Oliver!

If a society becomes wealthier but some people become poorer, is that progress?

The Industrial Revolution increased production, expanded cities, and helped transform the economy. But industrialization also created serious problems involving poverty, working conditions, inequality, pollution, and urban life.

The 1968 musical film Oliver! provides a useful lens for examining the social consequences of industrial-era Britain. Based on Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, the film depicts poverty, child vulnerability, social class, and life in nineteenth-century London. Use its scenes as historical evidence while distinguishing dramatic storytelling from the broader historical record.

Clip investigation A: The workhouse and “Food, Glorious Food”

1) What does the scene suggest about poverty, hunger, and how society treats poor children?
2) Why might a society with growing wealth still have hungry people?
3) Is this scene evidence about factory conditions, or about poverty and the treatment of the poor more broadly?


Clip investigation B: Oliver meets the Artful Dodger and Fagin's group

4) What choices are available to children living in poverty?
5) How does the film portray the relationship between poverty, survival, and crime?
6) What might a historian need to learn before concluding that industrialization caused crime?


Clip investigation C: “Consider Yourself” and London street life

7) What advantages might a growing city offer—jobs, markets, trade, and entertainment?
8) What problems might arise when a city's population grows faster than its housing and sanitation systems?
9) Does a lively city necessarily mean that everyone living there has a good life?