Oliver Twist, Description of Coke Town

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Assignment for April 16th – The Victorian Age Write an analysis of the excerpt of Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ and explain how it can be related to some of the ideas of the Victorian age in general. Relate the analysis to the excerpt of chapter 5 (The description of Coke Town). Discuss how Dickens uses the setting to establish the mood of the text (250-350 words) The excerpt of Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ is a severe criticism of the Victorian society’s treatment of the poor. Dickens criticizes the society in a fictitious text by using a number of linguistic means. First of all, there is a great use of sarcasm in the text, e.g. “What a noble illustration of the tender laws of this favored country! They let the paupers go to sleep!” This comment shows how the narrator is intrusive, and the comment is highly sarcastic, since the said situation is everything else than a noble illustration. This example is a specific criticism of the workhouses’ way of raising the orphans. The use of sarcasm is also a way of using humor in the text. Secondly, there are many parts of the text, which create a great sympathy for Oliver. Oliver is a representative of the poor people, and one of the most important purposes of the text is to create sympathy for them. This is seen in the paragraph: “Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery,” where the fact that he is a child emphasizes the reader’s sympathy. All of these linguistic means make the text not only a great story but also an extreme criticism of the Victorian society. It was very typical to write about the social aspects of the time by writing about the bottom class. This is exactly what Dickens does and the criticism is not hidden at all. And it was very relevant, because the workhouses were a reality in the Victorian period. The middle class has established them to raise poor children, they

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