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. Herrington World Lit Honors 21 March 2011 Oliver Twist Double Entry Journal Quote 1. page 23; paragraph 1 Analysis

The first sentence of the first chapter of Dickens Oliver Twist most completely and Among other public buildings in a certain powerfully provides readers with a full-blast of town, which for many reasons it will be his sly satirization of workhouses and the prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to unjust set of poor laws. The sheer length of his which I will assign no fictitious name, there is singular sentence demonstrates Dickens wit one anciently common to most towns, great or and dark humor. There is a sense of high small: to wit, a workhouse; and in this authority dictating, produced from the florid workhouse was bornon a day and date which and extensive diction. Because of the mention I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch of the workhouse, this sentence hints at the as it can be of no possible consequence to the darker and eviler subjects which the novel will reader, in this stage of the business at all discuss later on and throughout its entirety. He eventsthe item of mortality whose name is will condemn what he writes with humor, such prefixed to the head of this chapter. as it is his taste. In addition, the reader will extract from this quote distinctness and mocking distance that originates from the authors separation of himself and Oliver Twist. 2. page 25, paragraph 7 This particular segment caught my outstanding attention, as I thoroughly believe in the power What an excellent example of the power of of dress as a large factor influencing the dress, young Oliver Twist was! Wrapped in the opinion of others upon yourself and the slot in blanket which had hitherto formed his only society you will be harshly judged and placed covering, he might have been the child of a according to what you cover yourself in. nobleman or a beggar; it would have been hard Understand, though, that I am not depicting for the haughtiest stranger to have assigned knowledge and wisdom as insignificant him his proper station in society. But now that factors, it is just that the mass of the global he was enveloped in the old calico robes which population has the natural psyche to judge each had grown yellow in the same service, he was other on exterior appearances. If a dim-witted badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at failure clothes him or herself in classy oncea parish childthe orphan of a garments, a wise person can easily see through workhousethe humble, half-starved the falseness, but a majority will most likely drudgeto be cuffed and buffeted through the not be able to differentiate the failures origins worlddespised by all, pitied by none. and status. The same applies to Oliver Twists society, which will judge absent-mindedly and

Wan 2 hastily based upon the clothing an individual wishes to wear. This sentence is basically self-explanatory; Dickens satirical and mocking view of the selfish, irresponsible orphanage caretakers is evident. Mrs. Mann, whose system of taking care of the children entrusted to her, is an all too common character when it comes to her line of work. It is difficult for people like us to believe that this kind of treatment of children who never did anything to provoke punishment was wide-spread and common.

3. page 28; paragraph 1 . . . of her system; for at the very moment when a child had contrived to exist upon the smallest possible portion of the weakest possible food, it did perversely happen in eight and a half cases out of ten, either that it sickened from want and cold, or fell into the fire from neglect, or got half-smothered by accident, in any one of which cases the miserable little being was usually summoned into another world, and there gathered to the fathers it had never known. 4. page 33; paragraph 4 Oliver was frightened by the sight of so many gentlemen, which made him tremble, and the beadle gave him another tap behind, which made him cry. These two causes made him answer in a very low and hesitating voice, whereupon a gentleman in a white waistcoat said he was a fool. 5. page 63; paragraph 4 I never knew how bad she was till the fever came upon her, and then her bones were starting through her skin. There was neither fire nor candle; she died in the darkin the dark! She couldnt even see her childrens faces, though we heard her gasping out their name. . . All the blood in my heart has dried up, for they starved her to death. I swear it before the God that saw it! They starved her! He twined his hands in his hair and, with a loud scream, rolled groveling upon the floor, his eyes fixed, and the foam covering his lips. 6. page 66-67; paragraph 1-2 As Oliver accompanied his master in most of his adult expeditions . . . he had many opportunities of observing the beautiful resignation and fortitude with which some strong-minded people bear their trials and losses. . . It was observable, too, that ladies and gentlemen who were in passions of anguish

This phrase concerns Olivers surge of emotions while before the impending board. I can see how many people can connect to this circumstance, as most ill-treated children who do not have a concrete sense of safety will be extremely frightened when forced to be looked over by a panel of strangers. The child would feel as Oliver did, and its heart would not be stable. The reader experiences a grotesque series of events flashing before his or her eyes while reading this description. This is one of the strange and fantastic deaths that I hope with all my heart I do not undergo. The man, in his gross, bizarre countenance, was driven to his current destitute by the poor laws, enforced by the governments. This strongly reminds me of a Woody Allen movie, Sleeper, in which Allen said that political systems do not work out, and in which the people of the future were oppressed by their government. In a similar way, paupers were miserably oppressed in England, as shown in Oliver Twist. The qualities of unchangeable human natures are shown here. People undoubtedly will grieve wildly and passionately during the time they should cry out ardently, but some heartless people will do that just for show. Upon retiring from a funeral, they end their fervor. You could say they are heartless, and maybe they just do not care enough. Olivers

