Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colorsused to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Characters’ Names
The names of characters represent personal qualities.Oliver Twist himself is the most obvious example. The name “Twist,”though given by accident, alludes to the outrageous reversals offortune that he will experience. Rose Maylie’s name echoes her associationwith flowers and springtime, youth and beauty. Toby Crackit’s nameis a lighthearted reference to his chosen profession of breakinginto houses. Mr. Bumble’s name connotes his bumbling arrogance;Mrs. Mann’s, her lack of maternal instinct; and Mr. Grimwig’s, hissuperficial grimness that can be removed as easily as a wig.
Bull’s-eye
Bill Sikes’s dog, Bull’s-eye, has “faults of temper incommon with his owner” and is a symbolic emblem of his owner’s character.The dog’s viciousness reflects and represents Sikes’s own animal-like brutality.After Sikes murders Nancy, Bull’s-eye comes to represent Sikes’sguilt. The dog leaves bloody footprints on the floor of the roomwhere the murder is committed. Not long after, Sikes becomes desperateto get rid of the dog, convinced that the dog’s presence will givehim away. Yet, just as Sikes cannot shake off his guilt, he cannot shakeoff Bull’s-eye, who arrives at the house of Sikes’s demise beforeSikes himself does. Bull’s-eye’s name also conjures up the imageof Nancy’s eyes, which haunts Sikes until the bitter end and eventuallycauses him to hang himself accidentally.
London Bridge
Nancy’s decision to meet Brownlow and Rose on London Bridge revealsthe symbolic aspect of this bridge in Oliver Twist. Bridges existto link two places that would otherwise be separated by an uncrossablechasm. The meeting on London Bridge represents the collision oftwo worlds unlikely ever to come into contact—the idyllic worldof Brownlow and Rose, and the atmosphere of degradation in whichNancy lives. On the bridge, Nancy is given the chance to cross overto the better way of life that the others represent, but she rejectsthat opportunity, and by the time the three have all left the bridge,that possibility has vanished forever.
