The Dark Side of Oliver Twist

“There is just enough light, enough grace, enough beauty, to penetrate the gloom and suggest the possibility of redemption” (A. O. Scott 1-2). This is the intention that Roman Polanski had when he crafted his 2005 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. But for there to be only a glimpse of light, it has to be surrounded by darkness, which is exactly what Polanski has done. In his essay, “Oliver Twist,” George Gissing stated that “the novelist’s first duty is to make us see what he has seen himself, whether with the actual eye or with that of imagination” (Gissing 18). This was originally written about Dickens, however, it is very much applicable to Polanski’s film. Roman Polanski was a Polish child during the height of the Nazi regime and World War II who was orphaned when his parents were transported to a concentration camp (Benjamin 1). Polanski lived a life similar to Oliver’s and thus can understandably sympathize with Oliver Twist. Polanski’s film goes inside his youth’s imagination to convey a much darker adaptation because it comes from a place of emotional honesty. Roman Polanski was able to forge this darkened adaptation through his omission of characters and change of plot, cinematic effects, and the portrayal of characters in the film.

The difference between the Dickens’ plot and Polanski’s plot is easily the most evident changes in this adaptation. In the film, Polanski decided to omit several characters. These characters included the Maylie’s, Oliver’s mother, Agnes Fleming, and Oliver’s half-brother, Monks. With these omissions, several scenes and events in Oliver’s life were also discarded. For example, the mystery of Oliver’s birth, including Agnes Fleming and Oliver’s unknown wealth and Monk’s plan to acqui...

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...ntly conveyed by Oliver’s childish” (Maria 314). In the film, Fagin’s supposed vile features are covered up with accents of vulnerability and subtle propriety. Polanski also utilized Dickens’ indirect speech in the novel to expand and created dialogue in several scenes, which allowed for Fagin to be characterized even further. Throughout the film, Fagin provides Oliver with a deceitful kindness followed by guilt and accusations of ingratitude, which parallels that of the psychological violence of child abuse. In the end of the film, Fagin’s humanity bursts through which, as Paganoni states, “conveys a less judgmental but more disturbing sense of Fagin’s corruption and moral debauchery, represented as if they were now so deeply ingrained in his personality as to be almost involuntary and out of his control,” thus making Fagin both villain and victim (Maria 317-318).