Illustration in Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist

The illustration by George Cruikshank on page 115, in my view accurately picks up on an important part of the novel. I feel this scene captures an important part of the novel by showing how much Oliver in not interested in being immoral. In this Illustration we see Charley Bates and the Dodger at work. In previous pages we read about how every morning the Jew and the boys would play a game. The game entailed the boys trying to take items out of Fagin’s pocket when he would walk around the house and stop at certain points, imitating the manner in which old gentlemen walk about the streets: “At such times he would look constantly around him, for fear of thieves, and would keep slapping all his pockets in turn, to see that he hadn’t lost anything, in such a very funny and natural manner, that Oliver laughed till the tears ran down his face.” (110) At this point Oliver didn’t realize the intent behind the game. However, Oliver noticed that whenever the Dodger...