Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist: Or, the Parish Boy's Progress Charles Dickens

Publisher Marketing: Oliver Twist, subtitled The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan, Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets. Naively unaware of their unlawful activities, Oliver is led to the lair of their elderly criminal trainer Fagin. Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens's unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. The book exposed the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London during the Dickensian era. The book's subtitle, The Parish Boy's Progress, alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and also to a pair of popular 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress and A Harlot's Progress. An early example of the social novel, the book calls the public's attention to various contemporary evils, including child labour, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. Dickens mocks the hypocrisies of his time by surrounding the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humour. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of hardships as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own early youth as a child labourer contributed to the story's development. Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and is the basis for a highly successful musical play and the multiple Academy Award winning 1968 motion picture made from it. Review Citations: Library Journal 12/01/1999 (EAN 9781859984826, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Dickens, Charles Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is one of the most acclaimed and popular writers of all time. His many works include the classics The Old Curiosity Shop, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Barnaby Rudge, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Bleak House, Hard Times, Our Mutual Friend, The Pickwick Papers and many more. Contributor Bio:  Cruikshank, George On Friday, February 7, 1812, the famous Victorian literature author, Charles John Huffam Dickens was born. Raised by parents John and Elizabeth, Charles began his life in a middle class home in the No. 1 mile end Terrace of Landport, Portsmouth, England. As a young boy, Dickens was taught to read by his mother and was formally educated between the ages of 9 and 15. Charles' father considered him to be a 'young prodigy.' He was often sent to tell stories to clerks at the navy pay office, where his father worked. At the age of 12, Dickens father was imprisoned for debt. As a means of helping his mother support his 7 brothers and sisters, Charles was removed from school and sent to work at a boot blacking factory. Earning very little money and surviving off of small portions of food, Charles was forced to live in the attic of a woman's home while the rest of his family resided in prison with their father. After his father was released from prison, Charles chose to continue his life in the work force and held jobs at a lawyer's office and also as a reporter. During his time as a reporter, Dickens' writing career began to lift off. His first published story, A Dinner at Poplar Walk, was printed when he was only 21 in Monthly Magazine in December of 1833. With a new career as an author, Dickens began to write numerous short stories and novels which were published in either weekly or monthly segments in newspapers and magazines. As he began to become more and more well known, Dickens chose the name "Boz" to sign his works. Later in his career, Charles met Catherine Hogarth and quickly fell in love. The two were wed on April 2nd, 1836. Although their relationship was not without its ups and downs, the pair had 10 children together. In 1858, Charles and Catherine separated, but they continued to live together until her death 20 years later. Throughout his career, Dickens wrote 15 novels and many short stories. Growing up in the height of the Industrial Revolution, many of Dickens' themes focused on the negative treatment of the poor in urban areas. Working at the boot blacking factory as a child seemed to be his most life-changing experience as many of his stories' themes reflect this particular time of his life.