Homelessness and Poverty in England

Dickens in both Oliver Twist and in Night Walks discusses this theme of being born into poverty and the concept of homelessness. In his novel Oliver Twist, Dickens portrays these themes through the main protagonist, Oliver himself, where Oliver is born into poverty and homelessness after his mother died shortly after giving birth. For nine years, Oliver lived in an orphanage until he was old enough to be moved to a workhouse where he worked alongside other boys his age. Afterwards, we see Oliver find a place with an undertaker, then he flees to London where he encounters Fagin and the rest of his gang, who happens to be pickpockets and thieves. After being wrongfully accused of a theft, Oliver lives with his accuser, Mr. Brownlow. He then is kidnapped by Fagin and his crew, is forced to participate in a home invasion where he is shot and then taken care of by Mrs. Maylie, who returns Oliver back to Mr. Brownlow and is eventually adopted by him at the end of the novel. Throughout this roller coaster of events, Oliver is without a home for the majority of the novel and is in a constant search and yearn for shelter and comfort. One can definitely consider Oliver to be homeless at many times in the novel. The same themes are discussed in Dickens’ Night Walks, where he is walking the streets of London on a cold, damp night in March. He observed masses of homeless people whom he refers to as Houselessness. Dickens is having a restless night so he decides to take a walk outside and roam the streets. Here he sees homeless people and describes them as constantly walking in the rain and other elements following the drunks who stumble out onto the streets. The other people he encounters are the cops who happen to be carrying on a conversation amidst the tangling streets. Dickens in his essays discusses themes of homelessness and poverty but different from Oliver, there are groups of people who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. Perhaps Dickens is suggesting that there were a large number of people who were considered homeless during his time and that London, while it may be one of the wealthiest cities, does have some poor people who call it home.