Social Issues In Oliver Twist

The years 1830-90 is called the Victorian age. The most marked feature of the literature is that it reflects very faithfully the life of the times in its various aspects-social, religious, political & economic. The social history that is reflected in the literature reveals two things-the steady progress of democratic ideals & the progress of scientific thoughts. The age highlights the upliftment of middle class and life seems smooth and gallant at the first half of the era. But there was a protest voiced against the apparently peaceful and progressive rule of Queen Victoria. It is echoed through the whole of the literature of the mid Victorian era. The new scientific discoveries of Darwin, Huxley etc. shocked the complacency and led to its

The novel collects the poor condition of children in Orphanage, the initial part of the novel deals with the orphans who have been subjected to the filthy condition in the workhouse and in the pathetic orphanages. Dickens’s Oliver twist is a response to Dickens explores many social themes in Oliver twist, but three are predominant: the abuses of the new Poor Law system, the evils of the criminal world in London and Victimisation of children. First few chapters’ critique the administration of the workhouse and of the New Poor Law Amendment of 1834, it placed a premium on conserving resources in caring for the poor, and provided workhouses with several choices for menus, all of which involved very limited portions. Not only the protagonist but also the other child character are subjected to the scrutiny of the society. One of the major institutional cruelty to the poor, is under feeding them. The orphans are given a small amount of food, which leads to malnourishment of these children. The section also deals with the issue of powerlessness of the children and are ignored intentionally by the authorities. With respect to this if we see the scenario we will find the orphans and orphanage are the manifestations of the disdained Victorian society. The novel introduces the importance of the family ties, even when they are shrouded in mystery and it is shimmering throughout the novel. Dickens gives the most uncompromising, critique of the Victorian workhouse, which was run according to a regime of prolonged, hunger, physical punishment, humiliation and hypocrisy. The scene where Oliver asks for one more scoop gruel is severely punished, and it has become “the most familiar incident in any English novel” (sander, 412), strongly appealed to the Victorian Conscience. Dickens challenged the Victorian idea of charity for the so-called deserving poor. He showed persuasively