The extract is taken from he second chapter of Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. In the first lines there is the main character's characterisation. It is different from other novel one because the narrator, according to the dominant mentality of the age, shows the protagonist through a physical description with references to his social condition and his age. Indeed, everybody is the result of social condition, origins and physical appearance, which are the values of Utilitarianism.
So, the third person omniscient narrator lists Oliver's positive and negative aspects, in order to give a concrete description.
After the characterisation, the scene is set in the dining hall of the charity institution for orphans.
In the sequence the narrator focuses the reader's attention on the hungry of the children: after the meal, they try to obtain another portion of food.
In the scene of the lunch, children are degraded to animals ("so voracious and wild with hunger").
In the last part of the extract there is a dialogue between Oliver and the master. In the part the narrator express the contradiction between the master and the children: the master looks fat.
It creates the contrast between the children and the master and it is underlined by the Oliver's request for more food and through the use of strong language.
So, in the extract the narrator presents the social condition of poor children filtering through the use of the language and the creation of pathos and the grotesque.