Oliver Twist’s will to survive Oliver Twist is one of the most famous novels Charles Dickens ever wrote. It is a tale of childhood innocence, surrounded by evil; whereby, it portrays the dark unlawful mob of a London, occupied by strong and unforgettable characters. It is a timeless rags-to-riches story about an orphan, who has to navigate his way across a city full of criminals, and stay away from being corrupted. Oliver Twist's will to survive throughout the novel, is the ultimate contributing factor to his finding his biological family. Dickens draws out a convincing image of a disturbing childhood preoccupied by a struggle between the poor laws and criminality; the forces of good and evil; and a sense of alienation.
In one of the most common places where poor laws is depicted is that of where Oliver Twist’s birth takes place: a workhouse, where his mother takes refuge and dies after giving birth to her illegitimate son, and is unable to make her identity known to anyone. According to Chlebek, this is where everything “begins, the nightmare of abandonment, exploitation, and terror that constitute the orphan’s early life” (“Childhood in Oliver Twist"). During Oliver’s first year, he is brought up in the workhouse. He is then sent to Mrs. Mann’s baby farm, where he is regularly starved for the next eight years. However, on Oliver’s ninth birthday, the parish beadle, Mr. Bumble, returns Oliver to the workhouse so that he can learn a useful trade: picking oakum. When Oliver arrives at the workhouse, he soon realizes that the other children have also been regularly starved and unlucky for Oliver he gets the short-end of the straw and is “chosen” to ask for more food. Oliver’s harmless appeal, “Please, sir, I want some more” (Dickens 36), shocks and disgusts the powers that be of the workhouse, to which they predict Oliver “will be hung” (37) and in turn announce his readiness to learn a trade. Here one is able to see that those who live in workhouses are treated in such a way that they are seen as prisoners and outcasts. One gets the sense that it is a “crime” to simply ask for more food, and not an essential necessity for a person. Dickens is simply trying to show how Oliver looks out for himself, by attempting to get more food and not starve to death. The reader is given no indications that any of the other boys care that Oliver becomes the victim of their forbidden desire for more food. Instead from this incident onwards, Oliver is uniquely singled out for punishment by the parochial board: “he remained a close prisoner in the dark and solitary room to which he had been consigned by the wisdom and mercy of the board” (38). The reader is shown how the children are mistreated by the parochial board, and what type of treatment the children are subjected to if they don’t follow the rules. Dickens continues to illustrate to the reader how the children are punished by describing how Oliver is reprimanded in front of all the other children in the workhouse; so as, to deter the others from committing such a crime, “he was carried every other day into the hall where the boys dined, and there sociably flogged as a public warning and example” (39).
Throughout this novel, Charles Dickens shows how there is this constant pull between the forces of good and evil. This is evident when Oliver is offered out to Mr. Gamfield, but when Oliver “falls on his knees, and clasping his hands together, prayed that they would order him back to the dark room – that they would starve him – beat him – kill him if they pleased – rather than send him away with that dreadful man” (45), shows the disgust and hatred towards the gentleman, and is saved by the magistrates, “We refuse to sanction these indentures” (46). Instead Oliver is handed over to Mr. Sowerberry, the undertaker. After a few days of being at Mr. Sowerberry’s, Oliver is attacked by Noah Claypole, a charity boy who is employed by Mr. Sowerberry. Oliver is then locked up in the cellar by Mrs. Sowerberry and beaten by the parish beadle; Mr. Bumble. Once again, the reader is able to understand the lack of charity by people, who are meant to be the “care-takers” for an orphan like Oliver. Oliver then decides “to run away early the next morning and sets out for London” (Davis). During his six days and seventy miles of walking towards London, Oliver meets “one of the queerest looking boys” (Dickens 82), he has ever seen. Jack Dawkins, or “the Artful Dodger” is a short boy, who wears a top hat and a man’s overcoat with the sleeves folded back, buys Oliver food and takes him into the city of London to Fagin’s hideout. Fagin is a deceitful old criminal who tries to transform Oliver into a thief.
