Desperation and suffering are everywhere in Oliver Twist and are portrayed in minute detail. Oliver grows up in a workhouse, a place where poor people are housed to stop them from begging in the streets. These were places of hopelessness and squalor, and conditions are incredibly harsh for Oliver as they were for many workhouse inmates in real life. Everyone is expected to work hard, children included. What makes life even harder is that there's not enough food to eat; and the little that's available is absolutely disgusting. It tells you how hungry Oliver is that he asks for more of the revolting slop.
Even after Oliver leaves the workhouse, he constantly finds himself exploited by adults. Noah Claypole, the undertaker's apprentice, treats him like dirt because of his workhouse background. The detestable Monks—Oliver's half-brother—tries to cheat him out of his inheritance. And when Oliver rocks up in London, he becomes part of a gang of young thieves, used by Fagin and Bill Sikes to steal for their own selfish gain. Deprivation and suffering go hand in hand in Oliver Twist. The more deprived you are—whether it's of love, money, food, or a place to live—the more likely you are to suffer.
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