Dickens the Social Justice Warrior
Note on the text: I used Oliver Twist as written by Charles Dickens and published in 2003 by Penguin Books
Oliver Twist was the second of Dickens’ major novels and although it lacks a lot of the depth and sophistication of his later works, it marks the start of a theme that runs through all his works: his fight against the social injustices of his time. Dickens saw himself as an advocate for the underprivileged was not shy about using his books to push his messages of tolerance, justice, and love of one’s fellow man. He knew that he could use his art to affect the heart of his readers which in turn could institute society-wide changes and he had no qualms about doing so. And it started here.
One of the common critiques of Dickens is that his characters lack depth and that they tend to be one dimensional. Even here, is there any orphan in the world that is as pure and loving as Oliver? Despite everything that he has been through, Oliver remains as innocent and loving as on the day he was born. I highly doubt that any orphan, even in the best of circumstances, can say that. He is hardly an example of what a real life orphan would be like. And while that might seem troublesome at the outset, such troubles fade away when you realize that Dickens is more interested in creating a three dimensional world that the reader can recognize, and which he as the author can critique, than he is in creating believable, realistic characters. Because although each character taken on his or her own might be one dimensional, when he puts them all together they create a world that is vibrant and teaming with life.
If you take eggs, sugar, flour, salt, milk, and baking soda try them all individually they all have a one note taste- put them all together though and you have a delicious cake. In the same way, there might not actually be anyone that is as innocent as Oliver, as brutal as Bill, as loving as Nancy, or as street savvy and cool as the Artful Dodger, but when you put them all together you get a world that feel complete. So although the individual characters may not feel real, the world which they inhabit undoubtedly is.
So the question remains, why does Dickens do that? It’s because Dickens always uses his books to make moral points, and crafts characters that allow him to do that In the case of Oliver Twist he wants to write about the plight of poor people, especially poor children, and he knows that in order to do that effectively he has to create a character which everyone will love. He knows that people in the real world are prejudiced against poor people and therefore he has to write in such a way that people are willing to leave their prejudices at the door and become invested in a character that they otherwise wouldn’t be. He has to make them fall in love with a character like Oliver, become invested in his success, and hate the injustices that threaten to swallow him.
When Nancy asks Rosie: “Look before you young lady. Look into that dark water [i.e. the Thames]. How many times do you read of [people like] me who spring into the tide, and [have] no living thing to care for or bewail them?” that is Dickens pointing an accusatory finger at the reader (389). How many times have we seen people who are suffering and done nothing because we don’t care about what happens to them? The only difference here is that we actually care about Nancy and Oliver’s fates, as opposed to their real life counter parts, because Dickens makes us care for them. And that is where his true genius lies. Not just in his abilities as a writer but in his capacity as a social justice warrior.
Dickens is, in my estimation, one of the greatest writers to have ever lived, because of his ability to create these incredible worlds, which reflect the real world, and place within them these incredible characters through whom he is able to effectively satirize the real world. His ability to find poetic, and non preachy ways, push for societal change is second to none and is why he will continue to be revered in years to come.
