Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

analysis

Oliver Twist is a novel written by Charles Dickens between 1837 and 1839. In this novel Dickens analyses the problems of society during the Victorian Age, in order to make the reader understand what the situation is. Dickens uses a third person omniscient intrusive narrator: he knows the facts and the lives of his character.

The real aim of Dickens is to underline the difficulties Oliver and the other children face in that historical period. They are often exploited in hard and dangerous works.

The first paragraph (from line 1 to line 4) has an introductory function; it focuses the attention on Oliver's characterization. Oliver is either the main character or the name of the poem. The title represents what the text is going to talk about. Generally in this kind of novel the name of the main character belongs to a child, in order to provide a document of reality of what happens in the society. The reader cannot find a detailed description of Oliver, which is only suggested. The first four lines create an image in the reader's mind, by which he/she can understand that there is a third person omniscient, intrusive narrator.

In the second paragraph (from line 4 to line 11), the language underlines one of the trends of thought of the period: Darwinism. Nature goes beyond what we want.

The main point is the weakness of Oliver's body and the strength of his spirit. The camera focuses the attention on the setting where Oliver is talking. Oliver is in a cellar, in a precise cellar: in a coal-cellar. He is there with his friends. These children are locked in the coal-cellar as in a prison. They are complaining about their hunger.

The third paragraph (from line 12 to line 67) is a long paragraph: it describes the moment when the children are eating. The camera is now focusing the attention on the hunger of children. Here Dickens, with a religious language, describes what the dish of the children is. The spoon of the children coincides with the portion of food that each child is allowed to eat. In the same room there are also the master and two women. The master doesn't make anything because the food is served by the women. Going on reading, the intelligent reader can focus his attention on the victim: Oliver. Dickens informs the reader that the children on a standard day eat one spoon of gruel, but on an important day they eat also some bread. At line 18 Dickens uses the language in an ironical way, using an alliterative sound "wanted washing".

At line 19 a rhetorical technique is used in order to persuade the reader. The description of Dickens about the situation and the hungry of the children doesn't involve any reader's emotion.

At line 21 the word "copper" is a metonymy and it refers to the material aspect of the object.

Going on Dickens uses the language with a climax effect: children seem to be like cannibals.

At line 24 there is another onomatopoeic use of language with the word "splashing". At line 25 "Boys have generally excellent appetites" looks like a statement; it is used to reinforce the climax.

At lines 26 and 27 there is a repetition of the alliterative sound "s". At line 29 Dickens creates a climax effect: children are described as animals and predators.

At line 31 Dickens uses the Latin "per diem" in order to create a celebrative language; going on the reader can find the caricature of one boy. At line 33 Dickens uses the word "age" in order to underline how young the boy is, and Dickens describes him as an animal, a tiger.

At line 34 the word "council" belongs to the political field. The denotative language creates the grotesque.

At line 36 the children decide who will go to the master to ask for more food: the victim is Oliver.

At line 43 "he rose from the table" Oliver's movement is described as the movements of the sun.

At line 47 the intelligent reader can notice a contradiction between the children and the master. At line 48 Oliver Twist is called "rebel" because he doesn't respect the laws.

At line 49 Dickens uses a reference to the body language. At line 50 Dickens underlines the adults' wonders.

At line 51 Dickens wants to make the reader understand that the master has a fragile voice.

At line 53 the first reaction of the master is a body reaction, in order to underline the fear of the master of being unable to control Oliver Twist. At line 55 the children are described through a symbolic language. "Conclave" refers to the religious language.