'Analysis of Dickens’ use of irony, satire and humour in Oliver Twist Essay\r'

'Thither be multiplex examples end-to-end Oliver deprave of badinage, jeering and sense of humor. Although a tenebrous novel, on that point ar many moments of humour and an terrific amount of chuckling, giggling and knee-slapping by divisions. Each of the literary techniques of humour, irony and satire, employed by daemon help sum focus and depth on the unhomogeneous conflicts in the midst of the novels outcasts and its established partnership. It is impossible to cover all avenues within Oliver Twist that might be considered as humorous, satirical or humourous but some of the much than(prenominal) obvious and important examples of each will at picture be discussed.\r\nThere is ambiguous humour in conflicts between the institution and the individual found passim demon’ Oliver Twist. An example of this coming early in the second chapter when Oliver is told that â€Å"the board has said he has to see before it forthwith1”, the humour here comes in Oliver’s ignorance of â€Å"not having a real clearly be notion of what a live board was” and on entering the elbow room of â€Å"eight to ten dilate gentlemen” he is told to â€Å"bow to the board”, â€Å"seeing no board but the table, he fortunately bowing to that”. Oliver’s ignorance here is both humorous and sad, as it underpins his youthful ignorance and helplessness in the face of his side which is very often out of his control.\r\nThere atomic number 18 many examples where monster juxtaposes humour and ridicule with intrusion and cruelty; one example be the insane asylum of Mr. Gamfield in chapter three, who was â€Å"alternately cudgelling his brains and his donkey2”, this gives rise to jest on the part of the earshot and also gives, in my reliance, an printing of Gamfield as ridiculous or as a fool. Soon after we atomic number 18 told that he gave the donkeys lambaste â€Å"a sharp wrench”, and â⠂¬Å"another thump on the head, just to stun him till he came back again”, this portrayal of him as fast-growing(a) and violent is juxtaposed with the fool implied earlier. The â€Å"cudgelling” that was once mathematical function humorously is now re bulged by its more hard-hitting definition, â€Å"short, thick stick utilise as a weapon3” This dichotomy between humour and aggression is used repeatedly by Dickens and in my opinion forces the audience to never fully feel satisf travelory in laughing at situations as we are never truly sure if this situation or character will soon show a darker side.\r\nLater in the purview between Gamfield and the board, the use of laughter as a weapon and inextricably linked to aggression and violence is again shown when he tells the board:\r\nâ€Å"Boys is wery obstinit, and wery lazy gen’lmen, and there’s nothink like a good hot blaze to bring forth ’em come down with a run. It’s humane too, gen’lmen, acause, even if they’re stuck in the chimbley, cook their feet makes ’em struggle to hextricate theirselves”2\r\nOur laughter here is one of incredulousness and some revolt at Gamfields cruel account of his discourse of boys. This puts the audience in the uncomfortable position of the board because we are like the â€Å" human race in the white waistcoat” who â€Å"appeared very much amused by his explanation.” This juxtaposition of humour and barbarousness puts the audience in the uncomfortable position of cosmos able to put itself in the position of the more brutal and vicious characters in Oliver Twist magic spell also allowing us to sympathise and empathise with Oliver and abhor those responsible for their maltreatment.\r\nThe humour in the famous scene where Oliver asks for more can be seen in the crap somewhat extreme to a trivial event. We are told he â€Å"gazed in stupefied astonishment” and â€Å"clung for aver to the copper”. This extreme reception to such a small request while humorous in and of itself serves a greater purpose in break the appalling situation and impoverished position this divest boy, Oliver Twist found himself in. The fact that to ask for â€Å"more” then the meagre â€Å"supper allotted by the dietetic” could cause such a reaction from the overshadow and cause the gentleman in the white waistcoat to say, â€Å"that boy will be hung…I know that boy will be hung”, although amusing in its extreme reaction, this also serves to pointedly shed climb down on the dire situation for those orphaned and in state ‘care’ at the time, who encountered brutality and insensibility at every acidify.