Wan 3 during the ceremony of interment, recovered almost as soon as they reached home, and became quite composed before the tea-drinking was over. opinion of them and of the funeral business itself was quite mature for his age, as started forming his own opinions. This goes on throughout the book, and Olivers thought process goes hand-in-hand with his moral values. I think he knew that these people were vain, and did not like it at all. 7. page 69; paragraph 4 Young Oliver Twist should be applauded at his blind defense of his mothera mother he had But his spirit was roused at last; the cruel never known, was unable to ever be aware of insult to his dead mother had set his blood on what she was like, would always question his fire. His breast heaved; his attitude was erect, personal hopes of her. Not many who were his eye bright and vivid; his whole person brought up in such a poor environment such as changed. Oliver could rise to such heights of commendable character and guard an unknown mothers identity with his life. 8. page 78; paragraph 5 This was said by little Dick, Olivers good friend. A reader might be sentimentally After I am dead, but not before. I know the provoked when reading this, because Dick, doctor must be right, Oliver, because I dream although young and inexperienced, thinks in so much of Heaven, and Angels, and kind faces such mature complexities as this. It is horrible that I never see when I am awake. . .Good-bye, for even a grown man to think of death in his dear! God bless you! very near future, but for a child such as Dick to think of and accept death, even slightly looking forward to it, is a true horror. I have heard somewhere that children who go through the vilest treatment are more mature. If this is ever true, then it is in Dick that it is expressed. 9. page 85; paragraph 2 This passage exemplifies Dickens perspective of London. It is an environment in which the Although Oliver had enough to occupy his immoral, seedy, and poor thrive amidst dirt and attention in keeping sight of his leader, he grime. Descriptions similar to this show up could not help bestowing a few hasty glances often in the book, and they usually show up in on either side of the way, as he passed along. A the night or in the rain, as the weather of dirtier or more wretched place he had never London, not unlike the respectable people of seen. The street was very narrow and muddy, the city, never treats the slums with nicety. and the air was impregnated with filthy odours. Moreover, children are seen running There were a good many small shops; but the unsupervised in the streets. Where are the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of adults? They are all in pubs, drinking their children, who, even at that time of night, were hearts out and spending the last morsels of crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming their money. The urban poor congregate in from inside. The sole places that seemed to pubs and the rural poor in churches. prosper amid the general blight of the place were the public-houses.

Wan 4 10. page 92; paragraph 4 Sometimes he stopped at the fireplace, and sometimes at the door, making believe that he was staring with all his might into shop windows. At such times, he would look constantly round him, for fear of thieves, and would keep slapping all his pockets in turn, to see that he hadnt lost anything, in such a funny and natural manner, that Oliver laughed till the tears ran down his face. 11. page 98; paragraph 3 Dickens used such an amusing process in describing Fagins training of his criminal boys to show how thoroughly innocent Oliver was. Oliver did not think at all that maybe this strange manner was more than a childs entertaining game, but practice for their trade in pick-pocketing. Oliver, although nave, has strong moral values, values that will become evident in the next few pages about the robbery of the old gentleman.

This passage provides insight to mob mentality, a concept important to Oliver Twist Stop thief! Stop thief! The cry is taken up by as a whole, because of its reoccurrences a hundred voices, and the crowd accumulate at throughout. Once the cry of Stop thief! has every turning. Away they fly, splashing gained enough followers, Dickens stops through the mud and rattling along the writing about individuals and starts writing pavements; up go the window, out run the about a massed confusion of chaotic people, people, onward bear the mob, a whole more a crowd than anything else. The mob audience desert Punch in the very thickest of overrides sensibility and concern for Oliver; the plot, and, joining the rushing thong, swell not one person stops to wonder if he was the the shout, and lend fresh vigour to the cry, criminal and no one is concerned with listening Stop thief! Stop thief! to his side of the story. This entire scene is quite amusing, since Dickens puts the absurd and inconceivable occurrence into his readers mind. 12. page 109; paragraph 1 This old lady serves as a foil to Mrs. Mann, and moreover, all who ever treated Oliver as With those words, the old lady very gently dirt. She cared for him as though caring for a placed Olivers head upon the pillow and, child of her own, with tenderness in every act. smoothing back his hair from his forehead, Oliver had never known this kind of treatment looked so kindly and lovingly in his face that before, and anyone could imagine that he he could not help placing his little withered wished with all his might to stay in his cozy hand in hers, and drawing it round his neck. little Dreamland. This old ladys treatment of Oliver will have positive affects upon him in the future, as he has had a taste of parental love. 13. page 112, paragraph 6 The painting in question, of a young woman whose looks highly resembled Olivers, proves . . . the look of awe with which the child to be considerably important later on in the regarded the painting. Oh no, no, returned novel. Olivers understanding of the worlds Oliver quickly, but the eyes look so sorrowful; emotions come out in this scene, and his and where I sit, they seem fixed upon me. It perceptions of this unknown woman are makes my heart beat, added Oliver in a low vividly tragic; he imagines keenly that the voice, as if it was alive, and wanted to speak woman was alive and full of sorrow. At this to me, but couldnt. point in the novel, I have an inkling that the

