The Ultimate Problem of Evil in Dickens's Oliver Twist pervasive problem of evil in society and in humanity. nature. Dickens presents two dimensions of evil in Oliver's world through the characters of Fagin, the old Jew, and Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle. By transferring Fagin's criminality to the selfish and hypocritical Bumble, an authority figure who should promote order and justice, he intensifies his satire of life and society under the Poor Laws of 1834. Bumble and Fagin snicker with glee as they exploit the others, namely the vulnerable Oliver. in pursuit of their selfish goals. The two figures "glide furtively, crawling under the shelter of walls and doors... resembling loathsome reptiles, spawned in the slime and darkness in which [they] move." (186) The satire of the novel emerges as the reader connects Fagin's criminal world with Bumble's hypocrisy and self-serving clap-backs, both of which include the malaise of Victorian society exposed through irony, sarcasm, and Dickens' biting language. Fagin and Bumble, who harbor evil motivations in their cages, illustrate the omnipresence of evil in the novel, particularly with regard to the treatment of the poor, the exploitation of the innocent, and the corruption of society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayAfter successfully luring Oliver into the pits of his horrific crimes, the monstrous Fagin winds his way through “a maze of mean streets and dirty”. (186) to find Sikes, who will try to frame the young outcast in a life of crime. Fagin personifies the evil of humanity, a satanic reverse of the humble compassion exhibited in the novel's most virtuous characters, namely Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies. While Brownlow quiets "the noise and turbulence amidst which [Oliver] has always lived" (143), Fagin's bestial nature threatens with its evil temptations the precincts of Edenic innocence found in Brownlow's country house . Fagin's serpentine qualities extend to the character of Bumble, who embodies an institutional and societal evil that complements Fagin's criminal plans. The evil framework erected by Bumble and Fagin constitutes the path of experience through which Oliver matures to understand his identity. The way in which Fagin seduces young people like Artful Dodger, Charley Bates and Oliver Twist for his own monetary benefits parallels the way in which Bumble exploits the rights of the poor children who live in his workhouse in an attempt to increase his power. Dickens uses images of confinement and despair to describe the odious headquarters of Jewish evil: It was a very dirty place. [...] In all the rooms, the molded shutters were tightly closed: the bars which held them were screwed securely into the wood; the only light that was admitted made its way through round holes at the top: which made the rooms darker and filled them with strange shadows. (179) The darkness of Fagin's lair continues the image of the harsh prison of Bumble's workshop from which Oliver escaped. Within the novel's discourse on evil is Dickens's satire on the plight of the poor caused by the Poor Laws, which Bumble strictly adheres to until they finally turn him into a pauper in a scene of gleeful irony . Dickens's language, words like "dirty", "musty", "closed", "dark" and "strange shadows", creates a scene of festering unhappiness that moves from the criminal world to thesituation of society as a whole. that the workshop in which Oliver and other orphans find their only refuge resembles the absolute nihilism of Fagin's underworld and exposes the brutal mistreatment of society's poor by selfish men like Bumble. While Fagin rejects moral and legal laws by indoctrinating adolescents into a life of theft, Bumble violates the fundamental code of love and compassion on which, in a moral sense, human nature is based. Oliver's famous plea: "Please, sir, I want more" (56) illustrates not only his starvation resulting from Bumble's sadistic practices, but also his desire for the love and compassion he only found outside of society's inadequate provisions for the poor. Ironically, the deviants in Fagan's Brotherhood of Thieves make Oliver feel more welcome than the authority figures in his society, who satirize the decline in society's ability to effectively correct, or at least recognize , the problem of poverty. Bumble's cantankerous rigidity in his dealings with the orphans is comparable to Fagin's animalistic dominance over the subordinate members of his pack. Bumble leads Oliver from "the miserable home where a kind word or look had never lightened the sadness of his childhood years" (53) to a renewed agony that causes him to "burst into an agony of childish sorrow." (53) Dickens captures Bumble's sadism in a pitiful summary of his "care" for Oliver: As for exercise, the weather was fine cold, and [Oliver] was allowed to do his ablutions, every morning under the pump, in a stone courtyard. , in the presence of Mr. Bumble, who prevented him from catching cold and caused a tingling sensation in his body, by repeated applications of the cane. As for society, he was taken every other day to the room where the boys dined, and there he was socially whipped as