Misrepresentation of Jews in “Oliver Twist”

Name: Riddhi JaniRoll No: 25

Paper: 6, The Victorian LiteratureSemester: 2nd

Submitted to: English Department,

M.K.Bhavnagar University

About “Oliver Twist- The Parish Boy’s Progress”

• The second novel of Charles Dickens.• Subtitle “The Parish Boy’s Progress”- “The

Pilgrim’s Progress”• Evils of contemporary English society.• The reality of work houses.• Major themes: Poverty

Purity in corrupt city,

Praise of countryside

Christians v/s Jews

• Religion played main role.• Struggle for different

beliefs.• Numerous English works

with misrepresentation of Jews.

• Dickens was Christian.• The hidden issue in this

novel.• Not directly dealt with.

Misrepresentation of Jew Character

• Character of Fagin is Jew.

• Negative portrayal.

• Full of evility.

• Outer look is also ugly.

• In his work “The Old Clothes” also Dickens describes all Jews as "old-clothesmen in disguise“, and as lower class hawkers.

• …with a toasting-fork in his hand, was a very old shrivelled Jew, whose villainous-looking and repulsive face was obscured by a quantity of matted red hair. He was dressed in a greasy flannel gown, with his throat bare….

• Very much discussed issue.

• Addressed as “The Jew”.

• Racial stereotype is seen in his description.

• Deep hatred of Dickens.

• Fagin many times is not described even as a human.

• He "looked less like a man than some hideous phantom" .

• "hideous old man [who] seemed like some loathsome reptile".

• "more like that of a snared beast than the face of a man”.

Portrayed as a demon like.

• he’s miserly, has red hair, and is a corrupter of children.

Dickens’ Amendment

• Later on Dickens amended his mistakes.• In 1867th addition of “Oliver Twist” there are a lot

of changes.• To cover up his grudges, In 1865, he wrote his last

novel “Our Mutual Friend” with noble Jewish character.

• His justification about negative portrayal of Jews:• "It unfortunately was true of the time to which the

story refers that class of criminal, almost invariably, was a Jew."