Wan 5 woman in the mysterious portrait is Olivers mother. This passage describes the readers first encounter with the infamous Mr. Sikes. I love Dickens attention to conspicuous detail, his choice of varying diction, and the humorous sprinkles he garnishes on his descriptions of people. In this case, Mr. Sikes can be correctly deduced to be a savage ruffian who enjoys the torment of others, such as his unlucky dog, which has undoubtedly been abused, and who can be inferred to be a common fitting of an outlaw. I feel like Mr. Sikes will get an attack from karma sooner or later for his treatment of others, such as his poor dog. Here, Olivers promise to the good-hearted Mr. Brownlow is made with such pure intentions, and Oliver had no thought at all to reverse his loyalty to his temporary benefactor, but things happen in life, things no one sees in advance. Such it was for Oliver who, although completely giving his goodness and loyalties to Mr. Brownlow, was forced to betray his promise because of life; though life seems to get in the way of most of Oliver Twists endeavors. My favorite character emerges in this passage, Mr. Grimwig, whom upon hearing something outrageous, interposes something more outrageous, along the lines of Ill eat my head! Of course, eating your own head is not possible, but it only furthers Dickens humor in his book. Once again, this characters appearance is made wonderful and irregular. His countenance might make someone laugh, and his hackneyed remarks and insistence of finding out who threw the orange peel which he slipped upon complete the circle and make him to be conceived as a round character. This scene annoyed me very much; I was aggravated by the on-lookers in the street who were foolish and did not wish to care about Olivers side of the story. Again, the overwhelming power of the chain reaction is brought up, and the dominating presence of grown-ups over helpless children is animated.

14. page 119, paragraphs 2-5 The man who growled out these words was a stoutly built fellow of about five-and-thirty, in a black velveteen coat, very soiled drab breeches, lace-up half boots, and grey cotton stockings, which inclosed a bulky pair of legs, with large swelling calvesthe kind of legs, which in such costume, always look in an unfinished and incomplete state without a set of fetters to garnish them. . . A white shaggy dog, with his face scratched and torn in twenty different places, skulked into the room. 15. page 130, paragraphs 7-9 You need not be afraid of my deserting you, unless you give me cause. I never, never will, sir, interposed Oliver.

16. page 132; paragraphs 3-6 The possibility of scientific improvements being ever brought to pass which will enable a gentleman to eat his own head in the event of his being so diposed, Mr. Grimwigs head was such a particularly large one that the most sanguine man alive could hardly entertain a hope of being able to get through it at a sitting. . . Ill eat my head, and his, too.

17. page 144; paragraph 1 Thats right! cried a looker-on from a garret window. Thats the only way of bringing him to his senses! To be sure! cried a sleepyfaced carpenter, casting an approving look from the garret window. Itll do him good!

Wan 6 said the two women. 18. pages 158-159; paragraphs 1-11 The child was pale and thin . . . the livery of his misery, hung loosely on his feeble body; and his young limbs had wasted away like those of an old man. . . I should like to leave my dear love to poor Oliver Twist . . . that I was glad to die when I was very young; for perhaps, if I had lived to be a man and had grown old, my little sister, who is in Heaven, might forget me or be unlike me; and it would be so much happier if we were both children there together. 19. page 160; paragraphs 1-2 Mr. Bumble surveyed the little speaker, from head to foot, with indescribable astonishment, and, turning to his companion, said, Theyre all in one story, Mrs. Mann. That outdacious Oliver has demogalized them all! I couldnt have believed it, sir! said Mrs. Mann, holding up her hands, and looking malignantly at Dick. Oliver, partially through the faults of the approving crowd, gets abducted yet once again. Dicks appearance struck me while I was reading, and his manner in which he gives up his life and freely condemns his own life was saddening. It is sobering to see a little child talk of Heaven and death, and of past lives, and of his want of contact with his best friend.

