Oliver Twist - Book Review

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In his novel Oliver Twist, Dickens shows the corruption of magistrates and legal system. In the very beginning of the novel, one can see the corruption of the magistrate as he agrees to Mr.Gamfield to take Oliver. Although his cold heart and his treatment to children, the magistrate deals with him to take Oliver. Here is a social criticism with the magistrate and the legal system as the magistrate tells Mr.Gamfield “you’re a rough speaker, my friend, but you look an honest open-hearted man.” One the other hand, the reader is introduced to Mr.Fang, the police magistrate who is a drinker with villainous face. He sentenced Oliver to three months hard labor for falsie stealing Mr.Brownlaw’s handkerchief. Dickens here in the person of Mr.Fang criticizes all the magistrates and the English legal system. Fang has no sense of justice. He does not care about justice or whether Oliver is guilty or innocent. Although there is no evidence against Oliver “he] the officer [had searched Oliver and found nothing on his person”, Mr.Fang sentenced him to three months hard labor. Dickens in this part criticizes the government for allowing evil criminals like Fagin to use innocent little children for stealing. Men like Fagin make use of the boys who suffer from poverty, starvation, and famine. Besides, the police are aware of what is going on, but they do not interfere to save the children. Furthermore, Dickens criticizes the laws of his country which send children to death by hanging who are convicted of theft. He feels that the children are victims no criminals and that the real criminals are the officials who do not do anything to protect the children.

In a nutshell, the nineteenth century was full of disastrous characteristics which make the English society in bad circumstances. This essay has largely focused on Dickens’s satirical attack of the way in which predestined social class and poverty affects the perceptions and outcomes of a person and his protest against the Poor Law and the Workhouse system. It has also examined some of the techniques Dickens used to make his argument throughout Oliver Twist.

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