Comment on the form of Oliver Twist.

One distinctive aspect about this novel is the way that
Dickens uses characterisation. One famous distinction that E. M. Forster noticed in the
work of Dickens, and which he explored in his work of theory, Aspects of the
Novel, is the way that the novels of Dickens literally teem with characters
who are, in Forster's words, "flat." He used this distinction to refer to characters who
are two dimensional, and have one or two characteristics, and who do not develop or
change throughout the novel. These "flat" characters are contrasted by "round"
characters who are three dimensional and whom we are given insight into their
motivations and actions. These characters change, mature and develop during the course
of the novel.

Thus when we explore Oliver
Twist, it becomes clear that almost every character is flat. Consider the
almost angelic goodness of Oliver and the way he remains uncorrupted by the evil
characters around him. Compare him with the devious and devil-like characteristics of
Fagin, who remains obsessed with greed and the accumulation of his wealth. Likewise
Fagin finds a true companion in Bill Sykes, whose evil nature is predominant, just as
Mr. Brownlow continually believes in Oliver. The only character who blurs the boundaries
of this good/evil divide is poor Nancy, who nevertheless shows herself to be a
predominantly good character but trapped in an evil situation from which she is unable
to escape.

Thus when we consider some of the aspects of
this novel, one of the features you can comment on is Dickens' use of characterisation
to create a morally unambiguous universe, where good characters remain good and bad
characters remain evil, with very little blurring of the boundaries between these two
states.