When Oliver is made aware of Fagin’s gang, the young members who are presented as examples to follow are the Artful Dodger, a street smart scamp with a similar age as Oliver, and Nancy, a teenage prostitute whom Fagin has given to Bill Sikes as his mistress. Bill Sikes is a cruel thief and associate of Fagin’s. Nancy and Dodger have been changed completely into coldhearted criminals from an early age by malicious adults who have seduced them off the city streets. Nancy and the Artful Dodger come to symbolize a class of children who have been cheated of their young innocence. According to Chlebek, in “Childhood in Oliver Twist,” “Oliver’s childish purity is portrayed as a mantle of security that ultimately protects him from his tragic childhood of corruption and crime on the London streets that traps the Dodge, Nancy, and other young paupers.” It is Oliver’s young innocence that ultimately helps to save him. It is this quality of Oliver’s character that attracts the sympathies of Mr. Brownlow and the Maylie family; all of whom Oliver is forced to rob because he is given an order to do so by Fagin. As a result of Fagin and Sikes external and terrible influences on Oliver, it creates criminal behavior in Oliver all of which he does not approve of. Oliver’s distaste in evil is soon realized when on one of the few occasions that he is able to leave Fagin’s hideout Oliver is to watch Dodger and Bates do what they are best at: pickpocketing. Dodger attempts and is successful in stealing a handkerchief from an old gentleman. After committing the crime, the Artful Dodger and Bates run away. When the old gentleman realizes what has happened to him, he yells out “Stop thief” (Dickens 97), as he sees Oliver begin to run away. The old gentleman naturally assumes that Oliver is the perpetrator, and begins to go after him. Once Oliver is caught, the old gentleman is asked if Oliver was the boy who stole his handkerchief and the old gentleman confirms he is the thief. Oliver is taken off to jail where he is unable to give his name during the trial. Even though the old gentleman does not press charges, Oliver is sentenced by the Magistrate Fang. However, the bookstore owner clears Oliver, and is discharged into the custody of the old gentleman, who the reader finds out to be Mr. Brownlow.
It goes without saying that in many situations, with evil comes good; and in the case of Oliver’s his good comes from Mr. Brownlow as he takes Oliver to his house in Pentonville and puts the now very feverish Oliver to bed. Mr. Brownlow’s housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin, looks after Oliver and nurses him back to health. After Oliver recovers from being ill, Mr. Brownlow buys him a new suit to replace the street clothes that Oliver once wore. By this simple act of kindness towards Oliver from Mr. Brownlow, the reader is able to see the goodness in people, and how the rich are able to help the poor. According to Schattschneider in “Mr. Brownlow's Interest in Oliver Twist,” “Mr. Brownlow willingly accepts responsibility for Oliver because he feels a deep interest in his welfare and his origin” (4). After Oliver recovers from his illness, Mr. Brownlow enquires about Oliver’s life, but is unfortunately unable to do so as he is interrupted by a friend of Mr. Brownlow. Oliver is given the opportunity to show his gratitude to Mr. Brownlow and the goodness in him by returning books of Mr. Brownlow’s to the book store, Oliver says, “Yes; do let me take them, if you please sir, I’ll run all the way, sir” (Dickens 136). However, Mr. Brownlow’s friend doesn’t believe that Oliver will return in a timely manner; as Oliver is a boy of the street, and just because he has "a new suit of clothes on his back, a set of valuable books under his arm, and a five-pound note in his pocket. He’ll join his old friends the thieves, and laugh at you" (137). It is unfortunate that Oliver gets lost on the way to the bookstore. As a result of him getting lost he runs into Nancy and is sadly captured by Sikes and Nancy once again. Now that Oliver is back in the hands of Fagin, he is locked for several weeks before he is let out. After several lonely weeks, Oliver is given advice by Dodger and Bates to join them in the “trade” (170), but because of the good in him, Oliver resists. Nevertheless, Oliver is not given a choice to this fact, and he is placed in the care of Sikes and his accomplice Toby Crackit, from the recommendation of Nancy, as they are in need of a small boy for a robbery. Fagin jumps at the chance of sending Oliver away with these men, as he likes the idea of implicating Oliver in a crime as a way to silence him. Sikes and Oliver go westward out of the city and stop at an old ruin house. While here they lie in wait for 1:30 in the morning. When this time arrives, Sikes, Crackit and Oliver set off silently and approach a large house. Oliver then realizes why he has been brought along, and tries to resist. But Sikes cocks his pistol which is aimed at Oliver’s head, and instructs Oliver to enter the house through a small window at the back of the house and then to unlock the door leading onto the street. In spite of Oliver’s better judgment, he is sadly injured while inside the house, but is able to get out with the help of Sikes, who ends up dumping him in a ditch to die.
