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The Wonderous Words of Charles Dickens Come to Life in the Novel, Oliver Twist

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Charles Dickens is an infamous writer of wondrously worded and descriptive British Victorian novels. Not only does he go above and beyond the call of a writer to descriptively transform worlds around him into literary works of art, but he also has a way in which he is able to hide different symbolic sentiments and objects that seem to pop up around each and every twist and turn he gives us. Oliver Twist is no different. Charles Dickens cleverly centered the entire novel on “twists” and objects that do just that; such as handkerchiefs, neckties and ropes. The handkerchief is an ongoing symbol that has different significances that really pull the entire novel together. In Oliver Twist, the handkerchief takes on its own meaning and symbol of brilliantly tying Oliver’s world that is full of twists and turns itself, all together. We are first introduced to the image or symbol of the handkerchief when Oliver encounters Fagin and his mischievous group of young thieves. After running away from his apprenticeship that he was treated poorly at, Oliver goes to the city of London. There, Jack Dawkins – also known as the Artful Dodger – took pity on him and gave him not only food and shelter, but a deal with the devil as well. Dawkins takes Oliver to Fagin (also known as “the Jew”); the leader of a group of thieves, and this is where the handkerchief makes a first and lasting impression. Dickens writes Oliver to be very observant and he notices the handkerchiefs while he is taking in

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