-
Essay / A 19th Century Perspective on the Story of Oliver Twist
The story of Oliver Twist begins in 19th century England in a small workshop where Oliver was born. Shortly after Oliver's birth, his mother died of starvation. As the identity of Oliver's father was unknown, he was forced to spend the first nine years of his life in an orphanage, then transferred to an adult workshop. There he spent a few months until he was sold at auction for five pounds by the hospital parish beadle for asking for more food. From then on, he was bounced from place to place until he finally decided to run away from his final residence with an undertaker named Mr. Sowerberry. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayOliver was on the run for several days until he came across a young boy named Jack Dawkins. Jack noticed how hungry and exhausted Oliver looked, so he offered him a place to stay with his boss Fagin. Later, Oliver learns that Fagin is a criminal who trains and hires young orphans to steal from people for him. After living with Fagin for a few days, Oliver is sent with the rest of the boys on his first pickpocketing mission. Although after Oliver witnesses the other children stealing, he runs in the opposite direction in disgust and fear. Due to Oliver running away, the man who was immediately robbed was suspicious of Oliver, leading him to catch and falsely accuse Oliver of stealing. Oliver narrowly escapes conviction, while rapidly falling ill throughout the trial. After the verdict was handed down, Mr. Brownlow, the man who was robbed, decided to take Oliver home, allowing him to stay there until he was back to full health. Although after a few weeks, Oliver's stay with Mr. Brownlow is interrupted by two members of Fagin's gang, Nancy and Bill Sikes, who take him back to Fagin. As punishment for running away from his gang, Fagin sends Oliver with his friend Sikes to help him rob a house. While trying to sneak into the house, Oliver is shot and then abandoned by Sikes in a ditch. After waking up in a ditch, Oliver limps back to the house he was forced to rob to seek help. When he arrives, Oliver apologizes and tells them his life story that led Mrs. Maylie and her niece Rose to welcome him. The story then moves away from Oliver revealing to the reader Fagin's growing desire to get Oliver back, as well as a mysterious man named Monk with the same aspiration. Back to the story of the Maylies traveling to London, where Nancy secretly meets Rose and informs her of Fagin's plans. Although when Sikes recognizes her betrayal, he brutally kills her, then hangs himself while trying to escape. Eventually, Monks is revealed to be Oliver's biological brother trying to take their family's inheritance for himself, before being forced to sign it over to Oliver by Mr. Brownlow. Who ultimately adopts Oliver with permission from the Maylies. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a personalized essay. I would definitely recommend this book to any of my friends in the future. . I enjoyed reading the novel; Some of the things that happened to Oliver reminded me of the plot of the Lemony Snicket series. Oliver and the children in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" are orphans and throughout their story they are on the run from a criminal who causes "unfortunate" things to happen in their lives. For Oliver it was Fagin, and for the other children it was Count Olaf. I believe any child my age will immediately make the reference I have..