Plot and narrative
Oliver Twist is a novel by Charles Dickens about an orphan who grows up in a parish workhouse, where poor people receive food and shelter in harsh conditions. After Oliver asks for more food, he is sent to an undertaker and then runs away to London. There, the Artful Dodger introduces him to Fagin, who trains young boys to steal. Oliver is wrongly arrested for theft and later helped by Mr Brownlow. Monks, Oliver’s half-brother, tries to undermine him in order to take his inheritance. In the end, Oliver is adopted by Mr Brownlow. The episodic plot uses melodrama, sensational events and coincidences, features associated with serial fiction.
Social criticism and Chapter 2
Dickens criticizes institutions that punish rather than support poor people. The novel also addresses the exploitation of children, injustice and greed.
- In Chapter 2, hungry boys receive only a small portion of watery soup. After drawing lots, Oliver must ask for more.
- His polite request—“Please, sir, I want some more”—alarms the authorities, who treat him as a threat.
The contrast between Oliver’s simple need and the adults’ extreme reaction exposes the cruelty and hypocrisy of the workhouse system. Dark humour and exaggeration make the scene both comic in effect and disturbing in meaning.