In the novel Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens uses satire and motifs to cultivate an incredulously prophetic work of literature. One of the most important of these concepts is the theme of darkness. Through careful analysis, one is able to dissect this symbolic tenet to discover an axiomatic theme that is easily identifiable throughout the story.

The first eminent use of darkness begins while Oliver is trapped in the workhouse. While in solitary confinement, (for asking for more food) the “dark” of the cell frightens the young boy, as in chapter three. The reference is repeated when Oliver tries to close his own eyes to “shut out the darkness” (15), in the same chapter. Both instances connote a strictly negative and evil place, based on the prevalence of the darkness that frightens Oliver. Through the satire of the narrator and the darkness associated with the workhouse, the reader is presented with an affrontingly malicious illustration. In this way, the author uses the idea of darkness to make a political point on the injustice and corruption rampant in the workhouses of England.

The workhouse is merely the first example of the darkness expressed throughout the novel. In chapter seven, the element of darkness takes monstrous shape in the form of night. After the incident with Oliver and Noah, the poor boy decides to leave the house and journey somewhere else. The scene where Oliver looks outside the house, but is afraid to leave because it is so dark (53), is a very significant point in the narrative. Before, darkness was simply described as a singular, finite thing, as in the room Oliver was isolated in was “dark”, or the workhouse was “dark”. Literally, both locations were dark in a sense that outside the room and building, the reader could assume there was light. Symbolically, the darkness inherit in the workhouse was used to illustrate the “darkness” of the single specific system of workhouses. However, chapter seven marks the first time in the novel that darkness takes the infinite form of “night,” and Oliver is, understandably, scared. One might look at this as a symbol that although the workhouse has its dark, evil individuals, the omniscient darkness of “night” in the world implies a much more evil force being existent.

In this way, the narrator transfers the symbol of darkness from a small, rural parish to the dreadful city of London, using “night” and “darkness” as the foci of transition, as how Oliver departs from a town of evil to a world, more so, a city of darkness. This is where the reader observes the eleven o clock flight into London, chapter eight. Dawkins invites Oliver to stay with him in London and “objected to their entering London before nightfall” (59). So in the pitch black of England, the boys run through the filthiest and darkest side of the city. Oliver’s host takes him from Angel to St John’s road, through Exmouth-street and Coppice-row and past Little Saffron hill, each place more renown to evil then the last. The urgency of the Dodger apparently climaxes once they enter the territory Saffron-hill the Great, in which they began moving at a “rapid pace” (59). The voyage ends near a place called Field-Lane, the worst part of all the places described, according to the explanatory notes. This venture shows a divulgence into the evil and darkness of London, masked by night. Upon entering this new world, Oliver enters a world of poverty, oppression and corruption, all explicit in the description of the homeless that the boys race past in their journey. In this light, the theme of darkness not only acts as a symbol, but also helps to shape the tone of the novel into a canvas of night.

Darkness is an extremely important tenet in “Oliver Twist.” The author uses darkness not only to depress the dauntingly optimistic tone of satire, but also to make a significant point on evil in the world. Through Oliver’s journey from the darkness of the workhouse to the abyss of London, the author makes an audaciously blatant criticism of the evils of England