Oliver Twist -- a Familiar Plot?

Oliver Twist has been a recent "great read." As usual, when I find something that feeds my soul, I hunger for more expressions of the beauty. So I watched the Masterpiece Theatre version as well as Roman Polanski’s film (2005). I am also looking forward to reading the book again. Then, knowing the characters and the plot, I will have a more informed “look ‘round.”

After watching the Roman Polanski film and the conclusion to the Masterpiece Theatre version, my wife and I began discussing the character Oliver Twist. One source described him as incorruptible. But my wife expressed that none of us is incorruptible. It's unrealistic and unbelievable. Another thought is that Oliver cannot be a hero, in the usual sense, for he is passive—he doesn't take charge of his life. He merely accepts things that happen to him. Some time after that discussion and my own ruminations about Oliver Twist, I encountered this description of God's Story.

"The big idea that runs like a river though the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is that God’s enemies are committed to do anything they can to make human life generally miserable and wretched (1 Peter 5:8) and, if possible, to destroy human beings altogether (John 10:10)—including dragging them down with the devils themselves into the flames of hell reserved for enemies of God. But God, in his incredible kindness, has devised a plan by which miserable human beings, trapped in their own cycle of sin, on the brink of destruction, may yet be rescued, set free, and healed of spiritual and emotional sicknesses. God’s Son, Jesus, is pivotal in this rescue operation” (Robert C. Girard and Larry Richards in The Book of Hebrews: the Smart Guide to the Bible, 42).

That statement, slightly adapted, is a summary of the novel Oliver Twist. The big idea that runs through the book is that Oliver’s enemies (Mr. Bumble, Fagin, Bill Sikes, and Monks) are committed to do anything they can to make Oliver generally miserable and wretched and, if possible, to destroy him altogether—dragging him down to become a criminal. But Providence, in His incredible kindness, has devised a plan by which Oliver, trapped in a cycle of one destructive turn after another, is rescued and set free from the clutches of his enemies. Mr. Brownlow is pivotal in this rescue operation.