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kamkelms
kamkelms

What is the main conflict (or conflicts) in "Oliver Twist"?

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Posted by kamkelms on Friday August 21, 2009 at 7:52 PM and tagged with characters, conflicts, dickens, literature, oliver twist, themes.

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  1. mwestwood
    mwestwood Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    In "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens, the classical Good vs. Evil is the main conflict.  The good is represented by Oliver's pitiful mother who struggles to the workhouse to give birth to the unfortunate Oliver.  Mr. Brownlow and Rose Maylie are also good people who finally rescue Oliver permanently from the criminal life he has been forced to live. 

    Exploited by the callous beadle, Mr. Bumble, Oliver runs away after being starved and beaten only to become exploited by a terrible force of evil, Fagin.  But, in the end, Mr. Bumble encounters poetic justice for his greed as he suffers in a marriage to a shrew of a woman, Mrs. Corney, who ignores the humanity of the children in the workhouse.  Her greed implicates both herself and Mr. Bumble in a crime as they have stolen valuables belonging to Agnes Fleming, Oliver's mother.

    Finally, however, the evil forces are defeated as information on Fagin's whereabouts are given to Mr. Brownlow, who sets in motion the "wheels of justice."  The criminals are all punished, Rose Maylie's name is cleared, and Oliver goes to live with Mr. Brownlow.

    Concomitant to this conflict of Good vs. Evil of characters, is the same conflict of forces in the society that Dickens portrays in "Oliver Twist."  Greatly concerned that society, in a sense, was a jail, the characters Oliver and the thieves are victims of the Poor Laws  and other social institutions that keep them or discourage them from productive work.  Dickens portrays them equally as deprived of food, warmth, and decent living conditions.  Society, represented by the likes of Mr. Bumble, seems bent on eradicating them.  Even sweet, innocent Dick, Oliver's friend, is viewed as a danger to society.  This poverty and suffering of the lower classes is in conflict to the wealthy and powerful who were unconcerned with the plight of the poor, another Good vs. Evil conflict.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/oliver-twist/character-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/oliver-twist/survival-money-power

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    Posted by mwestwood on Saturday August 22, 2009 at 12:48 AM