★★★★★ (5/5 for the character; the novel itself is a 4/5 for its melodrama)
Here’s a review that covers both the character of the Artful Dodger (Jack Dawkins) and his relationship with Oliver Twist in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist . More Than a Pickpocket: Why the Artful Dodger Steals the Show artful dodger oliver
Their relationship is a tragic mirror: Oliver could have been the Dodger, and the Dodger might have once been Oliver. The Dodger tries to teach Oliver the “trade” with a patience that borders on paternal. He wants to initiate him into the only family he has ever known—a twisted, criminal family, but a family nonetheless. ★★★★★ (5/5 for the character; the novel itself
Fans of antiheroes, London lore, and anyone who loves a character whose flaws are more interesting than another person’s virtues. He wants to initiate him into the only
The dynamic between the Dodger and Oliver is the novel’s secret engine. The Dodger is fascinated by Oliver’s innocence—he calls him “Green” and treats him like a fascinating puzzle. When the Dodger first approaches Oliver in London, he does so with a theatrical friendliness that is both predatory and strangely genuine. He offers Oliver a meal, a bed, and a purpose. He is recruiting him into a life of crime, yes, but from the Dodger’s perspective, he is saving Oliver from starving on the streets.
