Family Poverty in Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

This essay discusses the portrayal of family poverty in the book Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. It highlights the harsh life of poor families and child labor during the British regime. The essay also draws a connection between the novel and the current social condition of poverty in Canada.

Running head: FAMILY
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Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Introduction
There are many different topics that we often get to see in the books, films and many
other such mediums. These mediums or the many different forms of entertainment like the
television shows, movies, literary pieces available in boos and all other such materials always
helps us in getting a very clear view about the different kinds of aspect that are present around
us. These different aspects are poverty, same sex marriage, step family and many other such
societal concerning issues. This easy will be dealing with the issues of family poverty that is
present on many families. However it is through the reading of the different books and the
magazines that all the individuals are able to know about the different ways in which poverty
enters into these families and how this might affect the lives of several people. This easy is about
the portrayal of family poverty in the families through the book Oliver Twist by Charles
Dickens.
Literature Review
The book called Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens is one of the most useful books that
have been able to present the topic of poverty in a proper manner as it can bring to light many
evil practices that were carried on during the regime of the Britishers. The poor families were
forced to send their little children in to labor so that they could get some cash inflow for the
sustaining of their family. The storyline of this book mainly shows the struggle and the harsh life
of the people. This medium mainly revolves around the storyline of the evils of the workhouses
where the little kids were sent so that they could earn some money for the overall sustaining of
their families.

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As per the opinion of Dickens (2017), this medium has been able to do a justice towards
the proper portrayal of the lives of the poor families that loved during those times. Dickens has
been able to show the harsh and the very cruel picture of the tortures and the kinds of
punishments that the little kids were entitled to. Thus this book is really a very useful piece as it
helps in understanding the concept of family poverty and that of child labor. The main characters
that one comes across in this book are Oliver Twist who is like the victim of poverty and the
cruel laws that were used by the Government during this period.
The other prime characters that one can get to see in these areas are the characters named
Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Bumble who are the symbols of how much cruel society can be towards
the ones that are underprivileged and are poor. As per the opinion of Singh (2019), poverty in the
real life scenario is also one of the major concerns that need roper attention from the Government
and also from the other people of the society who are in the right position to take some steps.
Howeverthis novel has a proper connection within the actual social condition of the Canadian
society as well. This is because of the fact that in Canada the rate of child labor is also
increasing. Stubbs (2015) has suggested in the similar context that the people which are in owner
to take care of the growing level of poverty are not doing their works properly. As a result of this
the incidence of poverty in Canada is increasing day by day and the children are often the major
victims of poverty. Pereira and Unicef (2016)have suggested that the policy makers take the
advantage or the undue advantage of their position and then they forget about the actual
problems or the harsh impacts that are being created over the poor people. Stubbs (2015) has also
suggested in this similar context that the homelessness is one of themmajor embodiment of
poverty that is highlyprevalent in the society.

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In Canada many people including the women, children and others are left on the road
without any proper shelter.The similar portrayal of poverty is also seen in the Canadian context
in the modern day scenario, Patten (2017) has suggested that about 200,000 Canadians every
year are left in them poor and the unhygienic conditions where they have to survive However
this struggle to survive will often becomes the reason behind, many deadly diseases or many
kinds of plagues as well. Schlicke (2016) has suggested that one of the most pathetic and cruel
scene that one can see in the novel Oliver Twist is the opening scene or the very initial phase of
the life of Oliver Twist.
Oliver Twist was given birth by his mother in the poorly furnished workhouse where she
was in utter pain and ha nobody to look after her, there was only drunken nurse and a very cruel,
unsympathetic parish official to look after Oliver. However the parish that actually belonged to
the Christian Church groups and pledged to take care of the society and safeguard them from
social evils like poverty. However these people only used the Church granted funds for their own
sake and did not actually send anymoney for the actual benefit of the people of society. The same
is also seen in them modern day scenario. As per the opinion of Newey (2016) the chances of
poverty in Canada is wide pated and the amount keeps on varying every year, Thus there is
actually no proper record that world help in knowing the actual amount of poverty that is arising
in the differn6 parts of Canada. Thus it can be said that there are enough lack or drawback on the
responsibility of these Government officials or the policy makers who are actually given the
charge of helping the poverty stricken people. Daldry (2016) has however opined in the similar
context that there are any NGOs and other anti poverty fighting agencies that are trying their
level best to take care of the poor people.

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However in the real context it is seen that the orphans in particular are often forced to get
even worse lives than the normal poor people. The famous line from the novel Oliver Twist
“liver dried lustily. If he could have known that he was an orphan…perhaps he would have cried
louder”( Dickens, 2017).
This is one of the heartwarming quotes that talks about the worse condition of the lives of the
ones which are rendered orphans. Often it is seen that in reality the poor people also try to lead a
happy and peaceful life. Though some families are forced to send their children to work in
factories or in households for sharing the economic burden but at the same time, there are some
ill fated children who do not even get to know who their real parents are.
There are several instances where the children are left on the roadside right after their
birth. They have to spend their lives in utter poverty and have no one to take care of them. Thus
they are at a much poor condition as they have no one to take care of them and thus there is a
high chance for them to go into some illegal professionslike drugs and robbery. Just as Oliver
twist was seen as a kind of obstruction or burden throughout hisentire life the poor children are
also considered as some burden and nobody wants them. There are often mental and physical
tortures that the poor orphans have to go through inside the four walls of the orphanages.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that there are no proper police or Government interventions to
take care of these concerns. Thus people must understand the strong lessons that are being given
by these books and then try to resolve this. Thus the social issues like poverty must be resolved
by taking a proper action and by giving a joint collaborative effort by the Government and the
community as a whole. Thus it can be said that in order to fight with these evils the society must

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develop a proper awareness among all the people. In order to fight with a social evil like poverty
they will have to develop nit only proper rules but also proper feedback system so that they can
get to know about the actual verdicts of the people who become the victims of poverty.

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References
Daldry, G. (2016). Charles Dickens and the form of the novel: fiction and narrative in Dickens'
work. Routledge.
Dickens, C. (2017). Charles Dickens' Most Influential Works (Illustrated): Oliver Twist, The
Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Hard Times, David
Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend, The Life
of Dickens. e-artnow.
Newey, V. (2016). The Scriptures of Charles Dickens: Novels of Ideology, Novels of the Self.
Routledge.
Oliver, A. (2018). Challenging Society in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist and Bleak House.
Patten, R. L. (2017). ’, Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators, Columbus: Ohio State
University Press, pp. 3-11, 237-9. In Dickens and Victorian Print Cultures (pp. 165-176).
Routledge.
Pereira, A., & Unicef. (2016). Cash Transfers Improve the Mental Health and Well-being of
Youth: Evidence from the Kenyan Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children
(No. inores801).
Schlicke, P. (2016). Dickens and Popular Entertainment. Routledge.
Singh, S. (2019). A Comparative Study of The Theme Of Exploitation and Class Conflict in the
Selected Novels of Mulk Raj Anand and Charles Dickens.
Stubbs, J. (2015). Charles Dickens and national identity: Poverty, Wealth and Empire.