BrownAdvanced Placement English Literature and CompositionJanuary 12, 2001Oliver Twist: A Criticism of Society or a BiographyWith all of the symbolism and moral issues represented in Oliver Twist, all seem to come from real events from the life of its author, Charles Dickens. The novel’s protagonist, Oliver, is a good person at heart surrounded by the filth of the London streets, filth that Dickens himself was forced to deal with in his everyday life. It’s probable that the reason Oliver Twist contains so much fear and agony is because it’s a reflection of occurrences in Charles Dickens' past. Oliver Twist also brought to light the evils of social injustice and the victims of it.During his childhood, Charles Dickens suffered much abuse from his parents. This abuse is often expressed in his novel. For example, while suffering from starvation and malnutrition for a long period of time, Oliver was chosen by the other boys at the orphanage to request more gruel at dinner one night. After making this simple request, the master (at the orphanage) aimed a blow at Oliver's head with a ladle and placed him confinement. As noted by Patricia Marks in her article on Dickens, “childhood experience and suffering had emerged as a significant new topic in romantic poetry, and Dickens was personally impelled towards it by memories of his own pre-teenage years when, with the rest of his family in prison and himself alone, he was thrown into manual labour.” Dickens was even quoted as saying, “I might easily have been, for any care that was taken of me, a little robber or a little vagabond.” This quote could relate to Oliver’s firstGuy 2encounter in London, which was with a member of a criminal gang who sought to recruit him.Phillip Collins believed that throughout Dickens’ lifetime, he appeared to have acquired a fondness for "the bleak, the sordid, and the austere,” due to Dickens...
