Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, narrates the story of a young boy, Oliver, who gets sent to a workhouse after his mother's death. In the workhouse, Oliver and the other orphans are treated cruelly with insufficient food and severe punishments. Even after being sold to the Sowerberrys, Oliver lives unhappily and with little food and care. After being insulted by another Sowerberry co-apprentice, Oliver fights with him and is later punished by Mr. Sowerberry. After running away from his cruel owner, Oliver is hooked into a gang of thieves, with the leader as Fagin, who tries to teach him to steal numerous items for money. When Oliver is accused wrongly of stealing a handkerchief, Mr. Brownlow takes pity on him and adopts him. Under Mr. Bronlow’s care, Oliver is treated well and heals from his many past wounds from both the workhouse and the punishment of the officers. Worried about being incriminated by him, Fagin attempts to bring Oliver back, but he runs away and is kindly cared for by the Maylies. Later, the Maylies and Mr. Brownlow work together to find that Oliver and Monks, Fagin's associate, were half-brothers with the same father and that Monks attempted to steal Oliver's inheritance. After Fagin's gang members finally get caught and sentenced, Oliver, the Maylies, and Mr. Brownlow live peacefully in a small village in England.
Fate, or destiny, can influence people’s roles in their individual lives and decisions in multiple ways. Many people’s lives and roles are determined by fate, their family background, and their born human nature. Many characters in the story have their fates determined by them, influencing them to pursue one specific path or career for the whole of their lifetime. For instance, Fagin and the other members of his gang were all fated to remain as criminals for their whole life, and be later punished because of their crimes. The Artful Dodger remains a criminal and pickpocketer for the whole novel and is later caught by the police and sentenced to a penalty in prison. The other members of the criminal gang, such as Toby Crackit, Barney, and Tom Chitling, have similar endings because of fate and destiny. Likewise, Fagin pursues the same lifestyle throughout his life and is later sentenced to death by the authorities. Although they both try to escape detection within the big streets of London, they both accept that it is their fate to be a criminal until the end. Like most people, they are unable to change their fate and direct themselves to a better career, because of their family or birth background and social or financial conditions. Later in the novel, when he murders Nancy, Sikes also understands and accepts that he has become a known criminal and must face the punishments for his crime. Many people, like Fagin and most of his criminal gang, are fated to a determined path in life and continue in the same specific direction or career until the end. Many people are set up with one career or life path and are influenced in decisions and roles by fate and destiny.
Social forces in society increase the power of fate and prevent many people from changing their destiny through societal backgrounds, social class, and financial conditions. Fate is strengthened through multiple aspects of social forces or pressures that affect multiple people's lives differently. In the novel, although most characters’ fates are pressured and pushed under the force of society, some are able to redirect their destiny and life into an upward slope. For instance, Oliver at first seemed to have a fate similar to the other paupers in the Victorian workhouse who were treated harshly and led poor lives. Oliver’s financial condition, social background, and his being an orphan prevented him from escaping the workhouse and ascending in society. However, his luck led him to the Sowerberries, where he later escaped, and later to Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies. Similarly, Rose and Harry were brought together through fate and later married despite their social differences. When Harry proposes to Rose for the first time, Rose rejects him because of their social differences: Harry was to be pursuing a successful life, while Rose came from a disgraced family. But Harry, in his determination to marry Rose, took the position of a country parson, in order to be more suitable for her and her family and to escape the boundaries of social pressures. On the other hand, although Monks also changed his fate, unlike the two prior, he resolved to make his social status and reputation less than it was before. While Monks was born into a decent family with suitable conditions for a comfortable life, he took on a life of crime and criminal actions, seemingly not understanding his fate to be better. Unlike Fagin and his criminal gang, who had no other solution to support themselves, Monks started a criminal lifestyle for no specific purpose other than to perform bad deeds. Even after he earned half of the inheritance provided by his father, Monks used it all up on useless items and quickly returned to committing crimes. Some people manage to redirect their fate and life direction despite the pressure put on by social forces.
Other than social forces, family background, and societal conditions, human nature also affects an individual’s fate and destiny. Most people are born with a specific character and personality that stays the same and thereby are naturally enclosed to the same fate for the majority of their lives. In the novel, Monks is depicted as a dark, sinister criminal and Oliver’s half-brother who performs a series of bad deeds in order to gain all of his father’s inheritance. Despite his comfortable and good-conditioned background, Monks possesses a twisted character and evil desire for more and attempts to achieve it through criminal actions. Unlike people such as Noah or even Fagin who pursue a bad life in the shadows because of poverty, or Oliver and Nancy who were kidnapped and forced to steal items, Monks did not need to live such a life he chose. However, his born cruel nature enclosed his life to the fate of a mere criminal and antagonist of the story. Moreover, when Mr. Leeford, Monks and Oliver’s father, was about to die, he only left his inheritance for Agnes and Oliver, for at a young age, Monks had already shown his evil human nature and cruel heart. He had decent conditions in his family, with already good conditions and social status, and he did not need to try to take Oliver’s well-deserved part of the heritage. Later on in the novel, even after getting his inheritance, Monks uses up all his money and later goes back to his past criminal lifestyle, dying in prison. Even though Monks knew well enough about the consequences he would’ve had to face if he continued his criminal life and the many opportunities he was given to renew his life, his born human nature caused him to nonetheless stick with criminal activity. In most cases, an individual’s born human nature causes them to continue with the fate they’ve had since birth.
Oliver Twist narrates the story centering Oliver, a young boy, who experiences multiple peaks and slopes throughout his childhood life. Throughout the story, fate is shown to play a major role in each of the characters’ lives. People’s careers and life paths are greatly influenced by fate and destiny; for instance, Fagin and the members of his criminal gang are all set up with the similar fate of being a criminals and performing illegal actions. However, despite the power of social forces, some people, like Oliver, Rose, and Harry, manage to choose their own destiny: Oliver’s luck and smart decisions brought him away from the workhouse and thankfully into the care of Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies; Rose and Harry marry despite their social differences and family backgrounds. Other than social forces, human nature also influences one’s fate: Monk’s born cruelty and evil character make him one of the novel’s antagonists and a criminal for life.
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