Please Sir can i have some more?

Oliver's life should have begun like any other child. However, the natural bond between mother and child was perverted by materialism. As baby Oliver was "farmed" to a woman who valued money over feeding the children under her care by reducing their food. This is again seen in the Work House where the boys are starved to cut back on costs. Food represents a metaphoric depiction of what is withheld from Oliver - physical and emotional sustenance.

Dickens often depicts malnourished children juxtaposed by fat gluttonous adults to illustrate the unjust divide between classes.  The mere image of Oliver Twist asking the cruel workhouse master described as a "fat healthy man" for more watered down gruel paints the stark picture that the suffering lower classes are sometimes those that are the most innocent. By presenting the protagonist as a starving young boy conjures the notion of innocence and vulnerability; he stands as a symbol for all workhouse boys, all children in poverty. Whereas the evil presence of the rich workhouse master who is described as fat and healthy presents a symbol for the gluttonous upper classes taking from the mouths of children like Oliver.


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