Monks & Oliver: Two Sides of the Same Coin in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist

Abstract: Oliver Twist is a novel loved by many, read by more. It is a classic novel by Charles Dickens, portraying the life and hardships of a young boy named Oliver Twist, who was born in a work house. Oliver is bright and righteous, the exact opposite of his brother Edward “Monks” Leeford. This essay will follow Oliver and Monks and analyse their characters in the light of the literary hero and the literary villain and in doing so see how Dickens use the characters as literary tools to convey his view of a dark, uncaring Victorian society as well as his hopes for a brighter future. Their strong characteristics make way for a fascinating story, a story that do not only tell us about Oliver’s bravery and Monks’ egoism, but one that do also prove that they are characters created by Dickens to show both the Victorian society that he lived in as well as the society that it could become.