20. page 163; paragraph 7 I will never believe it, sir, replied the old lady, firmly. Never . . . He was a dear, grateful, gentle child, sir. . . I know what children are, sir; and have done these forty years; and people who cant say the same, shouldnt say anything about them. 21. page 287; paragraph 2

Here is another instance where Dickens places adults in unflattering positions. Just a moment ago, Dick gave his most sincere words, but Mr. Bumble attacks it and claims that the source of all troubles and illness was Oliver Twist. Unbelievably, Mrs. Mann believed it was so, and only deepened her contempt towards little Dick. Readers come upon the sense that Dickens saw that adults were misled, quick to judge, and some dim-witted ones will be led by the nose to believe almost anything, so long as it was said by another adult of a respectable position. Mr. Brownlow, a bit foolish, was misled by Mr. Bumble to think Oliver an evil criminal. However, Mrs. Bedwin refuses to believe that this is true. I think Mrs. Bedwins opinion should be trusted, since an experienced mother knows how to look at children.

This passage exemplifies the idealism with which the author sees the countryside. I think There was the little church, in the morning, Dickens must have had some of his best with the green leaves fluttering at the windows: memories away from the bustling cities and in the birds singing without: filling the homely the idyllic countryside because his descriptions building with its fragrance. The poor people of the environment, of nature, and of the were so neat and clean, and knelt so reverently people are all quite enjoyable and positive. in assembling there together; and though the Whereas descriptions of the city, and singing might be rude, it was real, and sounded especially the slums, are always negative and more musical (to Olivers ears at least) than bleak, here even the poor are desirable and

Wan 7 any he had ever heard in church before. healthy. This passage also gives the country a genuineness that is lacking in the city, which is the presence of religion. There is usually about the hypocrisy of those who consider themselves Christian; while in this passage, the singing is the best Oliver has heard, not because it is done well, but because it comes from true Christians, not ones who pretend to be Christians. This gruesome occurrence leaves the reader stunned with the brutality that Dickens leaves her to cross over to another world in. Because she had no one but Fagin to care for her as a child, she has not been able to live morally or comfortably, as Rose has - even though she exhibits the same core of kind-heartedness as Rose. Similarly, the description of Nancys feeble strength" underscores her powerlessness in society because of her gender; her agency is so limited that she is barely able to pray. This passage is also striking in the violence it depicts, which is meant to, and does, disturb greatly. Bill Sikes shuts out the sight, further inducing the reader to think some powerful force will gain vengeance on him for all the things he has hurt. His conscience will probably fail him When I read these last two sentences of chapter 51, I was struck with the morbid theme that the world is truly a horrible place filled to the brim with unexpected sadness and unfair tragedies. Dick, whom we all were touched with sentiment, had died, and with it, a piece of Oliver had gone. From the great heights and overwhelming joys just discussed two pages earlier, Oliver, forced by life, spiraled downward and lost someone so very near and dear to him. In that effervescent moment, Olivers heart was complete, for his family was complete. Tenderness and gentility played a part in the aching hearts of this little family reunion. Secrets were spilled, mysteries had been unlocked, and minds were content after the pains from the criminals had been effaced.

22. page 422, paragraphs 6-7 She staggered and fell: nearly blinded with the blood that rained down from a deep gash in her forehead; but raising herself, with difficulty, on her knees, drew from her bosom a white handkerchiefRose Maylies own and holding it up, in her folded hands, as high towards Heaven as her feeble strength would allow, breathed one prayer for mercy to her Maker. It was a ghastly figure to look upon. The murderer, staggering backward to the wall and shutting out the sight with his hand, seized a heavy club and struck her down.

23. page 466; paragraph 7 It is a world of disappointment, often to the hopes we most cherish, and hopes that do our nature the greatest honour. Poor Dick was dead!

