Fagin

Fagin is a portrayed as a career criminal. He takes in orphans or homeless children and teaches them to pick pockets and steal for him. Fagin rarely ever commits crimes himself. In the novel Fagin is seen as the devil. Dickens introduces us to Fagin as a red-hair, ugly Jewish man holding a fork over fire. "What a fine thing capital punishment is! Dead men never repent; dead men never bring awkward stories to light. The prospect of the gallows, too, makes them hardy and bold. Ah, its a fine thing for the trade! Five of them strung up in a row, and none left to play booty or turn white-livered! (63) This quote shows how criminals were not scared of the law. They were encouraged by it. In Oliver Twist the fear of being hanged make criminals who are in alliances with each other betray one another. Fagin is confident he could always keep a head of the government, but the ironic thing is by the end he was caught. "Once let him feel that he is one of us; once fill his mind with the idea that he has been a thief, and hes ours, ours for his life!" (151) This quote shows how Fagin plans manipulate Oliver. Fagin is gloating about how after robbing the house with Sikes, Oliver will be corrupted. "The worst of these women is, that a very little thing serves to call up some long-forgotten feeling; and the best of them is, that it never lasts. Ha! ha!" (153) This quote shows how Fagin thought that Nancy had gotten over her sympathy for Oliver. This quote shows how Fagin thinks that all women have a moment of weakness but it never last forever. Fagin suggest that Nancy will never learn to make her own decisions. "In a little community like ours, my dear," said Fagin, who felt it necessary to qualify this position, "we have a general number one; that is, you can't consider yourself as number one, without considering me too as the same, and all the other young people." (348) This quote shows how Fagin still think that everything is ok every though his group of kids are turning away from him slowly. Fagin is still trying to manipulate people to believe that if you join him you will be seen as an equal and you will have a great life.

Fagin
Fagin was based on a real man who sold stolen goods. He name was Ikey Solomon. There was a limited number of jobs available for Jewish people therefore they often were involved in illegal activity. The puppeteer cross represents Fagins manipulation on the children. The cross is green because green represents greediness, which is what why Fagin manipulates the kids. There are six pieces of string, each with an animal at the end. The five pieces of loose string represents the children who Fagin have made believe that by pick pocketing they are creating a better life for themselves. Those kids now follow Fagin willingly. The string that is pulled tight represents Oliver. This is because Fagin still has to force him to follow his directions. The strings are all black because it black represents evilness. The animals represent the children because the children in this story are view as animals. Five of the animals start off white and fades to black. This represents Fagin manipulates good innocent children and turn them bad pick pockets. Fagin manipulates them to think they are something beneficial for them when in reality it is bad. One of the animals is gray. This animal represents Oliver because he is neutral. Olivers intentions are good, but he is influenced from Fagin, Sikes, and the Dodger to do bad things. There are six animals total because the number 666 is the devils number, which is what Fagin, is portrayed as in the book. The background is red because red represents being trapped into doing something you do not want to do. Fagin used the childrens poverty to his advantage and manipulated them in return for food and shelter. Fagin is the antagonist in the book. He has power over the children, so even though he is powerless normally, to the children he mistreats them because they have less than him.