The house in which Oliver receives his wound is in fact the house of the Maylie’s. Little does Oliver realize that he has in fact come across more people who show kindness and caring towards those in need. On account of Oliver’s terrible wounds, Mrs. Maylie and her niece Rose, do everything in their powers to save Oliver’s life. Once Oliver recovers, the Maylie’s continue to keep him in their care, as overtime they have become very fond of him and don’t believe that he is a robber – “This poor child can never have been the pupil of robbers!” (263). During a trip to the country side, Rose falls gravely ill, which upsets Oliver a great deal, to the point that he is constantly worrying about what will happen to Rose. After several days, Rose passes the critical stage, and makes a remarkable recovery. The relationship between Oliver and Rose blossoms to such a point that their bond is unbreakable. As the reader we come to realize that Oliver’s innocence is retained largely through this rejection to engage the forces of evil, and rather to agree and go with his good side.
Throughout the novel we get the sense of Oliver being alienated. “Many, if not most, of the characters in the book are alienated from their society and each other” (Oliver Twist 137). There is evidence to this fact from the very beginning. According to Chlebek, “Oliver becomes a symbol for his anonymity and isolation from society since it is randomly assigned to this orphan of unknown origins by inhumane workhouse authorities who regard the pauper children as mere sources of labor, at best, and as expendable burdens on the state, at worst.” From the moment Oliver enters the world, in the workhouse, he has been abandoned from any or all family he could have known. Even though this wasn’t Oliver’s choice, nevertheless, his life began by being abandoned by his dead mother. Having said that though, the people who worked at the workhouse were supposed to care for all the children who were abandoned there, but the evidence is undeniable that this did not take place as the children were “victimized and abused by the government institutions” (Chlebek). Further on in the novel we come to another scene were Oliver is talking with Mr. Brownlow and misreads the situation, because of the tone of voice that Mr. Brownlow is communicating in with Oliver, “speaking if possible in a kinder, but at the same time in a much more serious manner, than Oliver has ever known him assume yet” (Dickens 130). Oliver immediately senses that he is going to be thrown out of the doors to fend for himself, “Oh, don’t tell me you are going to send me away, sir, pray! … Don’t turn me out of doors to wander in the streets again. Let me stay here, and be a servant. Don’t send me back to the wretched place I came from. Have mercy upon a poor boy, sir!” (130). The reader is able to see that Oliver has a huge fear of being abandoned and left to look after himself. One gets the feeling that Oliver believes that if he is put out onto the streets, that he will be found out by Fagin and his gang, and be forced back into doing terrible things that he does not like or want to do.
It is because of Oliver’s young innocence that ultimately helps to save him from evil, criminality and the poor laws. The reader is able to make this conclusion because it is the innocence that Oliver carries with him that entices the sympathies of Mr. Brownlow and of the Maylie family, all of whom Oliver is forced to rob because of the orders Fagin gave him. As a result of Mr. Brownlow and the Maylie’s giving Oliver the help that he needs, it leads to the ultimate contributing factor to Oliver finding out that he is in fact related to Mr. Brownlow and the Maylie’s.
“By a series of coincidences, Oliver is revealed to be related and connected with these families, and thus the solution to the mystery of his birth and origins becomes the critical factor that works to being him both the care of his true, “good” family and the material well-being afforded through the recovery of his inheritance” (Chlebek).

Work Citied
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Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist: with a New Introduction by Frederick Busch. Signet: n.p., 2005. Print.
Meckier, Jerome. "Twists In "Oliver Twist." Dickens Quarterly 29.2 (2012): 116-124. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.
"Oliver Twist." Novels for Students. Ed. Jennifer Smith. Vol. 14. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 126-151. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Schattschneider, Laura. "Mr. Brownlow's Interest In Oliver Twist." Journal Of Victorian Culture (Edinburgh University Press) 6.1 (2001): 46. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.