preview

Analysis Of Charles Dickens 's ' Dickens '

Better Essays

Does One 's Environment Have the Ability to Blacken the Soul?
"With difficulty, on her knees, drew from her bosom a white handkerchief – Rose May-lie 's own – and holding it up, in her folded hands, as high towards Heaven as her feeble strength would allow, breathed one [last] prayer for mercy towards her Maker" (Oliver Twist, Dickens 302 revised). Throughout Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens uses his characters and props to symbolize purity, even though the environment would seem to denote everything and everyone. Incontro-vertibly, some certainly conform to their environment; for example, as part of the lower class, Fagin and Sikes turn to thieving, lying, and even murder, instead of earning an honest living. Throughout the first half of the book, Dickens leads one to believe Nancy follows the same pat-tern. However, as the plot develops, the reader 's theories and opinions transform. Continuing on, the reader will find the answer to the dispute Dickens constantly toys with; does one 's environ-ment have the ability to blacken the soul and affect one 's choices?
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, on the Southern coast of England. He was brought up in a poor household so indebted that his father, John Dickens, was sent to jail. In 1827, at the age of 15, Dickens was working, attending the theater, and taking acting lessons. In 1836 (age 24), Dickens published his very first book entitled Sketches by Boz. This was the be-ginning. Dickens flourished in his new writing career

Get Access