The Fate of Oliver Twist

The concept of fate is present throughout Oliver Twist, somewhat staying between the lines and requiring close inspection to notice. Fate is defined as the development of events outside of a person’s control. Although it may not be as obvious as in other stories, fate actually plays an important role and gives readers more insight into the story. Oliver Twist tells the tale of a poor boy who goes through numerous hardships that all lead to a final conclusion, that makes everything that he went through clearer and worth it. As Oliver goes through his troubles, there are many coincidences that happen to him. While many of these may seem like simple coincidences, they all have a reason, in addition to the instances of foreshadowing. However, in the end everything comes full circle and the fate of everyone is revealed, along with Oliver’s to find the truth of who he really is. Fate is omnipresent throughout Oliver Twist. It defined most of the book’s events and ultimately brought Oliver to the end. Along Oliver’s tale, there were quite a few coincidences that first worked against Oliver and later on those that worked in his favor, implying that these coincidences had more to them. From the beginning, coincidences set in motion the events of the story. Although it may seem trivial, it was actually a coincidence that the Artful Dodger found Oliver in the streets of London. This influential moment introduced him to Fagin, setting the rest of the book in motion. Although these “coincidences” seemed to make Oliver’s life more miserable, they actually happened to bring Oliver closer to his fate. One major example of this is when Oliver is kidnapped in chapter 15 while running an errand for Mr. Brownlow. While it may seem like something that just ruins Oliver’s life, it actually allowed him to eventually meet Rose. The final, big revelation was also another coincidence. This cemented the idea of fate in Oliver Twist, as Oliver was destined to find the truth about his family and who he really was. What may have seemed like simple coincidences at first in fact added to the fact that what happened to Oliver was because of fate. Coinciding with the previous point, almost everything that happened to Oliver had a significant impact on him. When the Artful Dodger decided to steal from Mr. Brownlow, this was another defining moment in Oliver’s life. This moment permanently brought Mr. Brownlow into Oliver’s life. Before they rob him, Charley Bates says, “A prime plant,” Although this may seem unimportant, a plant is actually sometimes used to describe a person who has been placed in a particular place for a specific reason. This reveals that fate brought Mr. Brownlow to that specific place, so he could play a part in Oliver’s fate. At other times, something quite significant would occur and if anything else happened differently, the rest of Oliver’s story would have differed greatly. One example is the botched robbery that Oliver was forced to go on in chapter 22. When he was brought inside the house, Oliver decided that he would tell the house owners. Instead of actually doing it, he dropped the lantern, alerting the residents and getting himself shot. Since he was shot, Sikes left him and Oliver ended up in the care of Rose and the residents of that house. If Oliver had actually gone with the plan, he probably would not have been shot and would have remained in Fagin’s gang. Once again, it was fate that made Oliver get shot and brought him to Rose. Likewise, seemingly insignificant events actually paved the way for more important things to happen. When Oliver passes by Sikes’ home, the doctor accompanying him looks for the murderer. Instead, the man at the door recognizes Oliver and gave him a stare “so furious and vindictive that, waking or sleeping, he could not forget it for months afterward.” This stare did in fact come to haunt him again, as him and Fagin went to