THEMES OLIVER TWIST Directed by Roman Polanski (2005)

WHAT IS A THEME? Oliver Twist reflects a major thematic concern for author Charles Dickens, that of social justice. This is reflected in his depiction of character types and narrative structure. His interest and concern with highlighting the plight of the poor and the attitudes within society towards them. Dickens was concerned with writing for a wide increasing literate public, meaning that his audience were able to recognise his shape characterisations and insightful social commentary.

SOCIETY AND CLASS Society and class is one of the central themes of most of Dickens’s novels. In Oliver Twist, Dickens often shows how superficial class structures really are – at the core, everyone’s really the same regardless of the social class into which they’re born. Dickens also exposes how callous and uncaring Victorian society was – people just ignored the plight of the less fortunate because they were so self- satisfied and so convinced that the systems they had in place to take care of the poor were the best and most humane systems possible. Dickens satirizes the complacency of all of Victorian society in Oliver Twist, and although he occasionally addresses the reader as a peer, more often than not, he condemns the reader along with the rest of society.

POVERTY The theme of poverty is obviously related to the theme of society and class. But while the society and class theme is concerned with showing how the social class system is basically just invented by society to justify the status quo, Dickens is also very concerned in showing just how miserable the lower classes really were. With Oliver Twist, he doesn’t shy away from depicting the conditions of the poor in all their misery with gritty realism. Dickens occasionally describes members of the poorest class as sub-human or animal-like to highlight the huge chasm between the experiences of his middle class readers and the poor people he describes.

CRIME Crime was a huge problem in London in the 1830s, when Dickens was writing, just as it is now. Novels and plays about crime were hugely popular. Some novelists wrote about crime because they had a particular point to make about the source of criminal behaviour, or possible solutions to the crime wave. Other novelists wrote about crime just because they knew it would sell. Oliver Twist was hugely popular, but Dickens definitely had a point to make: he wanted to show how criminals really lived in order to discourage poor people from turning to crime. He also wanted to show how external influences created criminal behaviour as much or more than natural criminal urges. Criminality in Oliver Twist is not limited to the lower classes: characters like Mr. Bumble show all levels of Victorian society are equally to blame.

RELIGION Organized, institutionalized religion – especially the Church of England – is portrayed negatively in this film. Dickens was Anglican himself, but he felt like the Church was too impersonal and institutionalized and didn’t do enough to take care of the poor and miserable people who turned to the Church for help. The whole parish system was responsible for maintaining workhouses, orphanages, and baby farms, and Dickens thought that the whole system was inhumane. He certainly didn’t shy away from showing the negative side of the parish system in Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist is a novel about crime and punishment, but not about forgiveness or redemption

IDENTITY This film is all about mistaken identities and changed names. Many characters don't know where their parents are, or even who their parents are. Names are supposed to be society’s main marker for identity – the way everyone around you knows you – and in Oliver Twist, Oliver’s name is thrust on him almost arbitrarily (or not…) by Mr. Bumble. The result is a weird disconnect between the way Oliver sees himself, and the way the world around him views him. Which is the real Oliver? The innocent boy or the hardened criminal? Oliver’s face is an important marker of his identity in Oliver Twist. His striking resemblance both to his mother’s portrait and to his father is what enables Mr. Brownlow to identify him.

REFERENCES References accessed 30/7/