The Laws of Human Nature in ‘Oliver Twist’

There are many references to the laws of human nature that Dickens presents in Oliver Twist. Whether they are explicitly stated or implicated, there is a high regard in craft in which Dickens considered the inclusion of these characteristics of human nature that are not prejudice against financial status or class. They are present in every type of being from those who live in poverty to those who are of a higher class in society. There are three that I wanted to bring to light for further discussion.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Contrary to the innocent-until-proven-guilty principal of human rights of today, there are many references to an opposing belief brought forth by Dickens in Oliver Twist. It is highlighted several times in Oliver’s story alone, however there is a heavy portrayal of this human nature that presents itself quite frequently throughout the story, be it in the criminal justice system of the time or as a standard valued principle in the people, whether self-inflicted or imposed upon one by others. Looking at Oliver’s adventure, it presents itself immediately upon his inquiry for more food from the master after suffering the tortures of slow starvation. The manner, being as innocent as it was, was deemed as disobedient and led to his confinement and reward offered to anybody who would take him. Another example of this is seen in the scuffle between Noah and Oliver, in which Oliver was immediately viewed as the instigator and was locked up again. The main instance that presents itself can be seen during Oliver’s arrest for the implication of guilt of pick-pocketing Mr. Brownlow, in which the story indicates that his cell at the station was utilized to house men and women, with no regards to status or class, for trivial charges and they too were guilty until proven innocent. Oliver’s faced a constant struggle of living a life in poverty that continually led him to be perpetrated in crime in which he attempts to be exonerated from. However looking deeper into his story, from being born an orphan and throughout his childhood, he is guilty until proven innocent.

Self-Preservation

Dickens describes the axiom of self-preservation being the first law of nature. This is presented when Oliver is running away from the horde of people chasing him down as the believed thief that robbed Mr. Brownlow of his handkerchief. Dickens introduces the irony of Oliver’s lack of understanding this axiom, being brought up by philosophers. This irony is what lead to, what could be seen as, his demise from lack of better judgement or, as irony tends to reproduce itself in bountiful occasions, what brought him into the very hands of those who later free him.

Compassion

All in all, the story encompasses one of the most valuable traits in human nature that anyone can possess and that is compassion. While it is eluded to in several instances throughout the story of Oliver Twist, as an author, Dickens invites the reader to engage in compassion for Oliver. In doing so, he has cunningly and rhetorically portrayed this compassion for those who are in similar hardships who willingly and knowingly commit to a life consumed in criminality and those who are thrust into it unknowingly, and attempts to evoke the very feeling from he whose “hand that trace” the words in Oliver Twist.

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