An etching by George Cruikshank titled Fagin in the condemned Cell, November 1838.

Fagin is a fictional character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. He is the leader of a group of children, the Artful Dodger among them, whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities. Bill Sykes, one of the major villains of the novel, is one of Fagin's old pupils. Near the end of the book, he is hanged, following capture. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 481 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (680 × 847 pixel, file size: 390 KB, MIME type: image/png) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 481 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (680 × 847 pixel, file size: 390 KB, MIME type: image/png) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... Portrait of George Cruikshank Wood engraving published in Harpers Weekly newspaper March 16, 1878 A Young George Cruikshank George Cruikshank (September 27, 1792—February 1, 1878) was an English caricaturist and book illustrator. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... “Dickens” redirects here. ... Oliver Twist (1838) is Charles Dickens second novel. ... George Cruikshanks original engraving of the Artful Dodger (center), here introducing Oliver (right) to Fagin (left). ... Eighteenth century engraving showing a pickpocket in action. ... Bill Sykes is a fictional character in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens He is one of Dickenss most menacing characters and a very strong force in the novel when it comes to having control over somebody or harming others. ... “Bad guy” redirects here. ... Hanging to Music. ...

Bold text==Historical basis== Dickens took Fagin's name from a man he had known in his youth while working in a boot-blacking factory. Ironically, the two workmates had been friends.

Fagin's character was based on the criminal Ikey Solomon, who was a fence at the center of a highly-publicized arrest, escape, recapture, and trial. Some accounts of Solomon also describe him as a London underworld "kidsman". A kidsman was an adult who recruited children and trained them as pickpockets, exchanging food and shelter for goods the children stole. Cover of The First Fagin by Judith Sackville-ODonnell featuring an image of Mr. ... In law enforcement, a fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale in a (usually) legitimate market. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Underworld (disambiguation). ...

Link title==Anti-Semitism== Fagin is noted for being one of the few Jewish characters of 19th century literature, let alone any of Dickens' pieces. Fagin has been the subject of much debate over anti-semitism. In an introduction to a 1981 Bantam Books reissue of Oliver Twist, for example, Irving Howe wrote that Fagin was considered an "archetypical Jewish villain." Howe reports that a Jewish woman had written a complaint to Dickens that the character was too negatively stereotypical. Dickens wrote back to her, saying, "Fagin is a Jew because it is unfortunately true, of the time to which the story refers, that that class of criminal almost invariably was Jewish." The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Irving Howe (1920 – 1993), was born Irving Horenstein in New York, the son of immigrants who ran a small grocery store that went out of business during the Great Depression. ...

In later editions of the book printed during his lifetime, Dickens excised many (but not all) of the references to Fagin's Jewishness.^[1] In his last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend, he included a favourable Jewish character, Mr. Riah. Spoiler warning: Our Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens. ...

The comic book creator Will Eisner, disturbed by the anti-Semitism in the typical depiction of the character, created a graphic novel in 2003 titled Fagin the Jew. In this book, the back story of the character and events of Oliver Twist are depicted from his point of view. A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an acclaimed American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of Fagin the Jew by Will Eisner. ... In narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story. ...

Film and theatre

Numerous prominent actors have portrayed Fagin. In the 1922 film, Lon Chaney, Sr. played Fagin, while Alec Guinness performed the role in the 1948 film version directed by David Lean. Ron Moody's portrayal in the musical Oliver! is recognisably influenced by Guinness' portrayal. More recently, Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley portrayed Fagin in Roman Polanski's 2005 screen adaptation. In Disney's version, Oliver & Company (1988), Fagin is voiced by Dom DeLuise. In the 2003 film Twist (a film loosely based on Dicken's Oliver Twist) Fagin is played by actor Gary Farmer. This little-known silent adaptation of Charles Dickens Oliver Twist features Lon Chaney, Sr. ... Lon Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930), nicknamed The Man of a Thousand Faces, was an American actor during the age of silent films. ... Sir Alec Guinness CH, CBE (April 2, 1914 – August 5, 2000) was an Academy Award and Tony Award-winning English actor who became one of the most versatile and best-loved performers of his generation. ... Oliver Twist (1948) is the second of David Leans two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. ... Sir David Lean, KBE (March 25, 1908 – April 16, 1991) was an English film director and producer, best remembered for big-screen epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Doctor Zhivago . ... Ronald Moodnick, known as Ron Moody (born January 8, 1924) is a British actor. ... Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE, (born December 31, 1943) is a British actor. ... Roman Polański (born August 18, 1933) is an Academy Award-winning film director, writer, actor, and producer. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Oliver & Company is a 1988 animated feature film that was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. ... Dominick Dom DeLuise (born August 1, 1933) is an American actor who has starred in numerous roles, mostly comedic. ... The film Twist was released in 2003 and is a retelling of Charles Dickens classic novel. ... Oliver Twist (1838) is Charles Dickens second novel. ... Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian actor. ...

Popular culture

In his Little Fuzzy novels, H. Beam Piper makes reference to the crime of "faginy;" using minors or incompetents (in this case the Fuzzies themselves, extraterrestrials with no understanding that what they are doing is wrong) to commit crimes. The punishment for faginy is the same as for enslavement: death. Little Fuzzy is the name of a novel by H. Beam Piper. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

• Howe, Irving. Selected Writings, 1950-1990. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego, New York, London, 1990

Footnotes

Geoffrey Nunberg is linguist who teaches at Stanford University. ... The Way We Talk Now: Commentaries on Language and Culture from NPRs Fresh Air is a collection of essays by Geoffrey Nunberg about the effect of language on contemporary culture. ...

External links

• Fagin at the Internet Movie Database