Describe the character of Oliver Twist?

Answer 1

As the child hero of a melodramatic novel concerning social protest, Oliver Twist is meant to appeal more to our sentiments than to our literary sensibilities. On many levels, Oliver is not a believable character, because although he is raised in corrupt surroundings, his purity and virtue are so absolute as to be unbelievable. Throughout the novel, Dickens uses Oliver’s character to challenge the Victorian idea that paupers and criminals are already evil at birth, arguing instead that a corrupt environment is the source of vice. At the same time, Oliver’s incorruptibility undermines some of Dickens’s assertions. Oliver is shocked and horrified when he sees the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates pick a stranger’s pocket and again when he is forced to participate in a burglary. Oliver’s moral scruples about the sanctity of property seem inborn in him, just as Dickens’s opponents thought that corruption is inborn in poor people. Furthermore, other pauper children use rough Cockney slang, but Oliver, oddly enough, speaks in proper King’s English. His grammatical fastidiousness is also inexplicable, as Oliver presumably is not well-educated. Even when he is abused and manipulated, Oliver does not become angry or indignant. When Sikes and Crackit force him to assist in a robbery, Oliver merely begs to be allowed to “run away and die in the fields.” Oliver does not present a complex picture of a person torn between good and evil—instead, he is goodness incarnate.
Even if we might feel that Dickens’s social criticism would have been more effective if he had focused on a more complex poor character, like the Artful Dodger or Nancy, the audience for whom Dickens was writing might not have been receptive to such a portrayal. Dickens’s Victorian middle-class readers were likely to hold opinions on the poor that were only a little less extreme than those expressed by Mr. Bumble, the beadle who treats paupers with great cruelty. In fact, Oliver Twist was criticized for portraying thieves and prostitutes at all. Given the strict morals of Dickens’s audience, it may have seemed necessary for him to make Oliver a saintlike figure. Because Oliver appealed to Victorian readers’ sentiments, his story may have stood a better chance of effectively challenging their prejudices.

Answer 2

Fagin, the mastermind between the criminals, is as grotesque in visual attraction as he's repulsive in disposition, yet he's not a one-dimensional parent. In Fagin, Dickens has tried to portray a character who reflects most of the complexities of standard human nature. while incensed, the old guy can supply thank you to savage rage, yet on basic events he indulges in a mocking, now and lower back sarcastic humor that earns him the nickname of “the merry old gentleman.” This very actuality is in itself an occasion of sardonic humor, of which Dickens is a grasp. it fairly is undeniable that Fagin’s status between the thieves is a results of his significant abilities. he's shrewder and extra reflective than his companions. whilst they might swagger with the ********* of youthful adult adult males or brood like the sadistic Sikes, Fagin is conscious and appreciates the delicacy of their place and the pressing necessity for prudence and tireless vigilance while maximum suitable a life-time of crime. He demonstrates his analytical bent in his lectures to Oliver and Claypole on the subject of interdependence between the lawless. while not caught off look after, Fagin can workout impressive power of ideas, even decrease than extreme stress. So, after improving from the preliminary marvel delivered approximately via his discovery of Nancy’s conferences with the enemy, he's able skillfully to prod Sikes to devote homicide. meanwhile, the old criminal controls himself sufficient to warning Sikes against severe violence—consistently having in ideas the perils of a slipshod circulate. There are some strains of human feeling left in Fagin’s self-serving nature. On numerous events, he shows a hint of kindliness in direction of Oliver. on the night that he maneuvers Oliver into the Chertsey day holiday, the old guy exams his impulse to disrupt the persecuted newborn’s sleep. here day, he earnestly entreats Oliver to ideas Sikes without question, for his very own protection.

Answer 3

He's related to Oliver Boobs...? I think...

His middle name is Tiny...