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Essay on Great Expectations And Oliver Twist
| Date: |
11-07-98 6:50am |
| Subject: |
English |
| Word Count: |
1601 |
| Page Count: |
6.4 |
Great Expectations and Oliver Twist
Great
Expectations and Oliver Twist
During his lifetime, Charles Dickens is
known to have written several books. Although each book is different, they
also share many similarities. Two of his books, Great Expectations and
Oliver Twist, are representatives of the many kinds of differences and
similarities found within his work.
Perhaps the reason why these two novels
share some of the same qualities is because they both reflect painful experiences
which occurred in Dickens' past. During his childhood, Charles Dickens
suffered much abuse from his parents.1 This abuse is often expressed in
his novels. Pip, in Great Expectations, talked often about the abuse he
received at the hands of his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery. On one occasion
he remarked, "I soon found myself getting heavily bumped from behind in
the nape of the neck and the small of the back, and having my face ignominously
shoved against the wall, because I did not answer those questions at sufficient
length."2
While at the orphanage, Oliver from Oliver
Twist also experienced a great amount of abuse. For example, while suffering
from starvation and malnutrition for a long period of time, Oliver was
chosen by the other boys at the orphanage to request more gruel at dinner
one night. After making this simple request, "the master (at the orphanage)
aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his arms;
and shrieked aloud for the beadle."3
The whole beginning of Oliver Twist's story
was created from memories which related to Charles Dickens' childhood in
a blacking factory ( which was overshadowed by the Marshalsea Prison ).4
While working in the blacking factory, Dickens suffered tremendous humiliation.
This humiliation is greatly expressed through Oliver's adventures at the
orphanage before he is sent away.
Throughout his lifetime, Dickens appeared
to have acquired a fondness for "the bleak, the sordid, and the austere."5
Most of Oliver Twist, for example, takes place in London's lowest slums.6
The city is described as a maze which involves a "mystery of darkness,
anonymity, and peril."7 Many of the settings, such as the pickpocket's
hideout, the surrounding streets, and the bars, are also described as dark,
gloomy, and bland.8 Meanwhile, in Great Expectations, Miss Havisham's house
is often made to sound depressing, old, and lonely. Many of the objects
within the house had not been touched or moved in many years. Cobwebs were
clearly visible as well as an abundance of dust, and even the wedding dress
which Miss Havisham constantly wore had turned yellow with age.9
However, similarities are not just found
in the settings. The novels' two main characters, Pip and Oliver, are also
similar in many ways. Both young boys were orphaned practically from birth;
but where Pip is sent to live with and be abused by his sister, Oliver
is sent to live in an orphanage. Pip is a very curious young boy. He is
a "child of intense and yearning fancy."10 Yet, Oliver is well spoken.
Even while his life was in danger while in the hands of Fagin and Bill
Sikes, two conniving pickpockets, he refused to participate in the stealing
which he so greatly opposed. All Oliver really longed for was to escape
from harsh living conditions and evil surroundings which he had grown up
in.11 However, no matter how tempting the evil may have been, Oliver stood
by his beliefs.
Therefore, he can be referred to as "ideal
and incorruptible innocence."12 "It is Oliver's self-generated and self-sustained
love, conferred it would seem from Heaven alone, that preserves him from
disaster and death."13
Unfortunately, many critics have found
it hard to believe that a boy such as Oliver Twist could remain so innocent,
pure, and well spoken given the long period of time in which he was surrounded
by evil and injustices.14
Pip, on the other hand, is a dreamer. His
imagination is always helping him to create situations to cover up for
his hard times. For example, when questioned about his first visit to Miss
Havisham's house, he made up along elaborate story to make up for the terrible
time he had in reality. Instead of telling how he played cards all day
while being ridiculed and criticized by Estella and Miss Havisham, he claimed
that they played with flags and swords all day after having wine and cake
on gold plates.15 However, one special quality possessed by Pip that is
rarely seen in a novel's hero is that he wrongs others instead of being
hurt himself all of the time.16
Another similarity between Oliver and Pip
is that they both have had interactions with convicts. Fagin the head of
a group of young thieves, spends most of his time trying to "demoralize
and corrupt Oliver and prevent him from ever coming into his inheritance."17
To Oliver, he is seen as an escape from all previous misery. He also helps
Oliver to ease any fears about starvation and loneliness.18
Just as Fagin is Oliver's means of escape,
Magwitch, an escaped convict, is Pip's. However, as Fagin provides Oliver
with an escape from misery, Magwitch tries to provide Pip with an escape
from poverty by becoming his anonymous benefactor.
Obviously, escape is an important theme
in both Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. Even though they both have
different goals in mind, Pip and Oliver are seeking various forms of escape
from conditions which make them unhappy: Pip from his poverty, and Oliver
from his loneliness and starvation.
