The overall emphasis concerning the character of Oliver is
the way in which he is presented as a pure and innocent boy, who, in spite of the
efforts of evil characters such as Fagin and Bill Sykes, remains unspotted and
uncorrupted in an evil environment. In fact, some critics have argued that Oliver is
just too good to be true, as he, from the very start of the novel, remains a static
character, maintaining his characteristics of being sensitive, loyal, gentle and loving
no matter what experiences he endures or what is done to him. In particular, he has a
strong belief in the central goodness of every person, no matter their outward
appearance and acts. This is of course expressed most clearly at the end of the novel,
when Oliver goes to visit Fagin in his cell and begs him to become reconciled to his
death. Note what he says in Chapter 52 to Fagin:
Let me say a prayer. Do! Let me say one prayer.
Say only one, upon your knees, with me, and we will talk till
morning.
He is presented as
rather a naive and clueless character. He enjoys the "game" of seeing the Artful Dodger
and his cronies practising stealing handkerchiefs from Fagin but has no sense of the
more sinister meaning implicit in such activity until he faces the consequences of being
involved, at least by association, in a crime. His goodness is shown by the way in which
he is used and abused by so many characters during the course of the novel, but he never
bears them any ill feeling. The best example of this is the way in which Oliver
willingly shares his inheritance with Monks, even though Monks has spent his entire life
trying to destroy Oliver and he has no legal right to receive
anything.
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