Although
Fingersmith does not have one character that can be recognized distinctly as
an adaptation of Fagin from Oliver Twist,
there are several characters that borrow his traits and make them appealing to a
modern audience. Sarah Waters uses several characters to emphasis and show more
depth to Fagin’s characteristics; she uses Gentleman to exaggerate Fagin’s
deviousness and cruelty, Mrs. Sucksby to show his role as a guiding, even
caring, parent figure, and Mr. Ibbs to explore the criminal life in more detail.
Dickens portrays Fagin as an old, hideous miser,
a mostly humorous one, of course, until we see some of his darker qualities.
As you read Oliver Twist you begin to see the many different sides of Fagin,
from his almost genteel manners as he plays the pickpocket game to his wicked
and devious nature as he manipulates Bill Sikes into killing Nancy.
When you begin to see the complexities of Fagin and how deep his
character can run, it is no surprise that Waters used three characters to
portray Fagin’s many different characteristics.
To only reinterpret Fagin may not be doing his character justice since
the novel is not focusing on his adaptations.
Rather, through the use of several characters, Waters can keep many of
Fagin’s characteristics intact while still keeping the main focus on two
characters that are not adaptations of him, Sue and Maud.
One of the more blatant adaptations of Fagin is
Gentleman. Fagin is first described
as “villainous-looking and repulsive” as he stands with a toasting fork in hand
and before a fire, bringing up a vague imagine of a devil with a pitchfork
(Dickens 64). Gentleman is also
compared to a devil over half a dozen times, cementing the image even further
than the original has. This makes
sense, since, the more you learn about Gentleman, the more he seems like a
villain and a devil. Gentleman
entered into a plot to destroy at least one girl who he has known since she was
young and actually seems to enjoy himself on the way.
He becomes more dastardly as Fingersmith unfolds, devolving into a
rowdy drunkard before his death.
Fagin, however, appears to have one level of villainy throughout Oliver Twist,
but also shares in the process of devolution when he begs Oliver to save him
from death. Before this, he was a
stronger character who looked out for himself and managed to survive being a
fence for many years, but has to beg a young boy for his life after he is
captured.
Gentleman and Fagin both share a reason for
their villainy: the love of money.
Gentleman outlines this neatly when he discusses it with Maud:
“I was not aware that gentlemen had any other wants,
than that one.”
“Perhaps not in the books that you are used to.
But in life—a great many; and that one is chief.”
“I supposed,” I say, “that that was the one the books
were written for.”
“Oh no.” He
smiles. His voice dips even lower.
“They are read for that, but written for something keener.
I mean, of course, the want of—money.
Every gentleman minds that.
And those of us who are not quite so gentlemanly as we would like, mind it most
of all.” (Dickens 225)
Gentleman's sole purpose for all his schemes of marrying rich young heiresses
boils down to the desire he told Maud of in the above quotation.
It even rules his life so completely that he lies about his background as
a draper's son and instead says he's the estranged son of a gentleman.
Fagin shares this absolute desire of money, shown as he almost kills
Oliver when the boy accidentally sees his secret treasure hoard.
His entire criminal gang revolves around the getting of money, whether it
is directly stealing it from purses or taking handkerchiefs to sell for money.
This love of money could even arguably be the reason he even has all
these boys under his wing, and, therefore, be his downfall.
If he had not taken Oliver in to, at first, become one of his boys, then
he would never have got mixed up in Monks' plan, which led to his eventual
death. This is also reflected in
Gentleman's demise, since, if he hadn't joined in with Mrs. Sucksby's plan to
get Sue's inheritance, he would never had been stabbed by Maud.
This want and idea of money is linked to the perception of a gentleman in
both novels. The acquiring of money
almost immediately makes you a gentleman and does not necessarily require any
moral fiber. Both Fagin and
Gentleman parody this idea of what makes a gentleman, coming closer to Mr. Lilly
and Monks' definition, rather than Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies'.
Fagin may have no conscious desire to become a gentleman (other than for
the money), but his portrayal of one during the pickpocket game may reveal a
subconscious desire to be one.
Oliver even thinks of him as a 'merry old gentleman' because of the facade he
puts on during the game, which shows how completely he has deceived both Oliver
and himself. Gentleman's desire is
no hidden matter, as is shown in his title.
However, even this simple item is corrupted with him since
Fingersmith's criminal gang pronounces it as “Ge'mun” (Waters 20).
He is able to play a gentleman easily at Briar, but the pretense soon
begins to fall apart as the plot begins to unfold.
He is so completely changed at the end of the novel that he can be seen
mainly as a belligerent drunk, much like Fagin's demise when he can be seen as a
coward.
These examples of Gentleman as an adaptation of Fagin show how Waters
used him to bring out Fagin's more cruel and devious sides.
Dickens may not have been able to show the depth of cruelty in Fagin as
he wanted and instead focused this trait on Sikes.
However, traces of Fagin's cruelty can be seen, especially with Nancy's
demise. Waters had no qualm about
showing how cruel a human can be, as Gentleman taunts both Susan and Maud,
making their lives even more miserable.