CRITICISM TOWARD CAPITALISM AS REFLECTED IN CHARLES DICKENS ‘OLIVER TWIST

by
Rudy Rakhman Hakim
NIM. 02026126

ABSTRACT

Charles Dickens with his famous works Oliver Twist tells about little child whose his life is always in sorrow. But the boy never loose his virtue attitude. It gives a precious lesson about life. Like most of Dickens’ works that always points about social life, especially poor society. The style of telling the story without any means to teach, but tend to show the reality that makes the reader feels the condition in that novel. He tries to explore condition of poor society in detail. So it seems like England history fact in Victorian era. Dickens intelligent reveals clearly in this novel. Because he can criticizes the capitalism system without making conflict with the capitalist. Even Oliver Twist becomes one of the biggest novels ever created. So criticism toward capitalism is the way to find the answer.

In conducting the research, the writer of this graduating paper applies qualitative descriptive method. Content analysis is employed to find the data inside the novel. These are done with the aim to see the deep misery and contents of the text through words, conversations, sentences, paragraphs, and also some quotations related. Thus the writer employs criticism toward capitalism that stated by Karl Marx with his concept about socialism.

Based on the research, the writer obtains some significant findings to be understood. Oliver Twist contains a lot of message of moral value and criticism toward capitalism in Victorian era. Social gaps between rich people and poor people are wide created. Application of capitalism that is out of control caused children becomes victim too. Not just violent victim children also enslaved as labor and treated improper. The existence of a workhouse that actually is pictorial from means of production, factory. Because in the workhouse children are not protected, but they must work as labor and the officer of a workhouse is a bourgeoisie .