Since dealing with escapism, it is not
surprising that death also plays a major role in both stories. In the two
novels, death and coffins symbolize a happy and peaceful manner of escape.19
In Oliver Twist, it is suggested that only loneliness and brutality exist
on earth. Supposedly, there is no sanctity on the planet, which is a belief
that goes against the idea of a Heaven on earth.20
Another important theme within the novel
is the theme of the "two separate and conflicting dualisms: one, social,
between the individual and the institution; the second, moral, between
the respectable and the criminal."21 Most of Oliver Twist seems to imply
that "it is better to be a thief than to be alone."22 This tends to make
the reader think that Dickens favors the criminal aspect of his novels
over the moral side.
However, the conflict between the individual
and the institution leads to Dickens' criticism of social injustices such
as injustices towards the poor.23 Also in the form of satire, Dickens attempts
to "challenge the pleasurability of fortune."24
Aside from satire, Dickens uses various
other devices in writing these novels. one of the most common is that of
coincidence. For example, in Oliver Twist, Oliver just happened to end
up, first, at the house of Mr. Brownlow, who at one time was a really good
friend of Oliver's father. Then, later on, Oliver ends up at Rose Maylie's
house, who, as it turns out is his aunt.
In Great Expectations, the use of coincidence
is also noticeable. For instance, Pip finds out that Magwitch and Molly,
Mr. Jagger's servant, are the parents of Estella long after he first met
them. Then, later on, Pip just happens to be visiting Satis House (Miss
Havisham's old home) at the same time as Estella.
"Written in abrupt, truncated chapters,"
Oliver Twist took the form of a new type of English prose.25 Both Oliver
Twist and Great Expectations depend heavily on the use of abstraction,
or the avoidance of various facts.
However, the novels each have their own
form of narration. While Oliver Twist is written in the third person, Great
Expectations is in the first person.
Therefore, in Oliver Twist, the reader
gains a view of the story from the position of an onlooker or outsider.
They form their own opinions about the characters from "watching them."
In contrast, when reading Great Expectations,
the view is given through the character of Pip. So, since we only know
about Pip's feelings and what he tells us, our opinions of the other characters
are highly influenced by what he thinks of them.
In conclusion, both books seem to have
much in common such as feelings shared by the main characters, themes dealing
primarily in social injustices, and various writing techniques such as
the use of coincidental incidences and abstractions.
However, they also differ greatly from
one another. For example, Pip searches for money while Oliver searches
for security, and while Pip was raised in a home environment, Oliver was
raised in an orphanage. Yet, both books have a lot to offer society in
terms of pointing out many problems which still exist today, such as child
abuse and injustice to the poor. In order to conquer these evils, they
must first be understood, and explaining the severity of these experiences
seems to be a job which Charles Dickens is very good at.
Bibliography
Carey, John. Here Comes Dickens - The Imagination
of a Novelist. New York: Schocken Books, 1974.
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New
York: The Heritage Club, 1939.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New York:
Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1949.
Johnson, Edgar. Charles Dickens - His Tragedy
and Triumph. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952.
Kincaid, James R. Dickens and the Rhetoric
of Laughter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Marcus, Steven. Dickens: From Pickwick
to Dombey. Great Britain: Basic Books, 1965.
Slater, Michael, ed. Dickens 1970. New
York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1970.
Slater, Michael. Dickens and Women. California:
Stanford University Press, 1983.
Stewart, Garrett. Dickens and the Trials
of Imagination. Massachusettes: Harvard University Press, 1974.
Welsh, Alexander. The City of Dickens.
Oxford: Claredon Press, 1971.
Wilkie, Katherine E. Charles Dickens, The
Inimitable Boz. New York: Abelard - Schuman, 1970.
Footnotes
1 Steven Marcus, Dickens: From Pickwick
to Dombey (Great Britain: Basic Books, 1965) 82.
2 Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (New
York: The Heritage Club, 1939) 69.
3 Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist (New York:
Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1949) 16-17.
4 Katharine E. Wilkie, Charles Dickens,
The Inimitable Boz (New York: Abelard - Schuman, 1970) 77-78.
5 Marcus 71.
6 Wilkie 77.
7 Marcus 256.
8 Edgar Johnson, Charles Dickens - His
Tragedy and Triumph (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952) 273.
9 Dickens, Expectations 62.
10 Garrett Stewart, Dickens and the Trials
of Imagination (Massachusettes: Harvard University Press, 1974) 187.
11 Marcus 74.
12 Marcus 80.
13 Marcus 83.
14 John Carey, Here Comes Dickens - The
Imagination of a Novelist (New York: Schocken Books, 1974) 149.
15 Dickens, Expectations 71-72.
16 Alexander Welsh, The City of Dickens
(Oxford: Claredon Press, 1971) 107-108.
17 Marcus 75.
18 James R. Kincaid, Dickens and the Rhetoric
of Laughter (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971) 72.
19 Kincaid 51.
20 Kincaid 51.
21 Kincaid 53.
22 Kincaid 72.
23 Wilkie 78.
24 Welsh 82.
25 Marcus 55.
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