Fagin and bad religion

After a break of a few years Broughton Primary School are able to do an end of year production again, and this year it's the turn of 'Oliver!' The story is full of memorable characters, and perhaps one of the most memorable is Fagin, the gang leader who trains homeless children to be thieves and pick-pockets.

Unsurprisingly, the musical tones down Fagin's nastiness by making him into a loveable rogue who perhaps even cares for the children. In 'Be Back Soon' he sings “You can go but while you're working this place, I'm pacing round until you're home safe and sound” and “I love you, that's why I say, 'Cheerio' not 'Goodbye'.” And Ron Moody memorably portrays Fagin in the film version of the musical as a clown-like figure. In 2012 Moody told an audience at the British Film Institute that Fagin is “a monster in the book, a corrupter of children” and his portrayal was “all intended to distract from, to push away the monster of Dickens.”

Dickens doesn't hold back in his portrayal of the evilness of Fagin, describing him as very old, shrivelled, villainous-looking with a repulsive face. He is a “loathsome reptile” whose disgusting outward appearance matches his disgusting inward character; avaricious and miserly with no qualms about psychologically manipulating homeless boys to earn him wealth. No wonder he is often referred to as “the old one” which is a popular nick-name for the devil.

Dickens' depiction of Fagin is nightmarish but what is also troubling is the seemingly anti-Semitic influence on his character. Dickens often refers to him simply as “the Jew”, and his character fits with contemporary ethnic stereotypes and prejudices about Jewish people. It is perhaps even influenced by the “blood libels” of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in which English Jews were accused of kidnapping and murdering children, one such being 'Little Saint Hugh' of Lincoln.

In later editions of the book, Dickens took out the references to “the Jew” and his final novel 'Our Mutual Friend' included Mr Riah, a saintly old Jewish man, and so we can probably say that Dickens was not personally anti-Semitic, but unwisely chose to use the popular, deeply anti-Semitic idea of what the personification of evil looked like. Indeed Fagin is not evil because he is Jewish: he eats sausages and refuses to see a rabbi before his execution so he is definitely not a practising Jew! His character has nothing to do with Jewish beliefs and practices.

Often religion gets blamed for terrible events like the Crusades, the Inquisitions, and wars, and in 'Oliver Twist' the Church of England, which maintained the orphanages and workhouses, is criticised for being cruel, inhumane and unforgiving. Bad things can be done in the name of Christianity but that doesn't mean that Christianity itself is at fault, it just means that we're not very good at following the commands of Jesus who said “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44) and “Forgive and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).

For another article on Oliver! see: A Fine Life?