A Great Humorist:
Except Shakespeare and Charles Lamb, no writer can match Dickens in humour and pathos. It was really very great of Dickens that amidst the poverty, hunger, misery and sufferings of the Victorian age, he could laugh and keep up his unwavering optimism. G. B. Priestley rightly says that the supremacy of Dickens as a humorist remains unchallenged even today.
The Forms of Dickens’ Humour:
Consequently Dickens introduces humour in its various forms. His humour is satirical, farcical and genial.
(a) Satirical Humour:
Dickens' satirical humour is most prominent in the novels. Its sharpness whets the feelings of indignation in the readers. In this he uses irony. Such as irony is often concentrated in single tell-tale words. "Twenty and thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor laws rolled about the floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing, under the parental superintendence of an elderly female." Offenders, inconvenience, parental, are the tell-tale words here. On other occasions we are told that Mr. Bumble prevents Oliver from catching cold by causing a tingling sensation to pervade his frame, by repeated applications of the cane Oliver is socially flogged before the boys. When this ironic humour is directed at folly and absurdity, it assumes mildness and is sometimes even akin to pure humour.
(b) Genuine Humour:
Oliver Twist is not devoid of real humour. There is a touch of genuine humour. For example, in the second chapter, when Oliver is produced before Mr. Bumble, Mrs. Mann standing behind Mr. Bumble's chair shakes her fist at Oliver with a very furious countenance. This lends an otherwise unbearable scene a touch of humour. In chapter six, when Oliver is in fierce temper, Noah Claypole suggests that 'millingtry' should be called. Charley Bates also provides much pure fun. Oliver caught by Sikes and Nancy is brought to Fagin. His books are snatched by Bates, who observes that they are very pretty and then pretends to read them.
(c) Humour Used to Emphasise a Particular Situation:
In the Second Chapter, Oliver is told that the board had said he was to appear before it forthwith. Oliver is confused by this report, 'not having a very clearly defined notion of what a live board was'. He enters the hall and finds himself before 'eight or ten fat gentlemen'. He is told to 'bow to the Board'. Seeing no board but the table, he fortunately bowed to that. Here Dickens has used laughter to convey the utter absence of feeling in the members of a board. This board is after all, as thick and as devoid of feeling as a wooden plank.
(d) Humour Produced through Characters:
The oddities of Characters create funny moments. For example, all fun around Fagin issues from his character, otherwise his den of vice could hardly be a place to indulge in fun and frolic. The atmosphere in the work house could hardly be thought congenial to fun, but Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Mann do conspire to produce fun.
Pathos: Throughout Pathetic Moments:
The novel Oliver Twist is steeped in pathos. Throughout the novel, we come across pathetic moments which arouse pity and sympathy in our hearts. Dickens shows no restraint in expressing pathos. We cry from the beginning to the end of novel along with .Oliver. We weep when Oliver cries. We shed tears when we see Oliver heading the funerals of children as a hired mourner. We pity him when he is hit on his head with a ladle for demanding more food on his ninth birthday. We are shocked when he is made to sleep among the coffins. We feel sad when he is deprived of his new suit, new shoes and new cap by Fagin. We cry when we find him wounded and bleeding in a dry ditch. We feel relieved when he is in the house of either Mrs. Maylie or Mr. Brownlow.
Oliver, a Highly Pathetic Figure:
The hero of the novel, Oliver is a highly pathetic figure. He represents the oppressed childhood. The child Oliver has to suffer immensely. He is compelled to live In semi-starving conditions. Naturally Oliver's sad plight under the callously cruel system of the workhouse and thereafter under the thieves calls forth situations arousing our pity for the famished orphan. Mr. Bumble takes him to the work house from the baby-farm where one kind word or look had never lighted the gloom of his infant years. Before presenting him to the board, the beadle gives him a tap en the head with his cane to wake him up, another on the back to make him lively. When Oliver has committed the grave crime of asking for more, he is put to solitary confinement.
Sympathy and Pathos for Criminals:
Dickens arouses in us a feeling of sympathy and pathos even for criminals like Miss Nancy. Nancy's repentance and her appeal for Oliver's help is remarkable. She lays down her life to save Oliver. She deserves all our pity and sympathy. Thus, in Oliver Twist pathos is the most prominent element. Almost all good characters shed tears on this occasion or that. Mrs. Bedwin, Rose, Mrs. Maylie shed tears on slightest pretext. Even Dr. Losberne weeps when there is an occasion. Oliver is really a pathetic figure who weeps and sheds tears. He goes to the churchyard and sobs unnoticed for his mother. However humour goes hand in hand with tears.
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