Dickens uses the Dodger to critique the societal failure of the Victorian era. The Dodger is a "child" only in biological age. In every other respect, he is a hardened adult.
, conversely, is the product of his environment. He possesses street intelligence, wit, and agency. Where Oliver is baffled by the criminal underworld, the Dodger navigates it with the confidence of a seasoned professional. He smokes a pipe, drinks alcohol, and speaks in the colorful "flash" slang of the London underworld. artful dodger oliver
is the embodiment of untouched purity. Despite being born in a workhouse and raised in squalor, Oliver retains a genteel nature and a moral compass that remains uncorrupted by his environment. He is naive, trusting, and passive—a leaf caught in a turbulent river. Dickens uses the Dodger to critique the societal