Montreal Dickens Fellowship Study Questions: “Oliver Twist”
Westmount Public Library
May 6, 2014 2:30-4:30
Chapters 49-51 (Penguin Edition)
- Why did Monks pursue Oliver? The will had been burned. Monks had gotten all the money. Was he afraid Oliver’s birth would come to light? Was he worried there was some proof of the will somewhere? Is this why he wanted to destroy the locket and ring? Why did he want Oliver to descend to a life of crime, if the will was destroyed? Do these unresolved issues frustrate you?
- Why did Monk’s mother leave money for Agnes’s sister? Was it a guilty conscious?
- Do you think Rose being Agnes’s little sister too much of a coincidence? Is Dickens bringing things to a full circle satisfying or annoying?
- Do you agree with Mr. Brownlow taking the law into his own hands? Why do you think Dickens did not choose to have Monks prosecuted by the law ?
- Comment on the emotional roller coaster that Dickens has us on. Our spirits are raised by the resolution of the plot mysteries, but dashed by the announcement that “Dick is dead!"
- Why did Mr. Brownlow bring Oliver into the prison to see Fagin? Do you think he was right in doing so? Comment on Oliver’s reaction.
- Do you have any sympathy for Fagin? Was it a realistic depiction of the condemned criminal?
- Do you think Dickens believed in capital punishment?
- Did you enjoy the way Dickens tied together all the loose threads? Was it a truly happy ending?
- Did you enjoy “Oliver Twist”? Compare and contrast it to “Pickwick Papers”