Bailiff: Please prepare this classroom for trial.

(The bailiff seats the defense,

prosecution and the jury. She then seats the judge by saying the following :)

Bailiff: Department one of the Superior Court of Modern Narmer Language School is now
in session. The Honorable Judge Ms. Judy Emad is presiding. All rise …

Judge: Please be seated. Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. Bailiff, what is our first
case?

Bailiff: Your Honor, our first case is that of the People of England versus the British Poor
Laws and the Industrial Revolution.

Judge: Is the Prosecution ready?

Prosecution: Yes, Your Honor.

Judge: Is the Defense ready?

Defense: Yes, Your Honor.

Judge: Very well, the Prosecution may make her opening statements.

Prosecution: [Stand up and talk to the jury] Your Honor … Ladies and Gentlemen of the
Jury … the defendants who are The British Poor Laws and the Industrial Revolution have
been charged with the crime of forcing the poor families and especially the children to
labor in prison-like workhouses or to live in poverty among the criminals in the streets of
London. Such laws and movements are actually the main reason for increasing poverty,
class hierarchy and child abuse. Throughout “Oliver Twist”, the description of the
workhouse and its personnel including Mrs. Mann and especially Mr. Bumble really serve
to reveal those negative effects. Mr. Bumble deeply anchored the dehumanization of people
and increased their poverty. He has never given the poor people any hope for life and he
did not try to provide them with the requisite skills for survival or the necessary food that
could prevent sickness. As a person in a position of power during that era, it was as if he
wanted to keep the poor people poor. Consequently, some of the workhouse residents
could not maintain their goodness like Sally who stole the gold chain from Oliver’s mother
just because “life in the workhouse is very hard.” All the workhouse scenes reveal
institutional cruelty and corruption which cannot be separated from the cruelty and the
corruption of the individuals in power over the powerless people. As a result of living in
such a corrupted world, some of the workhouse residents left the workhouses with
nothing to do except to join the Crime World represented by Fagin whose job is to convert
innocents into criminals. In a word, such a system led generally to weakening the self-
respect of man.

Judge: That’s enough … The defense may make her opening statements.
Defense: [Stand up and talk to the jury] Your Honor … Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury
… under the law my client is presumed innocent until proven guilty. During this trial, you
will hear no real evidence against my client. You will come to know the truth that the
British Poor Laws and the Industrial Revolution have nothing to do with converting people
into criminals. This is because man is good by nature and only the good man follows the
principle stating that good is surviving through every adverse circumstance, and is
triumphing at last. Throughout our lives, not only in “Oliver Twist”, there is always a
struggle between goodness and evilness and man is always surrounded by corruption. So,
those, who chose the path of evil and corruption, have selected playing the role of the
servants of Satan like the gang of thieves that followed Fagin. Among the middle and the
lower classes of England and amidst the poverty and the crime, there are some people who
are persistent to follow the right path of innocence and goodness.

Prosecution: Objection, Your Honor. Man is not good by nature. He is influenced by the
surroundings.

Judge: Silence … Prosecution may call her witness.

Bailiff: Nancy … Bill Sikes’ wife and one of Fagin’s gang. (Nancy enters …) Please stand.
Raise your right hand. Do you promise that the testimony you shall give in the case before
this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so may God help
you?

Nancy: I do

Judge: According to the prosecution’s statement, are the British Poor Laws and the
Industrial Revolution the reasons for your corruption and dehumanization?

Nancy: Actually, I was brought up by Fagin, the receiver of stolen goods and the thief
trainer. I always followed his orders without any objections. However, when I witnessed
Fagin’s cruel treatment of Oliver, I became very protective trying to provide him with a
great deal of motherly love. I tried to protect him from being kidnapped for a second time,
after he managed to find a safe place to live in with a loving family. I gave Rose Maylie and
Mr. Brownlow information about Oliver’s evil half-brother – Monks - who united with
Fagin to convert Oliver into a criminal and this led at the end to my murder. It was my
tender heart and courage that saved Oliver. So, can you see now I am not totally corrupted
and it was only the system that forced me to do so?

Judge: Thank you … Does the defense have any questions?

Defense: Not at this time, Your Honor.
Judge: The witness is excused. [Wait for the witness to leave the stand.] The defense
may call her witness.

Bailiff: Oliver Twist. (Oliver enters …) Please stand. Raise your right hand. Do you
promise that the testimony you shall give in the case before this court shall be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so may God help you?

Oliver Twist: I do
Judge: According to the defense’s statement, aren’t the British Poor Laws and the
Industrial Revolution the MAIN reasons for the corruption and dehumanization of people?

Oliver Twist: Of Course … Your honor. I spent most of my life living under the care of
corrupted and cruel people like Mr. Bumble, Mrs. Sowerberry, the sneaky Noah Claypole
and the devilish Fagin, but I survived and I managed to maintain my goodness. In spite of
all the efforts made by Fagin and Monks to force me join the crime world, I was completely
persistent to be good, innocent and pure. I was not helpless and I was courageous to
defend my dead mother’s reputation, when Noah Claypole referred to her as a bad woman.
Even when I felt helpless while facing evil schemes of Fagin, I tried to escape, scream or
cry for help. I was completely unwilling to be part of the corrupted world surrounding me,
I did not give up. Can you see now that the British Poor Laws and the Industrial Revolution
have nothing to do with changing the purity and the innocence of our personalities?

Judge: Thank you … Does the Prosecution have any questions?

Prosecution: Not at this time, Your Honor.
Judge: The witness is excused. [Wait for the witness to leave the stand.]

Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am now going to read to you the law that you
must follow in deciding this case. To prove the crime charged against the British Poor Laws
and the Industrial Revolution, the prosecution must prove three things to you:
 First, that such laws and movements caused poverty to the poor people
 Second, that such laws and movements caused child abuse
 Third, that such laws and movements forced people to join the Crime World.

Does the jury find the defendants [guilty/not guilty?]