Characters in Oliver Twist

Name- Rajyaguru Mansi D.

Sem- 2

Roll no- 12

M.A-1

E-C-203

Topic- "Characters in Oliver Twist"

Submitted to,

Dr. Dilip Barad,

Bhavnagar University,

Bhavnagar. 

v Characters in Oliver Twist

Major characters

·       Oliver Twist- The novel protagonist, Oliver is an orphan born in a workhouse, and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy toward the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is between nine Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. His true identity is the central mystery of the novel.

·       Fagin- A conniving career criminal. Fagin takes in homeless children and trains them to pick pocket for him. He is also a buyer of other people's stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself, preferring to employ others to commit them- and often suffer legal retribution- in his place. Dickens's portrait of Fagin displays the influence of anti-Semitic stereotypes.

·      Nancy-  A young prostitute and one of Fagin's former child pickpockets. Nancy is also Bill Sike's lover. her love for sikes and her sense and her sense of moral decency come into conflict when Sikes abuses Oliver. Despite her criminal lifestyle, she is among the noblest characters in the novel .In effect, she gives her life for Oliver when Sikes murders her for revealing Monks's plots.

·      Monks - A sicky, vicious young man, prone to violent fits and teeming with inexplicable hatred. With Fagin, he schemes to give Oliver a bad reputation.

·      Bill Sikes- A brutal professional burglar brought up in Fagin gang. Sikes and Nancy are lovers, and he treats both her and his dog Bull's -eye with an odd combination of cruelty and grudging familiarity. His murder of Nancy is the most heinous of the many crimes that occur in the novel.