Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is one of the best English novelists of all time. It was during the Victorian era (1837 - 1901), the time in which Dickens lived and wrote, that the novel became the main literary genre. Dickens was the quintessential teacher of social criticism, especially between the 1830s and 1840s, when Oliver Twist was published. Did you know why this novel was so remarkable at the time of its release?

Dickens's novels are a clear introduction to his thoughts, allowing us to take a trip back in time and learn about the social problems that arose during the industrialization English. Likewise, his works are, in a way, autobiographical. The first years of the author are reflected in his stories and, above all, in the life and personality of the characters. Years in which Dickens began working at a very young age to help with the family finances. Although Dickens is probably best known in the world of storytelling for works such as A christmas storyHistory of two cities o Big hopes, which are considered some of his best works, is in Oliver Twist where we can observe what is considered his greatest social criticism. His stories about the poorer working class were directed towards an increasingly wealthy middle class, trying to create a certain sympathy among the population and, consequently, promote change.

The transparency of realism, mainstream during the Victorian era, allows Dickens to show us the harsh reality that was lived. In fact, it is the author himself who wants us to remember that industrialization was not only the rise of England as a country in every sense, but it also led to drastic changes for society and that the most affected were, without a doubt, the poor. It is through the detailed descriptions of the settings in the work of Oliver Twist where it shows us this reality. But, it is the characters themselves who play an even more important role in making the reader see what the approval of new laws such as the Poor Law of 1834 and the emergence of the workhouses (nursing homes for the poor). 

Oliver Twist It was published between 1837 and 1838, at which time the rich were getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Therefore, what person can be more vulnerable in a society than a young person? Oliver was the first young literature character to star in an English-language novel and it is through the different events throughout his life that we observe that the poor were considered corrupt and perverted. Although, in one way or another, thanks to his personality, innocence and way of seeing the world, Oliver always remains on the margins of morality. In the same way, with this character we see that his own destiny does not depend on him, but is decided by external forces, Oliver being a sensational metaphor for the poorest part of him. dickens society.

Thus, Oliver is considered a symbol in the world of storytelling since, like him, the vast majority of characters in a novel are like a window to the world and the time in which they live. And it is that both Charles Dickens, well recognized by incorporate biographical elements into your fictions, like his compatriot Jane Austin, famous for her description of personality and character traitsThey are two of the most recognized writers both in English society and worldwide when it comes to the creation of characters.

In short, with Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens gives us such a detailed description of the city, the factories and the society of his time that we have the opportunity to see the harsh reality that industrialization implied for the poorest part of XNUMXth century English society. What the overcrowding of the population meant in the cities and how the poor suffered.

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