Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist :: essays research papers fc

Janice VincentCharacters as Social Aspects in Oliver Twist"The Victorians were avowedly, unashamedly, incorrigibly honourableists. They . . . move in philanthropic enterprises in part to satisfy their own clean needs. And they were moralists in behalf of the poor, whom they sought not only to assist materially barely also to elevate morally, spiritually, culturally, and intellectually . . . ." (Himmelfarb 48(8)). Charles Dickens used characterization as the basis of his pursuit of this moral goal in the serialized Oliver Twist. His satyr was meant to overstretch parallels to the dark side of an era of British surface. One side of progress is wealth, the other side of the same coin is poverty, despair, misery and crime. Dickens allegorized nefariousness in contrast to good through characterization and melodrama. "Most of the moral judgments of the reader are pre-made for him or her. As a result, the reader objectively absorbs the moral lessons Dickens has set forth " (Stoddard).Gregory Stoddard writes "in Oliver Twist, there is a clear, defined system of criticism and rhetoric marked by sarcasm, and the verbiage of judgment" (Stoddard). The first words of Chapter 2 are an example. In it, he describes the situation that the innocent, Oliver, finds himself. "Here is a clear example of the sarcasm and advertent word woof in which lies the authorial genial criticism," writes Stoddard. "Consider the choice of words in this passage, treachery and deception. The connotations of these words imply an inherent evil, and consequently, a moral judgment. More subtly, the choice of victim implies that there is an entity that victimizes, and the word systematic strengthens that impression, lending to it an intentionality, and as a result, an evil nature" (Stoddard). Stoddard continues, ". . . when the victimizing entities are systematic in their methods, a booking of good versus evil results" (Stoddard).Although the o verall message was clear, coming on the heels of the of inadequate Law of 1834 as the book did, the characters Dickens created for the purpose of making his social commentary ranged from one dimensional to multidimensional caricatures. He used them as a means of presenting the "other" side of wealth-the dark, evil side. To that end, Oliver operates as a catalyst rather than as a hero. His lack of hero locating allows us to follow him into the underworld without ever being a thespian in it, just as he never desired to be a participant in it.