a warning and public example. (59) The beadle's determination to maintain his sense of authority at the expense of innocent orphans illustrates the superficiality of his character, which is defined only by his ability to exert power over helpless characters like Oliver and Mrs. Corney. Dickens's sarcasm elicits Bumble's harsh and excessive cruelty, while his realistic rendering of these pitiful events evokes their apparent regularity within the workshop's operations. Oliver, whose physical health Bumble protects with “quick applications of cane,” becomes an emblem of the poor victim left helpless by society's wickedness. Dickens uses Oliver's physical torment to evoke the reader's sympathy and make them aware of the corruption of society. Where Bumble hinders Oliver's physical and emotional growth, Fagin, at his best, is interested in Oliver, motivated by potential monetary reward, while at his worst still, exploits Oliver and puts his life in danger. He represents the temptation of evil that presents itself to Twist, who must learn to overcome the lure of the criminal fraternity. Bumble, however, represents what happens when one succumbs to a life of greed and exploitation; he represents what Oliver will never become. Dickens describes Oliver as "a near prisoner in the dark and solitary room to which he had been consigned by the wisdom and mercy of the board." (59) The dark enclosures in which Oliver was confined, particularly the coffin in Mr. Sowerberry's house and the ditch outside Chertsey's house, become metaphors for his vulnerability, as they "protect" him of “the darkness and solitude which surround him”. him." (59) Dickens also criticizes "the board of directors", because the phrase "wisdom and mercy" drips with verbal ironywhich affects his satire of his reckless and selfish philosophies. Ironically, Oliver would be better off remaining in the ditch at Chertsey rather than returning to a life of "a new burden imposed on the parish". (48) Bumble and Fagin rejoice in their operations as officers of evil. Fagin's philosophy extends toward monetary incentives; Bumble's aims for personal fulfillment achieved by asserting power over the poor. After Sikes abandons Oliver in a ditch following the unsuccessful burglary at Chertsey, Fagin says: "What is that?" When the boy is worth hundreds of pounds to me, should I lose what luck kept me from getting to safety? (240) Later, when he "trains" his new student, Noah Claypole, Fagin exposes the utter selfishness underlying his motivations: every man is his own friend. ...In a small community like ours, my dear, we have a general number one; that is to say, you cannot consider yourself number one, without considering me the same, as well as all the other young people. ...You can't take care of yourself, number one, without taking care of me, number one. ...I am of the same importance to you as you are to yourself. (387-8) Fagin and Bumble rule with an iron fist that defines "the scale and extent of [their] operations" and inspires "a certain degree of salutary fear" (389) among the "students" under their guardianship. Bumble prides itself on possessing the power to wreak unwarranted punishment on the poor. Dickens captures him "braving the cold wind of the night: simply stopping for a few minutes in the poor men's ward, to mistreat them a little, with a view to convincing himself that he could take the post of almshouse." -master with necessary acerbity." (250) This biting portrait of a character so attracted to his own power satirizes the obsessive beadle who neglects his role as guardian in favor of the mirage of authority. The expression "simply take a break" evokes the pomp that governs Bumble's character and makes him such a misguided and self-inflating ruler of his own corrupt underworld. He personifies the negative connotations of his name, namely a state of confusion or. a person who literally "stammers". by Dickens of the clumsy beadle as defined by "official pomposity" and "punctilious stupidity" and absorbed in a world centered on Bumble satirically portrays the "clumsies" of society and highlights the need to improve the situation of the poor. After Bumble marries Mrs. Corney, he realizes with despondency that because he married, "[his] mighty cocked hat was replaced by a modest round one. Mr. Bumble was no longer a beadle." (322) His cocked hat symbolizes the authority that defines his character. He and Mrs. Bumble "were gradually reduced to great destitution and misery, and finally became poor in that same hospital in which they had once lorded it over the others." (477) Likewise, Fagin, the powerful "godfather" of Twist's underworld, falls into a state of pathetic failure, as he grovels to gain Oliver's loyalty and support to free him from a death imminent. Fagin, like Bumble, “struggles against the power of despair” (474) and illustrates the failure of evil to endure, despite its ability to temporarily hypnotize. Dickens's satire relies in part on his ability to interweave the characters of Fagin and Bumble, who associates the corruption of society's authoritative figures with the behaviors of a notorious criminal. Fagin hinders Oliver's quest to find an identity and a place in the macrocosm.

