The protagonist of Dickens's novel ends up in such a workhouse as a child. You certainly couldn't feed hundreds of children steak and eggs on city funds. CHAPTER II: TREATS OF OLIVER TWIST’S GROWTH, EDUCATION, AND BOARD The room in which the boys were fed, was a large stone hall, with a copper at one end: out of which the master, dressed in an apron for the purpose, and assisted by one or two women, ladled the gruel at meal-times. Ever the social critic, Charles Dickens immortalized gruel as an image of poverty with a famous scene in his 1838 novel Oliver Twist, in which a young, starving Oliver gets … Oliver Twist’s gruel. The Dickensian delights of the Victorian workhouse, immortalised in the moment when a starving The thin porridge has had a bad reputation ever since. Oliver Twist Questions & Answers Question 15: How did the boys react to the meal served to them? The most unfortunate were sent to workhouses, where they received food and lodging in exchange for their labor. When Oliver has the temerity to ask for more after the evening meal of gruel he astonishes and horrifies the parish board and the parish beadle. The relief was inseparable from the workhouse and the gruel, and that frightened people. "Oliver Twist" was published at a time when many of Dickens' countrymen were living in great poverty. You know the line even if you haven't read Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist. Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Oliver Twist study guide. The plot of this novel centres around and follows the journey of the parish boy "Oliver Twist." To earn his gruel, Oliver spends his days picking oakum. Photograph from matsuyuki on Flickr "Please, sir, can I have some more?" Unfortunatly, Dickens and his ilk often used gruel as a metephor for cruelty. But did you ever wonder if a bowl of gruel was worth asking for seconds, as the title character did? Oliver Twist. Gruel was served to orphans as an economic necessity. 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