* AccidentalInnuendo: Charlie Bates is frequently called "Master Bates."
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Bill Sikes has three ''possible'' PetTheDog moments: carrying an unconscious Oliver for a long ways while fleeing from the police after the failed break-in (although that may have been to keep Oliver from identifying him if he was captured), [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone seeming pensive and troubled after killing Nancy]] (although that might have been simple fear of the punishment he'd face for the murder), and volunteering to help put out a fire while he's roaming the countryside as a fugitive (which can be read as an unsuccessful attempt to bury his own guilt by denying his nature).
* EnsembleDarkHorse: The Artful Dodger is generally considered the most popular character in the story. Unsurprisingly, he's had ''many'' adaptations spotlighting him instead of Oliver.
* {{Fanon}}: Nancy being a prostitute in the literal sense. Although she is referred to as such in a preface to the 1841 edition, it's been [[http://fatpigeons.com/2010/01/16/nancy-btw-is-not-a-prostitute/ pointed out]] that at the time 'prostitute' simply referred to a woman living out of wedlock or being TheMistress (it's said that Nancy lives with Bill and they clearly aren't married). In fact, Nancy alludes to her only crime being thieving for Fagin, and the preface is the only mention of her being a prostitute.
* SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}[=/=]SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: The Artful Dodger in court.
* IronWoobie: Nancy, who is a LoveMartyr to Sikes and never complains about it.
* MoralEventHorizon:
** Sikes' [[spoiler:murder of Nancy definitely counts]].
** Also, [[spoiler: Nancy, Charley and TheArtfulDodger grabbing Oliver and bringing him back to Fagin's clutches. Nancy, however, ends up excused for this through virtue of having a HeroicBSOD when she fully realizes how screwed up this was, and openly calls Fagin out before collapsing out of stress.]]
** Monks's biggest one is [[spoiler: arranging to have his 12-year-old half-brother Oliver's life ''completely destroyed'' without real reason other than pettiness and jealousy]]. Specially marked when [[spoiler: he takes the {{Orphans Plot Trinket}}s from Bumble and Corney and ''tosses them into the Thames'' so no one will ever be able to prove that Oliver is the son of Agnes and Edwin Leeford]].
* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler: Nancy's death]] is horrifically violent; there's a reason why performing it drove Dickens' blood pressure right up.
* OnceOriginalNowCommon: Charles Dickens got scandalized reactions from critics for depicting Nancy sympathetically because she was a thief! Nowadays she's considered one of the most iconic examples of the HookerWithAHeartOfGold.
* OvershadowedByControversy: It's very difficult to talk about this novel without acknowledging that Fagin is an offensive Jewish stereotype, not at all helped by Dickens' commentary and other characters referring to him as "the Jew" more than by his real name. Dickens was called out for this by other Jews multiple times for the rest of his life and expressed genuine regret for mistakenly believing that people in RealLife who act like Fagin are often Jews, and included several sympathetic Jewish characters in his final completed novel, ''Literature/OurMutualFriend''. Nevertheless, the controversy surrounding Fagin has never gone away and likely never will, especially since ''Oliver Twist'' is one of Dickens' most famous novels while ''Our Mutual Friend'' was not a success during his lifetime, neither critically nor financially, and while [[VindicatedByHistory it has since been positively re-assessed]], it still doesn't have nearly the same level of public knowledge as ''Oliver Twist'', so people still [[MisBlamed Mis-blame]] Dickens as an anti-Semite despite his later rejection of such beliefs.
* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Nancy's death. Sure, it's incredibly melodramatic and horrific, but it's heartbreaking when, knowing she's about to die, Nancy pulls out Rose's handkerchief and pleads to God for mercy before Sikes strikes her down.]]
* ValuesDissonance:
** Edwin Leefort, married at about twenty to a thirty-year-old woman, was treated almost like a child sold to some old hag, while him taking interest in a nineteen-year old girl more than ten years later, was perfectly okay in terms of age.
** Oliver is pure-hearted and virtuous, even after having been raised in the workhouse and having fallen in with criminals...due to being the son of a gentleman and having inherited his likewise well-bred mother's gentle nature. Today this reeks of classism.
* ValuesResonance:
** Dickens' vivid and social descriptions of the problems of poor people in society continue to move readers today, and actually shocked 19th century readers who weren't used to hearing about all these hidden atrocities.
** Mr. Bumble's objection to the legal presumption at the time that his wife acts at his direction, and his observation that most actual marriages don't work that way, while self-serving and intended to illustrate that he is a HenpeckedHusband, resonates with modern readers who are likely to find the presumption that men rule their wives to be archaic.
* TheWoobie: Dickens' bread and butter was this trope. Oliver and Nancy are both examples.

!!The various adaptations contain examples of:
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Chafing at the antisemitic portrayal of Fagin, Creator/WillEisner wrote a comic in which Fagin is a misunderstood AntiVillain. Or, to be more precise, in which Fagin has gone ThenLetMeBeEvil to the world combined with what, if it had been published at the time Dickens wrote in, would have been rather pointed social commentary about the ill effects of limiting the career paths of an entire group.
** ThenLetMeBeEvil was also the solution to Fagin's characterization in the 1999 and 2007 miniseries. In fact, the 2007 version makes him relatively benevolent, and plays up the extent to which he is victimized by contemporary antisemitism.
** The Saban ''Adventures'' cartoon paints Oliver as less of a pinball protagonist. He's a little more wise to Fagin and Sykes/Sikes than his book counterpart and actively tries to avoid them, and due to a few story changes takes a more active role in driving it forward [[spoiler:(his mother's alive instead of dead, and he's trying to find her)]].
* BittersweetEnding: The 2007 series rather pointedly contrasts Oliver's final HappyEnding, living in luxury with his loving relatives, with Dodger still being on the streets and devastated by losing everything and everyone he's ever cared about. The final shots imply his bitterness will turn him into another Bill Sikes.
* EthnicScrappy: Fagin deserves special mention in the 1948 adaptation because, although references to him being Jewish were removed from the text by the author personally, Creator/DavidLean and Creator/AlecGuinness took inspiration from the original illustrations - resulting in Fagin looking like an antisemitic caricature (which Lean tried to defend by saying [[AllThereInTheManual the script didn't mention]] him being Jewish). It was seen as especially offensive considering it was only three years after UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust!
* HarsherInHindsight: In the 1997 adaptation, Dodger is sent to prison instead of Australia, presumably not to offend Australians. Dodger's talk about [[PrisonRape all the things he'll learn in prison]] becomes less funny and more disturbing the older you get.
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