Nancy as the Most Important Character in Oliver Twist
Charles dickens wrote Oliver Twist in 1837, during the Victorian era
of England, he was born in Landport, a suburb of Portsea, on February
7, 1812. He was their first child of eight siblings. John Dickens,
Charles's father, was not good with handling the family's money. He
was then imprisoned for debt on February 20, 1824. This experience
left Charles psychologically scarred. Charles had to take the role of
being "the man of the house" and had to start working at about the age
of twelve. Charles Dickens attended school for a short while but
worked the majority of his life.
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Dickens uses the characters and situations in the book to make a
pointed social commentary, attacking the hypocrisy and flaws of
institutions, including his society's government, its laws and
criminal system, and its methods of dealing with poor people.
Interestingly, he doesn't suggest any solutions; he merely points out
the suffering inflicted by these systems and their deep injustice.
Dickens basically believed that most people were good at heart but
that their good impulses could be distorted by social ills.
Oliver Twist was a young boy born into a workhouse but orphaned, as
his mother dies straight after giving. Oliver is then left for life in
an orphanage; he decides to run away into London and soon gets
involved in the underworld. Although the whole novel revolves around
Oliver Twist, my coursework question will be focusing on Nancy, and
how important she is in the story.
Dickens was influenced to write Oliver twist by his...
... middle of paper ...
...from a deep gash in her forehead." Nancy's
death description was nothing but gruesome, brutal and shocking. "It
was a ghastly figure to look upon." The unfairness of her death evokes
more sympathy from the reader.
Nancy's character is the most important in the sense that she allows
the reader to feel for the poor. Dickens uses her character for this
purpose. She acts like a representative for the lower classes. Nancy's
character is also the most important in the sense that she shows that
not all people in the underworld are bad. They do have good
consciences and they do have feelings for the others, it is just the
simple case of environment that forces them to do what they do, and
Dickens proves that in Nancy's character.
Therefore I conclude that Nancy is, in fact, the most important
character in Oliver Twist.
The American Dream is something that anyone no matter their background, social standings, or ethnicity can improve their life through hard work.
time and effort of taking care of a house. Due to this and multiple feminist movements, women
At the age of 5, she started working full-time. Her master would hire them out to other families within the area. She cleaned white people's houses during the day and took care of their children at night. She had to stay up all night with the babies so that they wouldn’t wake up and disturb...
Women throughout history have been considered to have an active role in the family life as the caretakers, while the men are considered the “breadwinners” of the family. However, a few women still have had to provide for their families throughout the years and as a result have sought employment in industries that “were highly segregated by sex” (Goldin 87). Women employm...
How Charles Dickens Portrays the Murder of Nancy in Oliver Twist "Oliver Twist" was written by Charles Dickens. He was born on February 7th 1812in Landport which is situated in Portsmouth, England. He worked in a blacking factory where shoe polish is produced and Dickens job was to paste labels to the bottles of polish. The working conditions then were dreadfully poor, He was doing this job when he was 12 years old which meant that in those days children had little childhood where they can have fun like nowadays. This was the same age when Oliver worked in the workhouse and because Dickens had experienced working in poor conditions when he was young he made the book more dramatic and more real life and also expresses Oliver's feeling well.
... mother being a single mom as well as the fact that his father left him and his mother.
breadwinners of the family and rely on little assistance from others to make ends meet. Paycheck
Instead these life decisions are primarily influenced by an individual’s personal limits, beliefs, and morals. Though sexism and pay discrimination still exist there are so many regulations and penalties in place that such behavior has become very uncommon. Dorment creates a new scene where he asks women to not only take on the same sacrifices men past and present have all while realizing that men are doing the best that they can. I believe that this scenario created is key to realizing that women can only take on leadership roles or progress in their careers if they are willing to make sacrifices. They can’t expect special treatment or think that being successful doesn’t come with downsides when the thing they are fighting for is equality. According to the Pew Research Center 60 percent of two parent homes with children younger than eighteen consist of dual-earning couples. This study explicitly shows how men are no longer the sole provider, but instead that women are taking on careers while giving up the stay at home role. In addition, despite men typically spending a little less time at home than women it is become increasingly normal for the home work load to be more evenly divided in dual-earning households. As Richard Dorment mentions, this raises the question “Why does the achievement gap still exist?” Men and Women are increasingly splitting the home work load between each other yet men still appear to be achieving more in the workplace than women. Though the opportunities available to each are the same it is the personal motivation and limits that are resulting in the gap. Women value family time over work time greatly while men are much more willing to sacrifice personal time for work because they feel it is for the good of their family. The difference in personal importance is one factor that contributes to the gap and
Frank’s mother, Dorothy loved working, but as Frank got older his father made her relinquish working to stay home and supervise Frank. Working made her feel like she could be her own woman and be free of a standard marriage of the wife just running the home. Franks states, “My mother did not work then, though she had worked at waitressing and in the bars in town-and she liked working.” (Ford 33). This reveals that she liked the constant change of people that go in and out of bars and restaurants. She felt freedom in this. Frank’s father not allowing Frank’s mother to work
be in the home. They main job was running the house, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the
Women's roles were confined to a small list of responsibilities. As a result, they were seen as a minority. Society convinced women that they weren't capable of performing any work outside of the home. They were to stay home to cook, clean, take care of the children, and any other aspect involving the home. This was their sole responsibility. There wasn't anything else they were allowed or expected to do. Unfortunately this frame of mind developed in women and until only recently has this mindset been challenged by the female gender.
Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Oliver from Oliver Twist represent the characteristic Victorian children who are naturally good and appeal to the sentiments of the reader when facing difficult situations that aid in finding who they are. The children are required to decide between two conflicting ideas such as childhood and adulthood in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and even good versus evil in Oliver Twist while they search to find where they belong in the natural order of society. Death and horrible outcomes hover around Alice and Oliver as they are shoved into different social situations without their approval. Alice and Oliver’s identity crisis, while they are at a stage of limbo, are evident in the obstacles they must face including repressive new secondary environments which parody and mirror real life struggles imposed on them, being vehicles to aid in adult’s favor as they pull the children in varying directions and the inability for Alice and Oliver to take control of their lives their own hands.
cook for the family i.e. to be the housewife. It was seen that a women
Set in the Victorian era, Sense and Sensibility and Oliver Twist, parallel but also contrast in many key elements. In both movies, mannerisms, class distinction, and the child's role in society were reflected by both writers. Through these analysis, I was able to achieve new insight into the conditions of the Victorian era.
Great Expectations and Oliver Twist are representative of the works produced by Charles Dickens over his lifetime. These novels exhibit many similarities - perhaps because they both reflect painful experiences that occurred in Dickens' past.