Oliver Twist (The Parish Boy's Progress)is a novel written by Charles Dickens and published between 1837 and 1839. The protagonist, Oliver, is a young boy who lives in an orphanage in London and faces critical living conditions. The extract under analysis is entitled “Oliver wants some more” and it focuses the attention on a turning point that causes Oliver’s expulsion from the orphanage.

The extract is opened by a descriptive sequence in which the third person narrator provides the reader information about how the orphans are fed. The children suffer because of starving: they are given very poor meals, each portion carefully calculated. The quantity of food creates a contrast with the number of details provided by the description: while the food is little, the description provides lots of information – the room, the copper, the master’s clothes, the occasions in which children are given more food than usual, and so on – as if its function was to fill the lack of food. “The spoons being nearly as large as the bowls” is an interesting detail. Its main function is to emphasize the speed with which the orphans clear their bowls of gruel. The detail is based on an inversion: according to one’s expectations it should have been “the bowls being nearly as large as the spoons” and not vice versa. Therefore, the effect of using an inversion is to stress the little dimensions of the bowls and therefore the poverty of the meals.

The children’s actions such as “polishing the bowls”, “staring at the copper with eager eyes” or “sucking their fingers” are mentioned in a list as habits – as actions that happened everyday in the order suggested by the words “when” or “meanwhile”. The expression “when they had performed this operation” makes the actions seem mechanical, like a part of an industrial process. This may be a reference to the Industrial Revolution and its consequences, a process which took place just before the novel was written.

The children’s mechanical actions also contributes to depersonalize them: starvation prevents them to express themselves like an ordinary child would. However, there is an exception: “one boy, who was tall for his age” said that he wanted a double portion of food. His temper isn’t reduced by starvation and he forces the others to obey him for the sake of “the boy who slept next him, who happened to be a weakly youth of tender age”. The children’s organization to face said problem is once again a link to industry: more specifically, it may be a reference to organizations of workers meant to face the masters.

The boy chosen to ask for a second portion of food is Oliver Twist. The scene can be now divided into three sequences. The first one focuses on the fact itself: Oliver is convinced by the other children and is also pushed by his own childish naivety. The second sequecne focuses on the reaction to Oliver’s request, marked by the repetition of the sentences “Please, sir, i want some more” and “to ask for more”. The reaction provided is that of Mr. Bumble: it is characterized both physically and verbally in a quite exaggerated way, making Oliver’s request look like a scandal. In particular, it seems that Oliver broke the order that ruled the orphanage and it is the reason why Mr. Bumble immediately reports the event to Mr. Limbkins. The third sequence focuses on the consequences of Oliver’s request. Indeed, he is immediately expelled from the orphanage, just like a factory defect.

From the extract, the reader can catch Dickens’ interest in portraying the contemporary society and its problems. His attention towards the living condition of children may be encouraged by his own childhood, which was difficult as well (his family was imprisoned, while Charles was forced to work in a factory). The society portrayed by Dickens is a cold and heartless one, not interested in people’s needs but in its image. As said before, Oliver Twist appeared as an element of disorder and was immediately expelled. It seems that the goal of society is to keep order, to make everything rational, to prevent confusion.