OLIVER WANTS SOME MORE! From Oliver Twist (1837) by Charles Dickens

Comprehension

• The children are in a sort of canteen, a hall in which all children are provided with little food everyday.

• After they have finished eating, the children are unsatisfied because they don’t receive enough food. They are still hungry and as a consequence they are weak.

• Some children decided to one who should walk to the master and ask for more supper. Therefore, that evening Oliver Twist went to the master to do so.

• Reactions: the master turned very pale, he was astonished and disconcerted after the child’s request, moreover he called the beadle aloud in order to come. The beadle apologized for the situation with the upset master. The board was paralysed with wonder and horror.

Interpretation

• Personal reaction: I felt irritated by the adults’ behaviour towards a child’s request.

• Examples of contrasts inside the text: a long grace was said over the short commons.

• Examples of hyperbole: as if they could have devoured the very bricks of which it was composed. / He was afraid he might some night happen to eat the boy who slept next to him.

• Examples of repetitions: that boy will be hung – I know that boy will be hung.

• The writer sympathizes with the protagonist. Indeed, when dealing with rich and immoral authorities (the master, the board), the writer seems ironic and sarcastic.

• Type of narrator: 3rd person omniscient, anonymous narrator.

• Charles Dickens’ aim is that of making the reader aware of the social conditions of poor people. His work underlines how the new Poor Law (1834) influenced poor children’s lives.