Expert Commentary on...

Oliver Twist

by Charles Dickens

Audrey Penn says: I have always believed that people, no matter how bad they are, when they see a really good kid in trouble, they’re going to help

Ann Widdecombe says: Oliver’s innocence is not being protected. It’s the exact opposite, although he is innocent – nobody who wasn’t would have said ‘Can I have some more?’ in those circumstances. I think this is a completely different angle on childhood innocence. Because Oliver knows what he’s doing.

“Oliver is a boy who has escaped the workhouse and is adopted by a family of pickpockets. He’s the exception – because he’s being manipulated by the grownups…”

Childhood Innocence

Ann Widdecombe, Novelist

“One day he had this radical idea that, if you want something, you can actually make a demand on life.”

Boyhood and Growing Up

Chigozie Obioma, Literary Scholar

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