Preview

How Oliver Twist Applies to the Industrial Revolution

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
554 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Oliver Twist Applies to the Industrial Revolution
To me Oliver Twist is a primary example of life for the poor during the middle class. It also shows how life was during the Industrial Revolution and what some people had to do to survive.
Oliver Twist is a story about a boy who works at a parish workhouse after his mother dies. While he is there he is barely feed any food and is over worked. As an orphan without any friends, known relatives, or other ways to survive he probably would have died if he hadn’t gotten thrown out and went to London and found his family. After he arrives to London he is saved from stealing an apple and possibly being caught by Dodger. Afterwards Dodger takes him to the slums where he joins a group of thieves that work for Fiegin. Fiegin teaches the boys how to pick-pocket and puts a roof over their heads but sees them as nothing more than an investment. Even though this type of lifestyle is wrong is seems that it’s the only way that they are all staying feed.
Other characters in the movie show how people are affected by the revolution. Sikes is an evil man who will do anything to get ahead. It is possible that he wasn’t able to make an honest or decent living because of the revolution. His fate seemed appropriate in the end. Nancy is unlike most characters. She isn’t completely good like Oliver but she isn’t complete evil like Sikes. In the end she ended up dying to help Oliver and I think that’s what made her character seem so selfless. I think her character was most believable because she didn’t lose her humanity like most of the others seemed to. There is also Dodger. It seemed to me that he was happy with a life of crime and saw it as the only thing he could do even at the end of the movie. Oliver on the other hand seemed to be an exception. Although he was abused and mistreated through out almost the entire movie he still remained kind and gentle.
Throughout the movie I constantly saw how both sides lived. The middle class had clean spacious homes with a maid and a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Great changes were stirring in Europe around 1840—Queen Victoria had just taken the throne in England and the English Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Ever since the Middle Ages, as the centuries continued to pass, people were focusing less on religion and more on themselves. It may seem selfish, but in truth, it was necessary—the Industrial Revolution forced the majority of specialty tradesmen to retire from their respective professions. Goods were being mass-produced in factories and these goods were less expensive. The barter system, a way of trading goods and services between two parties, went out the window because nobody had anything to trade anymore.…

    • 183 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Posienwood bible essay

    • 1073 Words
    • 1 Page

    Through out the book you came into contact with characters who changed for the poor…

    • 1073 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie Oliver Twist is about a 10 year old boy named Oliver Twist and he is living in an terrible orphanage because his mother dies after giving birth to Oliver. Oliver’s father also dies too but no one knows his death occurred. Ten years later, Oliver is being abused and treated like a animal by people which are Mr.Bumble and Mrs.Corney. Mr.Bumble gets angry whenever the orphans disobey him or just do little things, for example talking to each other when their supposed to be quiet. Oliver is usually tortured by Mr.Bumble because he stands up for himself and he could care less of how Mr.Bumble treats him.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oliver Twist Analysis

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The world is plagued by the good people and the bad people. Some naïve people are exploited by the evil in humans, but it is noticed that bad comes back to haunt them. This concept that evil in humans are defeated are recognized in the novel Oliver Twist. The antagonists wanted Oliver to become a thief for their own selfish purposes. They hide Oliver's past to preserve their own source of income. Fagin and Sikes, the antagonists exploit children for their own good. In all these situations, the antagonists are defeated by good, and kindness. The forces of greed and self-interest are defeated by the forces of kindness and generosity in the novel Oliver Twist.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robert Owen was a successful Welsh businessman during the Industrial Revolution in Britain, but he left his mark on history as one of the leading social reformers of his time. He observed the changes in economic and social life caused by the rapid growth of machinery as he worked in the textile industry. He challenged the social view and believed that poverty was the consequence of the sins of the working class. He thought that in order to improve the man, you need to improve his social environment first, and set 8 statements of what he called the “true principles” based on them. The proving ground for Owen’s social theories was New Lanark Mills in Scotland, the management in which Owen commenced in 1800. At there, he restricted the labor of…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    sea oak

