Oliver Twist Should Be Banned Essay

What Religion do you support? That is often not the easiest question to answer, because religious views have always been a controversial topic in not only America’s history, but the World’s as well. Many people often formulate odd conclusions about a religion that often causes others to get the wrong idea about it. One example of this is in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens where the religious views often create a debate over whether the book should be banned or not leading to a very radical history. The first reason many people believe Oliver Twist should be banned can be explained by Joseph Goldstein who stated, “It is calculated to, and does inculcate bitter hatred and malice in the hearts and minds of many students and pupils attending our public schools and secondary schools against American
citizens of Jewish faith.” (Ban on Oliver Twist) When, he said this he offered many instances where students had gained a different view towards fellow pupils who were of Jewish faith directly after reading the book Oliver Twist, which had already been seen as unsuitable for kids in the public eye. Students had frequently expressed these new views through not only verbal, but physical violence too. There are a lot of cases where people, other than the super attendant, believed that these evil thoughts towards the Jewish faith and those who celebrated it were due to the “-villainous looking repulsive face” (Dickens) and overall description of one of the Jews in the novel. The description of one character may not seem to be very important, but as one of the few Jews in the book who plays a vital role in the story many have deemed it improper to make him out to be iniquitous man, who has not simply lost his way, but has forgotten the path completely. This is also important because he is portrayed not simply as being a bad man, but a conniving old man who puts his own values before others. People even argue that Dickens has described Fagin, the Jew described above, to match the description that one might give when talking of the devil by giving him “red-hair” (Dickens) and describing his movements like a snake. Fagin like the devil is often connected to leading people into temptation and taking away the innocence they didn’t even know they had. There is also the fact that Fagin is called not by his name and instead by the label of being the Jew just like Satan is called by many names except the name he had will present in heaven, because it represents their detachment from the humanity they once had. Despite the harsh eyes various people look at Fagin under there are still people who claim that he is “-a latter-day Robin Hood.”(Winder) and has done many things to prove it. Fagin regardless of his looks and occasional moments of derailed temperament he provides a sense of comfort towards the boys in a means of food, shelter, a father figure, and mostly importantly a purpose. Unlike many adults of the time who found orphans to be only trouble and good for nothing except a good lynching, Fagin saw them as an opportunity to a better life and created not only an organization but a family too. Even if you consider Fagin to be a crook the author and many other historical figures claim that it was “-historically accurate-” (Bald pg 278) and shouldn’t be taken in the wrong way now. At the time when Oliver Twist was written many Jews had fled their homeland and flooded into other regions. They were not only forced to leave their families, but their hope as well and many became fraudulent as a way to survive. Although it was historically accurate the community still felt as though it was unnecessary and wanted it gone. The publishing houses responded by creating “-major changes-” that got rid of the descriptions where Jews were considered to be portrayed badly or inexplicably crude. However, this was still not enough in the eyes of the public; their opinions forced the publishers to create a version in 1867 without all of the scenes where Jews could be considered unlawful. Whichever side someone would chose in the debacle of whether or not Olive twist should be banned or not the “New York case-“ (Bald pg 282) may change their opinion. Despite, it being one of the few major debates over the case it is important because it depicts a teen who is ashamed of his faith due to heartless ridicule from his peers, because of a novel written decades before. In a desperate attempt out of outrage by the cruelness of those they allowed to surround their son and shock they felt at the lack of response from teachers and others that should be a figure that their son could look up to, they decided to press the issue. The courts soon came to the conclusion however that there is not a “substantial reason” that can “compress the suppression of the two books under consideration.” The Supreme Court basically stated that the schools were acting in the best interest of the students and there was no reason to worry about the issue. The parents were concerned, but couldn’t press the issue further in the courts, but still brought attention to the problem later by expressing their concerns to fellow Jewish parents through the story of their child and the experiences that were forced upon him. The only other major case was between a tax payer and a school that was full of supporters of the other side as Oliver Twist was creating “bitter hatred and malice”(Ban) in the hearts of the pupils. This case unlike the one previously mentioned never even reached the Supreme Court, but it did raise a lot of eyebrows towards the cause. The case ended with the court against the banning, but it didn’t extinguish the fire that was now begging to spark in the hearts of countless bystanders that were touched by the stories of those who faced the contempt Dickens’ novel created. In conclusion, Oliver Twist will most likely always be scrutinized, because if there is something that can be taken badly it mostly likely will.
Fagin, is a corrupted man, but should not have caused the panic that he did. His role to the story was required and him being a Jew was not a way to show the corruptness of a faith as a whole, but to represent those who cling to a faith as an excuse to justify their actions. Such as many Jews of the time who turned to violence after they fled from their homes during the war blamed their religion for the crimes they were committing. They would often claim that if they did believe in their faith they wouldn’t have to be in a situation where they had to attack people to survive, which is partly true but faith doesn’t control a person’s actions it just guides. The person makes the end decision whether to act or not to act and because this issue of using your religion or race as a shield against prosecution is still a problem today Oliver Twist has no reason to be banned. It brings up issues that will always be a problem and the banning or not banning of Oliver Twist really depends on how every individual interprets
it.