Charles Dickens Oliver Twist Essay -- Charles Dickens Oliver Twist Es

Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist The novel Oliver Twist is a criticism of the cruelty that children and poor people suffered at the hands of 19th century society. It was Dickens first novel written under his own name when he was 24 years old and in it he already reveals his sharp, but comic comments and criticism. From the start Dickens makes it clear to the reader that poor people and the children of poor people; most especially a baby born illegitimately; were of no consequence in the 1900s. The first person narrator feels he need not â€Å"trouble† himself â€Å"as it can be of no possible consequence† to tell us the place or date of Oliver’s birth. This concept is further revealed when he refers to Oliver as an â€Å"item of mortality† and then later on in the chapter â€Å"it†. The child deserves no name as he is not a legitimate member of society so he has no place or importance: he starts life at the bottom of the Victorian food chain. By having the narrator address Oliver as a â€Å"it† instead of a â€Å"him† Oliver is dehumanised and so Dickens draws this to our attention. Born into â€Å"this world or sorrow and trouble† our narrator seems to believe that Oliver’s chance of survival are extremely slim, so we are surprised when Dickens has him say; â€Å"it was the best thing for Oliver Twist that would by possibility have occurred† (being born in a workhouse), he also tells us the baby â€Å"lay gasping on a little flock mattress rather unequally poised between this world and the next†. All the odds are against Oliver yet this neglect saves him life! With amusing sarcasm Dickens suggests that if Oliver had been â€Å"surrounded by careful grandmothers, anxious aunts, experienced nurses and doctors of profound wisdom, he would most inevit... ...ses Oliver’s â€Å"solitary incarceration† he says enemies of the system claim that â€Å"Oliver was denied the benefit of exercise, the pleasure of society or the advantages of religious consolation† Dickens then defends this statement by sarcastically saying â€Å"as for exercise it was nice cold weather, and he was allowed to perform his ablutions every morning under the pump, in a stone yard, in the presence of Mr Bumble, who prevented his catching a cold and causes a tingling sensation to pervade his frame, by repeated applications of the cane† Dickens sarcastically addresses exercise as being beaten, a physical punishment for Oliver. Oliver is also abused mentally, at evening when the boys went to pray, Oliver was â€Å"kicked into the same apartment every evening† and there he listend to the other boys â€Å"ask god to guard them from the sins and vices of Oliver Twist†.