\r\nAnother example of laughter in Oliver Twist is in the naming of the characters; ‘ superordinate Charles Bates’, often referred to as ‘Master Bates’ is a very clear pun that is most definitely not lo st on the audience. The mere mention of his severalize evokes a smirk and laughter from the audience. The naming of the character of the Beadle as ‘Mr. suck’ is also for comic effect in my opinion. The Oxford English Dictionary defines bumble as to ‘move or act in an inept or confused manner; speak in a confused or indistinct way.’ homogeneous that of Master. Bates, the image evoked by the name â€Å"Bumble” is one of ridicule, a fool or moron but Mr. Bumbles behaviour doneout the book does not make him a sympathetic foolish character, kind of his consistent brutality, viciousness and violent nature lends him to operate one of the villains of the story. However his naming by Dickens is not only a source of humour but also of irony. It is ironic that Mr. Bumble is incompetent of seeing Oliver’s situation correctly and is slowly fooled by those he believes are inferior.\r\nDickens’ Oliver Twist is laden with irony. The opening ch apters exemplify this when Oliver cries himself to sleep and Dickens sarcastically exclaims, â€Å"What a novel illustration of the supply ship laws of England! They let the paupers go to sleep!1” This irony is effective in showing the discontinuity between the respective(a) human bodyes in Victorian London, better than simply stating the conditions present at the time.\r\nThe scene where Oliver asks for more gruel is also ironic in that the helpless starving orphan, only onerous to improve his situation in life, is treated dis acceptly and punished by the healthy and well-feed board members who in reality should be the ones who are punished for their treatment of the pathetic.\r\nAnother form of irony Dickens uses is in showing the duplicitous nature of the society in Victorian London at the time. The upper house found on the board, believe Mrs. Mann to be a great caretaker of the orphans, til now when viewed from the position of the lower class perspective of the orp hans themselves, she is greedy and abusive.\r\nAgain this duplicity and irony can be seen when Oliver is presented to the Board and begins to cry, a reaction that should be understandable to anyone, because he is a scared, lodge year old boy, alone, in a room full of daunting adults, not knowing what to expect, however the board cannot understand this and one questions, â€Å"What are you cry for?…And to be sure it was very extra run-of-the-mine. What could the boy be crying for?”1 The members of the board really have no sense of why Oliver could be crying, believing they have provided him with everything he could need and a bosomy home in the workhouse. They have no understanding or sympathy for the situation of the poor the great unwashed of London as shown when Dickens states that:\r\nâ€Å"When they [the board members] turn their attention to the workhouse, they found out at once, what ordinary folks would never have discovered †the poor people liked it! I t was a regular place of public entertainment for the poorer classes; a tavern where there was nothing to pay”1\r\nThere are multiple examples of social and political satire throughout Oliver Twist. It is a satirical attack of the way in which predestined social class and poverty affects the outcomes of a person’s life and a differ by Dickens against the Poor Law and the Workhouse system of the time. The overlooked manner in which Oliver’s ancestry is described provokes compassion in the audience. He â€Å"breathed, sneezed, and proceeded to spread abroad to the inmates of the workhouse the fact of a new burden having being imposed upon the parish”. It is dark and ironic; Oliver is depicted as a troublesome burden upon the parish and society. From the outset his enamour into the creative activity is despised, the antithesis of what a child’s comport should elicit. His life is condemned from the beginning by the ugliness of the world he has be en born into and his social standing is imprinted upon him, he is a â€Å"humble, half-starved drudge †to be cuffed and buffeted through the world †despised by all, and pitied by no(prenominal)”3 and reaffirmed in the second chapter when the gentleman in the white waistcoat exclaims â€Å"that boy will be hung”\r\nOliver is the vehicle employed by Dickens to display the inadequacies within society. He highlights society’s various injustices. Through the use of Oliver, the vulnerable of society are given a voice. The characters that Oliver encounters each represent a different corrupted socio-political aspect prevalent in the society of the time. Mrs Mann and Mr Bumble both highlight the deceit and perversion of the Poor Law and the Workhouse system, while Fagin is created as a representation of greed and materialism.\r\nIt is clear that Dickens employs irony, satire and humour to great effect in Oliver Twist, and does so in a manner that is not as st raightforward as might in the beginning seem. His use of irony and humour as a weapon shows clearly the maltreatment of the poor at the hands of the upper classes and serves to both amuse the audience and make it uncomfortable in laughing along with the unfair and improper situations that are being portrayed. The satire used by Dickens, although an exaggeration, exposes the ridiculousness and impropriety of the society being described and may also act as a true representation of the personal effects of the Poor Law and the workhouse system of the time.\r\n'