Daily Devotion:

Title: Consider Yourself!

Date: September 01, 2012

In the musical Oliver!, Fagin comes off as a lovable rogue who saves orphans from starvation while teaching them a criminal trade.   

In Dickens’ novel, Oliver Twist, we find that Fagin isn’t lovable. He’s a man-monster who undermines the morals, and breaks the wills and hopes of orphans. Fagin leads them into crime through isolation, drinking, fear, beatings, and making crime a game, until they are all under his control. It’s implied that he succeeds best with the villainous and murderous Bill Sikes, with Nancy, and with The Artful Dodger. Fagin aims to destroy the inner moral compass of the abused and tortured orphan, Oliver. Fagin knows through experience that children are moldable, malleable, and able to be shaped in their morality, or in their immorality, depending upon their inner resources, and the external forces applied. Fagin expects success with Oliver Twist. In the end, Oliver endures, no matter the heaping on of cruelty and afflictions. His inner strength, enhanced by prayer, and the occasional kindness of decent people, enables him to remain strong and resist Fagin’s attempts.

In fiction, as in life, few children have the inner muscle to resist the pressures of vice for long without help. It’s the rare child who can resist alone. Our duty is as it’s always been – to teach our children in the ways of civility and faith that they might make the best choices when faced with temptation.

Let’s Pray: Dear God, help us be good examples to children. In our frailty, even with the errors in our lives, help us teach goodness. Amen.

Here’s a Thought: A good tree produces good fruit.*

Sources:

Oliver! by Lionel Bart, 1961. 

Oliver Twist; or The Parish Boy’s Progress, by Charles Dickens, 1838.

*Matthew 12:33