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Oliver Twist

by Charles Dickens

First Published

1800

Subjects

Bildungsromans
Boys
Brigands and robbers
British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author)
British fiction
Children
Children's fiction
Children's stories
Classic
Coming of age
Criminals
Criminels
Criticism and interpretation
Customs
Enfants pauvres
English language
English literature
Fiction
fiction classics
Historical fiction
History
Identity (Psychology)
Juvenile fiction
Kidnapping
Kidnapping victims
Literature
Literature and fiction
Manners and customs
Manuels pour allophones
Missing persons
Novels
Orphans
Poor children
Poverty
Readers
Robbers and outlaws
Social conditions
Social life
Social life and customs
Sources
Stories
Street life
Thieves
Victimes d'enlèvement
Victims
Vie dans la rue
YA
Young adult
serials
workhouses
child labour
domestic violence
street children
Kidnap victims
Pickpockets
English fiction
Orphans -- Juvenile drama
Children's plays, English
London (England) -- Social conditions -- 19th century -- Juvenile drama
Poor
Dickens, charles , 1812-1870
Twist, oliver
Kidnapping victims--fiction
Criminals--fiction
Orphans--fiction
Boys--fiction
Pr4567.a2 k35 1993
823/.8
Criminals, fiction
London (england), fiction
Fiction, coming of age
Crime, fiction
Large type books
Orphans, fiction
Robbers and outlaws, fiction
England, fiction
Language and languages
Drama
Literature, british isles
London (england), history, fiction
Fiction, psychological
Fiction, mystery & detective, general
Children's plays
Plays
Fiction, historical, general
English language, juvenile literature
Fiction, general

Description

Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, after being raised in a workhouse, escapes to London, where he meets a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin, discovers the secrets of his parentage, and reconnects with his remaining family. Oliver Twist unromantically portrays the sordid lives of criminals, and exposes the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century.[2] The alternative title, The Parish Boy's Progress, alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as the 18th-century caricature series by painter William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress and A Harlot's Progress. In an early example of the social novel, Dickens satirises child labour, domestic violence, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own experiences as a youth contributed as well, considering he spent two years of his life in the workhouse at the age of 12 and subsequently, missed out on some of his education.

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