Given our conversations about the ambiguity of the figure of the Jew in British culture, comment on how Dickens represents Fagin---both in physical terms and ethical terms. What kinds of criminality is he associated with? What kinds of threats does he represent? When thinking about this take into account the illustrations (these are the original illustrations for the 19th century text).
P.S. Sorry for leaving out a few pages at the end.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
What I first noticed about how Dickens represents Fagin is that he is mostly referred to as 'the Jew'. It was so repetitious. Only a few times does the narrator call him Fagin. It was almost as if the story was being told by a child, because Fagin was labeled so clearly and outwardly. This obviously means that Fagin had the 'looks' of a Jew. Meaning, Jewishness can be viewed from the outside. But also, Fagin was represented as a thief. He teaches the boys how to pickpocket. He also has a cruel nature and a bad temper based on how he reacted to Oliver when Oliver saw the jewelry in Fagin's box. He was also mean to Dodger and Charley when they did not come home with any money or anything worth money. Hoarding and hiding his treasure and constantly stealing people's money is how Dickens portrayed Fagin. It was as if by calling him 'the Jew', a reader understood all that he was in his entirety. He was 'villanous-looking' and had a 'repulsive face'. He lived in a dirty and dark room. He is a thief and Oliver was shocked when he realized what he was really taught to do when he went out for the first time to pickpocket. Fagin (Jews) is obviously a threat to the English nation, especially ethically. He is not only a bad man, but is also teaching the youth to do the same. This will hurt the future of the English.
Dickens describes the Jew as “villainous-looking …repulsive face (which was) obscured by a quality of matted red hair” (56). The Jew, who we later discover is named Fagin, is mostly called by his race/religion/ethnicity. Throughout the beginning to the story we never hear his real name. He is identified by only being a Jew. On page 60, Fagin is also described as a “miser” because he likes to horde things, like the array of watches. However, I believe Fagin is upset that people view him as “only a miser” because he feels he is more than just that one quality. Dickens also brings in some of the stereotypes of Jews in this piece. In the story Fagin is a theft, but he is a smart thief because he gets young boys to steal for him. Fagin is the brains of the operation who also keeps majority of the profits and deals with the vendors who he trades the stolen goods with. But, I sense that Fagin is a character that is afraid of everyone, except the boys who work under him and the woman. He cowers when confronted by Sikes and is afraid of the law of the town. In addition, Dickens also shows her negativity towards Jews on page 190 when he describes Nancy as a Jew’s female pupils, who where known to fail. Furthermore, Dickens plays into the stereotype of Jews by making Fagin into a dirty character that lives in a filthy, dilapidated house. When Oliver first meets the Jew he is wearing a “greasy flannel gown” (55). Also, in the pictures of Fagin he appears un-kept with an unruly beard, wild hair and large nose. Dickens describes Fagin with red hair but I am unsure if the is a Jewish stereotype.
Fagin becomes a threat to the English because he has the ability to turn their children and women into thefts. He provides them with a home and food, thus he gains their loyalty.
As others noted, it is very telling that Dickens introduces and continually refers to Fagin as "the Jew." It continually associates all of Fagin's despicable acts with the fact that he is Jewish.
It also associates Fagin's surroundings and appearance with his Jewishness. The room Fagin occupies when the reader and Oliver are introduced to him is "perfectly black with age and dirt." Immediately, the reader is called upon to identify "blackness" with "Jewishness." Not only is he "black" in appearance, but he is also a dark character, turning children into thieves for his own good. He is greedy and does not mind corrupting and using children to satisfy his desires. I feel like this also speaks to a corruption on a societal level.
One thing I thought was very interesting about the above is that Fagin's greed and misuse of what is, essentially, child labor, can be paralleled with the mistreatment of the children in England's poor houses. Dickens is obviously making the point that he believes the poor houses and child labor are bad- but the fact that he draws this parallel with an "evil" Jewish figure shows that he obviously intends to play on racial/ethnic stereotypes to make his point about the overall evil of child labor.
On another note, I felt like the first image of Fagin was somewhat Orientalized- in the first, his narrow eyes and mustache look like some sort of stereotypical Asian image.
Like everyone else has already noted, the most memorable thing about Fagin, is that he's referred to primarily as The Jew. But looking at the illustration on the last page of the reading, he didn't really represent Jewishness to me. At first glance I thought he was a gypsy. He does have a really big nose in the picture, but he looks vaguely like a pirate to me, not at all domestic. The way he's pictured in the illustration really meshes with his profession though. He's a scoundrel, and a thief, and abusive, like how you would think of a gypsy or a pirate. I wasn't aware, until now, that Jewish people were associated with this kind of lifestyle. I know they are often involved in money and money lending, but I've always considered that more of a middle-class profession.
I don't really have anything very different to add. Fagin is Jewish and displays some not so favorable characteristics, which he is partially putting off onto English children. In this way, he threatens "infecting" England with Jewishness or the "Jewish disease" we discussed in our other readings.
Consiering the Jewish Identity consists of the fear of the English that the Jew is both (1) just like them and (2) totally different from them, the character Fagin's interaction with the Christian characters supports this. For example, when describing what he looks like, Dickens suggests he has a "repulsive face" which is a subjective comment on a person's physical appearance. This shows that "the Jew" at once could be like the British or unlike them because they place a label on him.
Dickens refers to Fagin as "the jew" and uses the stereotypes associated with the jewish community to represent him. He has the typical big jewish nose and Dickens describes his face as villanous looking and repulsive. Dickens farther describes his character to be that of a thief and cruel mannered man. He is money hungry which is a stereotype long associated with the Jewish community. The fact Dickens describes Fagin as a anti social, money hungry theif who only contributes to the community by teaches children to pick pocket unfortunately comes as no surprise to me.
Post a Comment