Charles Dicken’s on Death

Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist is described by the narrator as a melodrama of the tale of an orphan boy named Oliver Twist. His tale is one big series of unfortunate and fortunate events. The theme of death runs throughout the entire book. For Oliver, even when the chapter entails fortunate events for him, he still has death or deathly omens around him that foreshadow his future.

A less fortunate time for Oliver was in the fifth chapter of the book. Oliver is taken to the Sowerberry’s where he is to be an apprentice for an undertaker:

“But his heart was heavy, notwithstanding: and he wished, as he crept into his narrow bed, that there his coffin, and that he could be laid in a calm lasting sleep in the churchyard ground, with the tall grass waving gently above his head, and the sound of the old deep bell to soothe him in his sleep” (Dickens, 34-35)

At this moment in the book, Oliver had to leave all of his friends and people he knew at the workhouse. Oliver being taken by the undertaker is interesting not just for the storyline, but for Dickens. First, Oliver being the Undertaker’s apprentice got him closer to death than he had ever been before. As an apprentice, Oliver views funerals with Sowerberry. Oliver at this point in the story is working with death and since he sleeps under the counter with the coffins, he is seeping among death as well. This is one of the times in Oliver’s life where he is trapped by death. As for Dickens, it is interesting that he decided to have the undertaker buy Oliver from the workhouse. This mirrors the undertaker at the beginning of “A Christmas Carol”, the Undertaker is at Marley’s funeral. Another similarity between Oliver Twist and “A Christmas Carol” pertaining to death is how both of the stories begin. In “A Christmas Carol”, the first line in the short story is: “Marley was dead”. Dickens opens with what some authors have as the rising action or climax to other stories. However, this isn’t Marley’s story. In Oliver Twist, Dickens begins with the death of Oliver’s mother. This adds another layer to Oliver’s character throughout the book: the death of Oliver’s mother after birth lurks in his brain. This is a metaphorical shadow that follows Oliver in his tale.