Oliver Twist: The Parish Boy's Progress

Charles Dicken is one of the most familiar names when it comes to classic literature. His novel, Oliver Twist or The Parish Boy’s Progress is equally as familiar in classic literature as its author. Oliver Twist is an orphan boy who goes through adventures throughout his childhood to find a family that cared about him and his true identity. He does this by running away from Mrs. Mann’s orphanage to go to London living with different people who “cared” for him, and showed him what family is not. In the novel, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens a name has no meaning, Oliver is rather identified by his face and status as a poor orphan boy. In Oliver Twist, at times Oliver is referred to by anything except his name. He is identified by degrading names and made up names the complete opposite to his own. In the novel, Mrs. Mann explains to Mr. Bumble how Oliver acquired his last name saying: ‘“I, Mrs. Mann. We name our fondlings in alphabetical order. The last was an S, -Swubble, I named him. This was a T, -Twist, I named him.”’ This shows how from the beginning of his life, Oliver’s name has meant nothing. Even to the first people, he saw after he was born. After some time, Oliver runs away from his home and travels to London in search of his family. On his search, he

As he moves in with Mr. Brownlow and family, another adopted child of the family, Noah Claypole decides to let Oliver know what he really is. Noah blames Oliver for most things since he is the new child, and Oliver goes along with it. ““Let him alone!’ said Noah. ‘Why everybody lets him alone enough for the matter of that. Neither his father nor his mother will interfere with him…’” This was the first time Oliver heard someone talk about his biological parents in a way that made him physically hurt somebody. Throughout Oliver’s stay with the Brownlow’s Oliver he has many altercations with Noah which result in him going back to live with the