The filthy slums of London…the dark alleys, the abandoned, unlighted buildings. The rain and fog envelop the dark city. The atmosphere is dismal; evil dominates this world. The major action of Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens moves back and forth between two worlds: the filthy slums of London, and the clean, comfortable houses of Brownlow and the Maylies. The first world is real and frightening, while the latter is idealized, almost dreamlike, in its safety and beauty. Thus, the scenes set in the slums are the most memorable, for they are where misfortune befalls Oliver. Death, used as a symbolic device, helps unify and intensify the allegorical struggle between good and evil, w