24. page 464; paragraph 5 Let the tears which fell, and the broken words which were exchanged in the long close embrace between the orphans, be scared. A father, sister, and mother were gained, and lost, in that one moment. Joy and grief were

Wan 8 mingled in the cup; but there were not bitter tears, for even grief itself arose so softened, and clothed in such sweet and tender recollections, that it became a solemn pleasure and lost all character of pain. 25. page 471; paragraphs 3-4

I could see how readers can relate to this, because not one person wants to think of his Saturday night. He had only one more night to last day to be alive. Although Fagin is such an live. And as he thought of this, the day broke immoral, wicked character, you feel sympathy Sunday. . . he had never been able to consider for him as he contemplates and soaks among more than the dim probability of dying so his miseries in his cell, awaiting quick death. soon. 26. page 471; paragraph 4 Such a sight! Fagin clearly is all too terrified of his death, and it shows on his manners. I think With gasping mouth and burning skin he he may have had something like a seizure hurried to and fro in such a paroxysm of fear mixed with convulsions mixed with fear (the and wrath that even theyused to such utmost fear you feel as a child) and mixed with sightsrecoiled from him in horror. He grew a possessive demon spirit taking control of his so terrible, at last, in all the tortures of his evil body and mind. His soul seems to have been conscience, that one man could not bear to sit ripped apart from its seams; Dickens writes in there eyeing him alone. his more gruesome ways in this chapter. Perhaps Fagins guilty conscience surpassed his minds holding capacity. 27. page 475; paragraph 8 This passage seems to express an ambivalence about the death penalty. Fagin is certainly "Day was dawning when they again emerged. guilty of many crimes, but Dickens here makes A great multitude had already assembled; the it clear that death is always ugly, and that there windows were filled with people, smoking and is something deeply disturbing in the way playing cards to beguile the time; the crowd people turn it into a spectacle. This passage were pushing, quarreling, joking. Everything highlights just how profound Fagin's told of life and animation but one dark cluster punishment is by positioning the looming of objects in the centre of all the black stage, specter of his death next to a scene that is full the cross-beam, the rope, and all the hideous of life. This makes it hard to forget that apparatus of death. although Fagin's actions contributed to Nancy's death, he did not in fact kill anyone, and yet he has to pay with his life. And the ease and excitement of the people in the scene around him raises the worry that he is not paying his life for justice, but for the enjoyment of the masses. 28. page 360-361; paragraph 1 Nancy is one of Oliver Twists most noble and courageous characters, since she risked her life Is it possible, cried Rose, that for such a trying to save Oliver. Rose pities her, and she man as this you can resign every future hope offers to save Nancy from Sikes forever, but and the certainty of immediate rescue? It is Nancy refuses, for she cannot be apart from madness. I dont know what it is, answered him. People are drawn to do absurd and

Wan 9 the girl; I must go back. Whether it is Gods wrath for the wrong I have done, I do not know; but I am drawn back to him through every suffering and ill-usage; and I should be, I believe, if I knew that I was to die by his hand at last. 29. page 385; paragraph 8 The gallows, continued Fagin, the gallows, my dear, is an ugly finger-post, which points out a very short and sharp turning that has stopped many a bold fellows career on the broad highway. To keep in the easy road, and keep it at a distance, is object number one with you. 30. page 428; paragraphs 4-5 inexplicable things, and this was one of them. Nancy had to go back to Sikes, even though she knew he would be the immediate cause of death of her. The idea of karma is discussed, as Nancy thinks she must go back because God is punishing her for all her ill-deeds, seeing as she was a criminal and a prostitute. Indeed Fagin considered the gallows, execution, and death quite insignificantly at the time, but it is inconceivable that the same man, who waved death away with his carefree hand, would, some time later, be stressed and tormented by it.

Dickens strongly believed, as was evident in his writing, that a guilty conscience can serve At times he turned with desperate as more punishment than the law can serve. determination, resolved to beat this phantom Fagin was darkly arguing within the depths of off, though it should look him dead; but the his heart, mind, and soul; in the end, his guilt hair rose on his head and his blood stood still, got the best of him. Sikes flight, similar to for it had turned with him and was behind him Fagins imprisonment, is one of the most then. He had kept it before him that morning, stunning psychological analyses that Dickens but it was behind nowalways. He leaned his provided. In his torment and perverse visions, back against a bank, and felt that it stood above the reader can see that he is a believable him, visibly out against the cold night sky. He character, and more humane, though his crimes threw himself upon the roadon his back were not humane. In addition, Dickens makes upon the road. At his head it stood, silent, us see the world through Sikes eyes. There is erect, and stilla living grave-stone, with its a nagging anticipation as we tour in his epitaph in blood. Let no man talk of murderers adventures of being chased by both an external escaping justice, and hint that Providence must force and a creepy internal force, more sleep. There were twenty score of violent malevolent and ornery than any material deaths in one long minute of that agony of fear. prescence.