Social Environment and Crime in Dickens' Oliver Twist and Great Expectations

Lina Alzouabi

doi:10.32996/ijllt.2021.4.6.19

Abstract

This study reads Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and Great Expectations as crime novels by applying Sutherland's theory of "differential association" which postulates that criminal behavior is learned rather than inherited, and it is learned through interaction with other people within intimate personal groups in which one learns techniques and acquires motives for committing crimes. In Oliver Twist, Oliver is portrayed as a victim of the corrupted social environment as well as Monks' conspiracy with Fagin to drag him down to the underworld.; he is raised as an orphan in a workhouse and subjected to mistreatment. Thus, he unknowingly indulges in Fagin's gang and learns the crime of pickpocketing, as all the members of the gang come from a poor background and are taught how to commit crimes within the gang, their intimate social group. Nancy's poverty also compels her to join the gang, which ultimately leads to her death, as criminality is not innate in her personality. Criminality in Oliver's character is not innate either, so he ends up leading a decent life in a healthier environment. Like Fagin, Compeyson in Great Expectations favors the violation of law and has others indulge in the criminal world, thereby exploiting Magwitch and Orlick who turn into criminals. By presenting criminal characters with various motives and from harsh backgrounds, Dickens' fiction suggests that crime behavior has nothing to do with heredity. Rather, criminal characters are implicated in crimes as a result of the corrupted social environment forced on them, along with gangs and corrupt people they have to encounter.

Highlights

1 The nineteenth century, the Victorian Age, was a period of prosperity and expansion in the English history
Dickens has always tried in his writings to criticize the corruption that has pervaded the Victorian period; this is very evident in his two novels Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, as both novels are full of images of various crimes
In his novels, Dickens manages to present two different classes who participate in the same crimes to shed lights on some misconceptions in the Victorian period

Summary

Introduction

1 The nineteenth century, the Victorian Age, was a period of prosperity and expansion in the English history. Dickens was a victim of such a corrupt society and felt compelled to bring awareness to the need for social change. He depicted reality in his writings and commented on the defects of society, giving readers the opportunity to explore problems and find solutions. Dickens's progression in his career from Oliver Twist (1837-39) to his last completed novel Our Mutual Friend (1865) was during the Victorian period, and he managed to expose the consequences of such a corrupt environment on people's relationships and the bad influences on society

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Conclusion