Oliver Twist Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

Fagin goes into "a maze of the mean dirty streets which abound in that close and densely-populated quarter" (19.4), and Sikes and Nancy drag Oliver "into a maze of dark, narrow courts (15.63). Just...

Sikes’s dog (whose name is Bull’s-Eye, but we only hear the name mentioned once or twice) is like Sikes’s shadow. He has some of the same personality flaws as Sikes, including a v...

A lot of important scenes happen over or around water in Oliver Twist: the locket and ring are thrown into a river, Nancy meets Rose and Mr. Brownlow on London Bridge, and the final pursuit of Sike...

Light and dark, and white and black are important symbols in Oliver Twist. Notice how often Oliver’s trapped someplace dark? Notice how the sun always comes out? No matter how dark things get...

You just know that Agnes’s ring and locket are going to be important because so much mystery is associated with them. When Agnes first shows up at the workhouse to give birth to Oliver before...

Oliver’s resemblance to Agnes’s portrait at Mr. Brownlow’s house is what first gives Mr. Brownlow a clue that Oliver might actually be the son of Agnes and Edward Leeford. Of cour...