Essay / The Ultimate Problem of Evil in Dickens's Oliver Twist pervasive problem of evil in society and in humanity. nature. Dickens presents two dimensions of evil in Oliver's world through the characters of Fagin, the old Jew, and Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle. By transferring Fagin's criminality to the selfish and hypocritical Bumble, an authority figure who should promote order and justice, he intensifies his satire of life and society under the Poor Laws of 1834. Bumble and Fagin snicker with glee as they exploit the others, namely the vulnerable Oliver. in pursuit of their selfish goals. The two figures "glide furtively, crawling under the shelter of walls and doors... resembling loathsome reptiles, spawned in the slime and darkness in which [they] move." (186) The satire of the novel emerges as the reader connects Fagin's criminal world with Bumble's hypocrisy and self-serving clap-backs, both of which include the malaise of Victorian society exposed through irony, sarcasm, and Dickens' biting language. Fagin and Bumble, who harbor evil motivations in their cages, illustrate the omnipresence of evil in the novel, particularly with regard to the treatment of the poor, the exploitation of the innocent, and the corruption of society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayAfter successfully luring Oliver into the pits of his horrific crimes, the monstrous Fagin winds his way through “a maze of mean streets and dirty”. (186) to find Sikes, who will try to frame the young outcast in a life of crime. Fagin personifies the evil of humanity, a satanic reverse of the humble compassion exhibited in the novel's most virtuous characters, namely Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies. While Brownlow quiets "the noise and turbulence amidst which [Oliver] has always lived" (143), Fagin's bestial nature threatens with its evil temptations the precincts of Edenic innocence found in Brownlow's country house . Fagin's serpentine qualities extend to the character of Bumble, who embodies an institutional and societal evil that complements Fagin's criminal plans. The evil framework erected by Bumble and Fagin constitutes the path of experience through which Oliver matures to understand his identity. The way in which Fagin seduces young people like Artful Dodger, Charley Bates and Oliver Twist for his own monetary benefits parallels the way in which Bumble exploits the rights of the poor children who live in his workhouse in an attempt to increase his power. Dickens uses images of confinement and despair to describe the odious headquarters of Jewish evil: It was a very dirty place. [...] In all the rooms, the molded shutters were tightly closed: the bars which held them were screwed securely into the wood; the only light that was admitted made its way through round holes at the top: which made the rooms darker and filled them with strange shadows. (179) The darkness of Fagin's lair continues the image of the harsh prison of Bumble's workshop from which Oliver escaped. Within the novel's discourse on evil is Dickens's satire on the plight of the poor caused by the Poor Laws, which Bumble strictly adheres to until they finally turn him into a pauper in a scene of gleeful irony . Dickens's language, words like "dirty", "musty", "closed", "dark" and "strange shadows", creates a scene of festering unhappiness that moves from the criminal world to thesituation of society as a whole. that the workshop in which Oliver and other orphans find their only refuge resembles the absolute nihilism of Fagin's underworld and exposes the brutal mistreatment of society's poor by selfish men like Bumble. While Fagin rejects moral and legal laws by indoctrinating adolescents into a life of theft, Bumble violates the fundamental code of love and compassion on which, in a moral sense, human nature is based. Oliver's famous plea: "Please, sir, I want more" (56) illustrates not only his starvation resulting from Bumble's sadistic practices, but also his desire for the love and compassion he only found outside of society's inadequate provisions for the poor. Ironically, the deviants in Fagan's Brotherhood of Thieves make Oliver feel more welcome than the authority figures in his society, who satirize the decline in society's ability to effectively correct, or at least recognize , the problem of poverty. Bumble's cantankerous rigidity in his dealings with the orphans is comparable to Fagin's animalistic dominance over the subordinate members of his pack. Bumble leads Oliver from "the miserable home where a kind word or look had never lightened the sadness of his childhood years" (53) to a renewed agony that causes him to "burst into an agony of childish sorrow." (53) Dickens captures Bumble's sadism in a pitiful summary of his "care" for Oliver: As for exercise, the weather was fine cold, and [Oliver] was allowed to do his ablutions, every morning under the pump, in a stone courtyard. , in the presence of Mr. Bumble, who prevented him from catching cold and caused a tingling sensation in his body, by repeated applications of the cane. As for society, he was taken every other day to the room where the boys dined, and there he was socially whipped as a warning and public