Dickens' Oliver Twist, which ultimately celebrates a protagonist who journeys from innocence to experience without capitulating to the forces of evil that hinder his progress, addresses the problem pervasive evil in society and in human nature. Dickens presents two dimensions of evil in Oliver's world through the characters of Fagin, the old Jew, and Mr. Bumble, the parish janitor. Transferring Fagin's criminality to the selfish and hypocritical Bumble, an authority figure supposed to promote order and justice, he intensifies his satire on life and society under the Poor Laws of 1834. Bumble and Fagin cackle with glee as they exploit the others, namely the vulnerable Oliver. in search of their own selfish goals. Both characters "glide stealthily, crawling under the cover of walls and doors... seem[ing] like some loathsome reptilian[s], spawned in the slime and darkness through which [they] move." (186) The novel's satire emerges when the reader connects Fagin's criminal world with the hypocrisy and selfish applause of Bumble, both of which encompass the malaise of Victorian society exposed through Dickens' irony, sarcasm, and cutting language . Fagin and Bumble, rotting in their cages driven by evil motivations, illustrate the omnipresence of evil in the novel, especially regarding the treatment of the poor, the exploitation of the innocent, and the corruption of society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay After successfully luring Oliver into the depths of his terrible crimes, the monstrous Fagin creeps through "a labyrinth of mean and dirty streets" (186) to find Sikes, who will attempt to lead the young outcast into a life of crime . Fagin personifies the evil of humanity, the satanic side of humble compassion exhibited in the novel's most virtuous characters, namely Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies. While Brownlow represses "the noise and turbulence among which [Oliver] has always lived," (143) Fagin's bestial nature threatens the precincts of Edenic innocence found in Brownlow's country home with his evil temptations . Fagin's serpentine qualities extend to the character of Bumble, who embodies an institutional and social evil that complements Fagin's criminal plans. The evil structure erected by Bumble and Fagin constitutes the path of experience through which Oliver matures to understand his identity. The way Fagin ensnares young men like Artful Dodger, Charley Bates, and Oliver Twist for his own monetary benefits parallels the way Bumble exploits the rights of poor children living in his workhouse in an attempt to increase his power. Dickens uses images of confinement and desperation in describing the hateful evil headquarters of the Jews: It was a very dirty place. [...] In all the rooms the sagging shutters were closed: the bars that held them back were screwed firmly to the wood; the only light that entered infiltrated through round holes at the top: which made the rooms darker and filled them with strange shadows. (179) The darkness of Fagin's lair extends the image of the harsh prison of Bumble's workhouse from which Oliver escaped. Within the novel's discourse on evil is Dickens's satire on the plight of the poor caused by the Poor Laws, which Bumble rigorously supports until they finally make him a pauper in a scene of joyful irony. Dickens's language, namely words such as "dirty", "ruined", "closed", "gloomy" and "strange shadows", create a scene of unhealthy rot that transfers from the criminal world to the situation of society ingeneral. that the workhouse where Oliver and other orphans find their only refuge resembles the stark nihilism of Fagin's underworld, exposes the brutal mistreatment of society's poor at the hands of selfish men like Bumble. While Fagin rejects moral and legal laws by indoctrinating teenagers into a life of theft, Bumble violates the fundamental code of love and compassion on which, in a moral sense, human nature rests. Oliver's famous plea, "Please, sir, I want more" (56) illustrates not only his hunger resulting from the sadistic practices of Bumble, but also his desire for the love and compassion he finds only outside of society's inadequate provisions for the poor. Ironically, the deviants in Fagan's brotherhood of thieves make Oliver feel more welcome than the authority figures in his society, which satirizes society's declining ability to effectively correct, or at least acknowledge, the problem of poverty. Bumble's harsh rigidity in dealing with orphans parallels Fagin's animalistic dominance over the subordinate members of his pack. Bumble leads Oliver from the "wretched home where a kind word or look had never brightened the darkness of his childhood" (53) into a renewed agony that causes him to "explode in an agony of infantile pain." (53) Dickens captures Bumble's sadism in a pitiful summary of his "care" for Oliver: As for exercise, it was lovely cold weather, and [Oliver] was permitted to perform his ablutions, every morning under the pump, in a stone courtyard. , in the presence of Mr. Bumble, who prevented him from catching a cold and caused a tingling sensation to pervade his body, by repeated applications of the stick. As for society, he was taken every other day to the room where the boys dined, and there socially flogged as a public warning and example. (59) The