Part 1

Identity and Secrecy

One method in which Oliver Twist brings light to the issue of what constitutes identity is through the theme of secrecy. If, according to the definition given above, identity is static regardless of surroundings, it is of value to note that most of the key points of the plot of Oliver Twist are set in London. It is in London where the reader finds a variety of characters struggling for Oliver’s fate through the use of secrets. When the novel first, explicitly, introduces the character of Monks, the narrator notes of Monks and Fagin’s conversation that “[t]hey conversed for some time in whispers; and, [although] nothing of the conversation was distinguishable beyond a few disjointed words here and there” (213). This dialogue between Fagin and Monks is important, not merely in that they are providing the reader with information on the history of Oliver, but also in that their dialogue is linked to commerce. As the conversation continues, Fagin says, “’[w]hen there are two parties to a bargain, it is only reasonable that the interest of both should be consulted’” (213). The key words to recognize here are “bargain” and “interest.” The word “bargain” has a specific economic denotation, and “interest” has an economic connotation that, while it is not being used in this context, is invoked due to its placement in Fagin’s speech. While the narrator, at this point, is still keeping part of Oliver’s history secret, this secret shared by Monks and Fagin acts as a commodity to be traded.

This notion of an economic trading of secrets is, further, reinforced when Monks meets with the Bumbles in the city of Oliver’s birth. As Mrs. Bumble bargains with Monks over telling him what she knows, she asks “’[w]hat’s it worth to you?’” (310). With this, the reader comes to the realization that the narrator only progressively reveals secrets about Oliver in the urban environment. Furthermore, the narrator does so by focusing the spotlight on characters that are using the secrets about Oliver as a tool to trade. As the secrets they are buying and selling deal with Oliver’s identity, this implies that, according to Oliver Twist, identity is not “[t]he sameness of a person or thing at all times or in all circumstances,” but something that can be altered in the city. As Jim Barloon puts it in “The Black Hole of London: Rescuing Oliver Twist,” “the city can either reconstitute or annihilate identity” (3). This is a result of the fact that Oliver is a marketable object. As Oliver is a good, in a manner of speaking, there is nothing of inherent value in his nature in the city of London. His value is externally imposed upon him by others.

Oliver Twist, further, explicates upon this idea through the use of the character of Noah Claypole. Noah at the beginning of the narrative resides in the town of Mudfog. While always a bully, the reader begins to see a marked change in his character after he moves to London. When Noah first meets Fagin at the Three Cripples he comes to assume a new identity. When Fagin asks, “’[w]hat name shall I tell my good friend?’” Noah responds with “’Mr. Morris Bolter. This is Mrs. Bolter’” (359). This appropriation of a new identity is, then, immediately placed within the confines of the trading of secrets. After Charlotte mistakenly refers to Noah by his proper name in front of Fagin, Noah replies with, “’[s]he calls me Noah, as a sort of fond way of talking, … You understand?’” To this Fagin responds with “’[o]h yes, I understand, - perfectly,’” (359). This new persona of Noah’s becomes so permanent that by the end of the novel it is revealed that he has made a career of being a public informer for the state.

If, in Oliver Twist, it is the market that can alter identity, which is an integral part of the city, it is of importance to note that he is removed from that region. He is taken into the country by Mr. Brownlow which suggests on a surface level that the narrative is arguing that Oliver’s true identity/”nature” can now be “developed” as he is beyond the reach of the city. The problem that the reader finds with this, though, is that the text subtly undercuts this point. For example, when Oliver is first rescued by Mr. Brownlow and taken into the world of the middle-class, Oliver notices the vast amount of books Brownlow possesses, Brownlow asks him if he would like to write books, then the narrator states that “Oliver considered a little while, and at last said he should think it would be a much better thing to be a bookseller; upon which the old gentleman laughed heartily, and declared he had said a very good thing” (107-8). The effect of this passage stems from the linking of the middle-class to the value of literacy. Further, it reveals that the middle-class still operates in the world of the market as Brownlow congratulates Oliver on saying “a very good thing.” Therefore, when Oliver is taken by Brownlow into the country at the end of the novel, the reader finds that, as the narrator says, Brownlow “went on day to day, filling the mind of his adopted child with stores of knowledge, and becoming attached to him more and more as his nature developed itself, and showed the thriving seeds of all he could wish him to become” (453). This entails an understanding upon the part of the reader that for all of the optimism of Oliver Twist that there is something innate and essential about identity; identity is actually a malleable property that is not geographically rooted, since Oliver is now safely ensconced in the middle-class.