example. (59) The beadle's determination to maintain his sense of authority at the expense of innocent orphans illustrates the superficiality of his character, which is defined only by his ability to exert power over helpless characters like Oliver and Mrs. Corney. Dickens's sarcasm elicits Bumble's harsh and excessive cruelty, while his realistic rendering of these pitiful events evokes their apparent regularity within the workshop's operations. Oliver, whose physical health Bumble protects with “quick applications of cane,” becomes an emblem of the poor victim left helpless by society's wickedness. Dickens uses Oliver's physical torment to evoke the reader's sympathy and make them aware of the corruption of society. Where Bumble hinders Oliver's physical and emotional growth, Fagin, at his best, is interested in Oliver, motivated by potential monetary reward, while at his worst still, exploits Oliver and puts his life in danger. He represents the temptation of evil that presents itself to Twist, who must learn to overcome the lure of the criminal fraternity. Bumble, however, represents what happens when one succumbs to a life of greed and exploitation; he represents what Oliver will never become. Dickens describes Oliver as "a near prisoner in the dark and solitary room to which he had been consigned by the wisdom and mercy of the board." (59) The dark enclosures in which Oliver was confined, particularly the coffin in Mr. Sowerberry's house and the ditch outside Chertsey's house, become metaphors for his vulnerability, as they "protect" him of “the darkness and solitude which surround him”. him." (59) Dickens also criticizes "the board of directors", because the phrase "wisdom and mercy" drips with verbal ironywhich affects his satire of his reckless and selfish philosophies. Ironically, Oliver would be better off remaining in the ditch at Chertsey rather than returning to a life of "a new burden imposed on the parish". (48) Bumble and Fagin rejoice in their operations as officers of evil. Fagin's philosophy extends toward monetary incentives; Bumble's aims for personal fulfillment achieved by asserting power over the poor. After Sikes abandons Oliver in a ditch following the unsuccessful burglary at Chertsey, Fagin says: "What is that?" When the boy is worth hundreds of pounds to me, should I lose what luck kept me from getting to safety? (240) Later, when he "trains" his new student, Noah Claypole, Fagin exposes the utter selfishness underlying his motivations: every man is his own friend. ...In a small community like ours, my dear, we have a general number one; that is to say, you cannot consider yourself number one, without considering me the same, as well as all the other young people. ...You can't take care of yourself, number one, without taking care of me, number one. ...I am of the same importance to you as you are to yourself. (387-8) Fagin and Bumble rule with an iron fist that defines "the scale and extent of [their] operations" and inspires "a certain degree of salutary fear" (389) among the "students" under their guardianship. Bumble prides itself on possessing the power to wreak unwarranted punishment on the poor. Dickens captures him "braving the cold wind of the night: simply stopping for a few minutes in the poor men's ward, to mistreat them a little, with a view to convincing himself that he could take the post of almshouse." -master with necessary acerbity." (250) This biting portrait of a character so attracted to his own power satirizes the obsessive beadle who neglects his role as guardian in favor of the mirage of authority. The expression "simply take a break" evokes the pomp that governs Bumble's character and makes him such a misguided and self-inflating ruler of his own corrupt underworld. He personifies the negative connotations of his name, namely a state of confusion or. a person who literally "stammers". by Dickens of the clumsy beadle as defined by "official pomposity" and "punctilious stupidity" and absorbed in a world centered on Bumble satirically portrays the "clumsies" of society and highlights the need to improve the situation of the poor. After Bumble marries Mrs. Corney, he realizes with despondency that because he married, "[his] mighty cocked hat was replaced by a modest round one. Mr. Bumble was no longer a beadle." (322) His cocked hat symbolizes the authority that defines his character. He and Mrs. Bumble "were gradually reduced to great destitution and misery, and finally became poor in that same hospital in which they had once lorded it over the others." (477) Likewise, Fagin, the powerful "godfather" of Twist's underworld, falls into a state of pathetic failure, as he grovels to gain Oliver's loyalty and support to free him from a death imminent. Fagin, like Bumble, “struggles against the power of despair” (474) and illustrates the failure of evil to endure, despite its ability to temporarily hypnotize. Dickens's satire relies in part on his ability to interweave the characters of Fagin and Bumble, who associates the corruption of society's authoritative figures with the behaviors of a notorious criminal. Fagin hinders Oliver's quest to find an identity and a place in the macrocosm.

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