A powerfully moving critique of Victorian society,
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this accessible novel. Not only does Dickens take great effort to build up a nuanced plot structure and characterisations, he also uses this novel as an opportunity to launch a full scale critique against the disparities of Victorian society. By describing so persuasively the plight of Twist's character, and the decay of Victorian London, the author gains the full acceptance of the reader, and develops a sense of hope within the plot. This is a polemic study of society at its worst, and looks to the very characters in 'Oliver Twist' for some glimmer of hope. A much recommended read.
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Dickens's own Macbeth!
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'O, full of scorpions is my mind...'
( Macbeth)
If each man kills the thing he loves, then Macbeth's murder of King Duncan propels him into terminal nightmare. The haunting of the Macbeth is one of the best things in literature and Dickens knew the value of a good nightmare being a life long insomniac and city walker.
When Sikes kills Nancy in Oliver Twist the sordid criminal demi-monde of early Victorian London rises up and allies itself with self-righteousness and denunciation. I doubt that Dickens wrote anything more compelling or arresting than Bill Sikes's terror strewn 'flight' from Victorian propriety and retribution. But it is not the 'mob' who capture his soul and dash its brains out - Dickens was far too knowing for that. Bill Sikes flees from his final crime against Nancy and finds that he is fleeing himself and that there can be no escape only nightmarish visions without respite.
'He went on doggedly; but as he left the town behind him, and plunged into the solitude and darkness of the road, he felt a dread and awe creeeping upon him which shook him to the core. Every object before him, substance or shadow, still or or moving. took the semblance of some fearful thing; but these fears were nothing compared to the sense that haunted him of that morning's ghastly figure following at his heels. '
Vengeance is mine and I shall repay!
Sikes's conscience renders him all too human, almost makes him a lost pilgrim, and like Sikes we find ourselves looking over our shoulder, aware only of the relentless ghost of Nancy's Banquo ...
Sikes's suffering reveals his victimhood as abjectly as his slaughter of his lover Nancy. And once again Dickens's shows us the humanity lurking in even the most monstruous corners of the human soul;
'he wandered on again, irresolute and undecided, and oppressed with the fear of another solitary night.
Suddenly, he took the desperate resolution of going back to London.
'There's somebody to speak to there, at all events...'
Sikes chooses sociality over possible freedom, recognising that any freedom enjoyed beyond communality is illusory.
So he turns back to the city and dies for the sake of any residue of conversation, for a 'last syllable of recorded time'..his soul's desperate and only choice.
Wonderful!
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Powerful book
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Having not read this when younger, I bought it now to see how the 1968 musical "Oliver" (recently bought on DVD for 7 year old daughter) compares to the original story.
This was the original text as published in the original instalments. I couldn't put the book down. The story is typical detailed Dickens with richly painted characters and a strong storyline. There is also much social comment, with notes at the back giving additional helpful explanations.
The answer to my starting question is that the musical follows the book very closely to start with, and certainly gets the mood of criminal London very well, but the last half to two-thirds of the book are only summarised and approximated by the film.
Worth reading. Powerful book.
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Along with Great Expectations, the best Dickens novel
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The other day, quite by chance, I happened upon the pub into which Bill Sikes goes (a pedlar offers to clean the blood off his hat), after he has murdered Nancy and wanders north out of London, through the 'village' of Islington and out into deepest Hertfordshire. The pub is really there, it's called the Eight Bells, it's in Hatfield, and it has a plaque on the wall. It reminded me of how good this book is. With the possible exception of Great Expectations, it's the best novel Dickens wrote.
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Cruel Deception with a Twist of Fate
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Dickens writes with authority in ‘Oliver Twist’. The preface to the book outlines clearly how Dickens has grown tired of the glamorising of criminals, and sets off in pursuit of putting the record straight.
All his characters and settings are drawn on using his own experiences from his own life, as well as purposefully bringing into his story characters to whom he familiarised himself with at first hand, such as the obnoxious and arrogantly rude character, ‘Mr Fang’the Police Magistrate. What is so amazing about this and many of Dickens’ books, is the authors ability to draw the reader into each character, as you read Sikes’s part, you feel like the nasty criminal, you can’t help hunching your shoulders and wanting to rub the back of your hands as you read the words of ‘Fagin,’ even the pompous and outrageous ‘Mr Bumble’ commands the readers attempts at the recognition of his character.
Throughout the book your emotions are tested at the unbelievable cruelty bestowed on the innocence of ‘Oliver Twist’ by the worst criminal elements, and their attempts at ruining the life of a child, denied of his true identity, an identity that would free him from a life of degradation, poverty and enforced crime.
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