"OLIVER TWIST" by Charles Dickens

“Oliver Twist or the Parish Boy's Progress” was the second novel published by Charles Dickens. Its first edition appeared, on a monthly review with the title of “Bentley's Miscellany”, from February 1837 to April 1839, with illustrations realized by George Cruikshank. It’s still considered one of the most famous and influential of Dickens’ works and it was one of the first examples of social novel in literature, besides being the first English novel that chose a child as a protagonist. The anti-romantic portrayal of pourer people’s and of criminals’ life, as well as the overthrow of the novel of formation and a desecrating black humour used by the author to analyse the evil of the nineteenth century English society, were completely new for that period. As a matter of fact the fundamental nucleus of this novel were the poverty, the juvenile job, the urban crime and the intrinsic hypocrisy of Victorian culture. The book’s subtitle, “The Parish Boy's Progress”, was a reference to John Bunyan’s Christian novel “The Pilgrim's Progress” (the pilgrim's trip), since the tone of “Oliver Twist” clashed with the optimism of Bunyan’s novel.

The Plot:
Oliver was a small orphan, who was born in a Work House, that passed the first years of his life in a smaller Work House managed by Mrs Mann. Here the growth of the boy was allowed thanks to the use of very severe methods. After nine years, Oliver was brought to the Work House in which he was born, where he soon became a problem for the managers and for Mr. Bumble, that busied himself with the discipline of the boys. After an episode in which Oliver was involved against his will, the manager of the institute decided to get rid of him, offering 5 pounds to whoever wanted to bring with him the boy. So Oliver was entrusted to Gamfield, a chimney-sweeper who wanted the child as an apprentice. A judge, understanding the violent nature of the chimney-sweeper, prevented that it happened.Therefore Oliver was ordered to serve a coffins’ manufacturer, Mr. Sowerberry, but, exasperated by the continuous hits that he suffered, he escaped reaching London. There he met a contemporary, Jack Dawkins, nicknamed "Doger the robber". The new companion of adventures allowed Oliver to know a Jewish, Fagin, a sinister receiver of stolen goods. The boy was given hospitality by the jewish and he was taught the work of the thief . During a theft to Mr. Brownlow, Oliver, exchanged for the true thief, was arrested. Brownlow, a member of the high society, cleared him of the crime and offered him hospitality. After a few times, Fagin, who was afraid due to the possible revelations that Oliver could do, entrusted Sikes (a burglar always accompanied by a big dog) and his lover, the young Nancy, to kidnap the boy. Oliver, threatened, was forced to help Sikes to rob Mr. Brownlow’s house. The intrusion, however, was discovered and the Jewish Fagin came to an agreement with Monks, a mysterious man, to kill Oliver. After Nancy had known about the conspiracy, she told it to Rose and Mrs Maylie, that had assisted Oliver, wounded during the attempt of the robbery. But Nancy’s betrayal was discovered by Sikes, who killed her. So a crowd of people followed the assassin that, during the escape, accidentally remained hung. Mr. Brownlow ordered to arrest and to hang Fagin and, in the end, he discovered that Monks was, in the reality, Oliver’s stepbrother. Finally Oliver found the affection of a true family and the father that he had never had in the figure of Mr. Brownlow.

Film & Musical:
“Oliver Twist” has been used as a subject for a lot of cinema and television adaptations. In particular the most famous adaptations for the great screen were “Oliver Twist” by David Lean and, in 2005, Roman Polanski’s homonym film. In 1988, instead, Walt Disney Pictures had realized a film of animation inspired to the novel, “Oliver & Company”. The novel has furnished, besides, a starting point for an English musical of great success, “Oliver!”.
Roman Polansky represents on the screen the classical novel written by Dickens and, in particular, the figure of the protagonist, Oliver, with a lot of possible references, that seem to be less explicit than the original one (the author’s aim that consists in underling the picture of the children used, in very bad general conditions, in Workhouses). As a matter of fact, behind Oliver’s figure we can also see, from a different point of view, the same picture of the film’s director who, when he was still a child, managed to escaped by the nazis. But in reality, behind the protagonist’s traits, we can also notice all the children that continue to be exploited still nowadays. On the other hand, the director Roman Polansky maintains Dickens’ spirit, the spirit of an author who, since he was the son of a prisoner and he was used to the hard work since the first years of his life, has to tell his readers and the world still a lot of aspects of the reality where he himself lived.

Federica Parisi ed Elena Perini