janitor's determination to maintain his sense of authority at the expense of innocent orphans illustrates the superficiality of his character, which is defined solely by his ability to exert power over helpless characters such as Oliver and Mrs. Corney. Dickens's sarcasm elicits Bumble's harsh and excessive cruelty, while his realistic interpretation of these pitiful events connotes their apparent regularity within the shelter's operations. Oliver, whose physical health Bumble protects with quick "stick applications," becomes the emblem of the poor victim left helpless by society's wickedness. Dickens uses Oliver's physical torment to evoke the reader's sympathy and incite his awareness of society's corruption. Where Bumble impedes Oliver's physical and emotional growth, Fagin, at his best, has an invested interest in Oliver driven by potential monetary reward, while he is at his best. worse, it exploits Oliver and puts his life in danger. He represents the temptation of evil dangled before the growing Twist, who must learn to overcome the allure of the criminal brotherhood. Bumble, however, represents what happens when you succumb to a life of greed and exploitation; represents what Oliver will never become. Dickens describes Oliver as "a prisoner held tight in the dark and lonely room into which he had been consigned by the wisdom and mercy of counsel." (59) The dark enclosures in which Oliver has been confined, particularly the coffin in Mr. Sowerberry's house and the ditch outside his house in Chertsey, become metaphors for his vulnerability, as they "protect" him from the darkness and loneliness that surround him ." (59) Dickens also criticizes "counsel," as the phrase "wisdom and mercy" exudes verbal irony that satirizes his imprudent and selfish philosophies. Ironically,Oliver is better off remaining in the Chertsey ditch than resuming life as "the new burden imposed on the parish". (48)Bumble and Fagin revel in their operations as evil officers. Fagin's philosophy develops towards monetary incentives; Bumble's actions are aimed at personal fulfillment achieved by asserting power over the poor. After Sikes abandons Oliver in a ditch following the failed burglary in Chertsey, Fagin says: "What is it? When the boy is worth hundreds of pounds to me, I must lose that chance which put me in the way of putting myself safe?" (240) Later, when "training" his new student, Noah Claypole, Fagin exposes the utter selfishness that underlies his motivations: every man is his own friend. ... In a small community like ours, my dear, we have a general number one; that is, you cannot consider yourself number one, without considering me, and all the other young people, in the same way. ... You can't take care of yourself, number one, without taking care of me, number one. ... I have the same importance for you that you have for yourself. (387-8) Fagin and Bumble rule with an iron fist that defines "the grandeur and scope of [their] operations" and inspires "a certain degree of wholesome fear" (389) in the "pupils" under their tutelage. Bumble prides itself on possessing the authority to exercise unwarranted punishment on the poor. Dickens captures him by "braving the cold wind of the night: simply stopping, for a few minutes, in the poor men's ward, to abuse them a little, with a view to ensuring that he can fill the office of the workhouse." -master with necessary harshness." (250) This biting portrait of a character so attracted to his own power satirizes the obsessive janitor who neglects his role as caretaker for the allure of authority. The phrase "simply taking a break" connotes the pomposity that governs Bumble's character and makes him such a misguided, self-inflating ruler of his own corrupt underworld. He personifies the negative connotations of his name, namely a state of confusion or a person who literally "mumbles". Bumble lives in a state of "bumbledom", defined as "beadledom in his glory", which elevates the welfare officer at the expense of the humble poor entrusted to his care. Dickens's characterization of the bumbling janitor as one defined by "official pomposity". and "fussy stupidity" and absorbed in a world centered on Bumble paints a satirical portrait of society's "bumbles" and illuminates the need to improve the plight of the poor he married, "[his] powerful tricorn hat was replaced by a modest round hat. Mr. Bumble was no longer a messenger." (322) His three-cornered hat symbolizes the authority that defines his character. He and Mrs. Bumble "were gradually reduced to great destitution and misery, and finally became poor in that same almshouse where they had once lorded it over others." (477) Similarly, Fagin, the powerful "godfather" of Twist's underworld, falls into a state of pathetic failure, as he laments Oliver's loyalty and support in freeing him from impending death, he, like Bumble, "struggles with the power of despair" (474) and illustrates evil's inability to resist, despite its ability to temporarily hypnotize ability to intertwine the characters of Fagin and Bumble, which combines the corruption of authority figures in society with the behaviors of a notorious criminal Fagin impedes Oliver's quest to find an identity and a place within the macrocosm while Bumble exacerbates this impediment. favoring Oliver's misery rather than.