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With Bernie’s comment,” Some people get everything and I got nothing. Why did that happen,” Saunders makes us see that not everyone is given the same things. Some are extremely poor and have terrible living situations, like the people in this story. We see the characters have to work at bad jobs, like the narrators strip job, in order to get money to get out and save their families from harm.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Industrial revolution is something that led several countries to have economic success. Innumerable crucial discoveries and ideas were produced during that time period that affect a person’s life today. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because of the pollution and unequal pay, it was actually a positive thing for society. Industrialization’s positive effects were availability of goods, increase of job opportunities, and advancements in technology.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Other than dealing with the elitist society, the story also displays many features of modern literature. The main character’s obsession for material items and desire to gain wealth was another aspect of the story that made it very modernist. At a young age, he thought he was too young to work as a caddy and strived to obtain greater wealth. This was one of the main qualities of characters in the Modernism time.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1891 the author Oscar Wilde claimed, disobedience is a valuable human trait and promotes social progress. 125 years later, and Wilde’s statement still holds true. Experts have defined social progress as, increasing the ability of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens. Looking to the past to different historical examples, the idea that disobedience promotes social progress becomes self-evident. It is shown that in most situations if someone wishes to change his/her current situation for the betterment of him/herself and or his/her community, disobedience in some way, shape, or form must be used.…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Industrial Revolution, and Reconstruction set in motion great changes to the nation. The Industrial Revolution brought about problems for the lower class, while reconstruction created a power struggle for people in the south.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Critical Lens

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Oliver Twist, Oliver’s experience was bad. He was stuck in a situation. The social environment in which he was raised in encouraged thievery. He was born in poverty. Thievery and poverty are both bad experiences which we haven’t faced or lived through. Oliver ran away twice from people that provided him shelter in exchange for him committing to thievery. Some either in his group bullied him for being weak or he attacked them for commenting on his parents. His half brother wants to ruin life for him by destroying all the wealth that his parents left behind like the necklace. He doesn’t want Oliver to get any of his parents inheritance. Later his half brother is forced to give it all back to Oliver and now he has it all. Most of us have not ran away from home, been bullied, or bullied someone. We have not lived through what Oliver has. This piece of literature tells us about the situations he faced in details, and these we have not faced. It’s helping us to better understand what’s out there. One literary element would be individualism because he is left on his own. He is a orphan. We have not experienced this either because most of aren’t orphans or have been in and out of different foster homes like Oliver has. We can see and feel his emotions.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Industrial Revolution

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Industrial Revolution began over 200 years ago. It changed theway in which many products, including cloth and textiles, weremanufactured. It is called a "revolution" beacuse the changes it causedwere great and sudden. It greatly affected the way people lived andworked. This revolution helped to bring about the modern world weknow today in many ways.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Industrial Revolution

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This paper will describe The Industrial Revolution. I will discuss at least two (2) developments of industrialization that positively affected American lives or the United States and two (2) developments of industrialization that negatively affected American lives or the United States in general. Furthermore, I will give an analysis of whether or not industrialization was generally beneficial or detrimental to the lives of Americans and the history of the United States. All findings will be supported by facts and references.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The industrial revolution was a great instance in human history as it provided improvements in technology, the economy, society and the environment. A big part of the industrial revolution's success was all of the inventions. The steam engine, for example, allowed for the transport of large amounts of materials that wasn’t possible before. The engine allowed for travel of people and ideas, and generally improved the life of the public. Another invention is the sewing machine. It allowed for the mass production of clothes which reduced the prices of clothing for everyone. The industrial revolution had a massive influence on the growth of the world’s economy, especially in Britain. Tons of factories were built during the revolution and provided…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    The Great Britain was the first country to undergo industrial revolution which according to Musson and Robinson (1969) is the "transformation of a predominantly rural, agricultural and handicraft society into a predominantly urban, industrial and mechanized society" (60). Indeed the modern world owes a lot to British pioneers of the 18th and 19th century like Abraham Darby, Richard Arkwright, John Wilkinson, Samuel Crompton, Thomas Newcomen and James Watt among others.…

    • 1830 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays