Dickens Creating an Effective Image of People in his Works

In what ways does dickens create effective images of people and

places. Explore this idea with reference to 3 people and places

vividly described.

“Among other public buildings in the town of Mudfog, it boasts one of

which is common to any town great or small, to wit, a workhouse.”

Being born in a parish workhouse is bad enough, but when his mother

dies, he becomes an orphan in the care of Mr Bumble the parish beadle.

Not knowing what is right or wrong Oliver dares to ask for more after

dinner and is sent to different places to be an apprentice. When

another apprentice taunts him about his mother they end up fighting

and Oliver runs away to London. For the first time he meets up with

people and experiences he shouldn’t.

Oliver is one of the main characters, but he is different to all the

others because he is built up from all of the experiences he goes

through. This makes him seem rather boring at the beginning. Whereas

other main characters such as Fagin, are set as they are and don’t

change because nothing that they go through changes their character as

much as it does to Oliver. He is very adaptable and makes it look like

he fits in but in some cases he doesn’t, for example, “ The gruel

disappeared, and the boys whispered each other and winked at Oliver,

while his next neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was

desperate with hunger and reckless with misery. He rose from the

table, and advancing, basin and spoon in hand, to the master, said,

somewhat alarmed at his own temerity.

‘Please, Sir, I want some more.’ ”

As Oliver was doing this you can imagine that the other children were

sitting behind him sniggering about the trick they played on him. He

doesn’t realise that he is doing wrong as he wasn’t brought up knowing

what is right and wrong. He doesn’t fit in because Oliver is spirited,

full of hopes and dreams whereas the others have convinced themselves

that they will never get out of the workhouse and therefore it will

never happen. Dickens uses Oliver to reach our emotions and makes us

feel for him. In another situation he is much happier, for example,

“ ’Oh, don’t tell me you are going to send me away, sir, pray!’

exclaimed Oliver, alarmed by the serious tone of the old gentleman’s

commencement; ‘don’t turn me out of doors to wander in the streets

again. Let me stay here and be a servant. Don’t send me back to the

wretched place I came from.