend money for giving children what they needed to live with dignity. Dickens also describes the criminal world: after he has been chased away from the shop where he worked for an undertaker who builds coffins, Oliver ends up working with a gang of young pickpockets; although he was a criminal, Fagin took care of his children in some way because he gave them good food and tries to entertain them, better than people in the workhouse or the undertaker; however, the money they get comes from crime and this is not good for a child. Dickens also explains the reason why there are so many criminal children in London: they were
