Oliver Twist: Name Etymology
...Charles Dickens
Summary:
Oliver Twist is a poor orphan boy cruelly treated in the public workhouse. Pennyless and hungry, he runs away to London, only to fall into the clutches of a gang of thieves and pickpockets led by the master criminal, Fagin. Befriended by a man robbed by the gang, Oliver ultimately learns his true identity and gains a new home, a fortune and a brand new family!
Name Analogies:
Oliver: Norman French form of a Germanic name, possibly the name Alfihar meaning "elf army". The spelling was altered by association with Latin oliva "olive tree". The olive tree also symbolises longevity and hope, and the olive tree is renowned eternal.
It is also a symbol of peace and reconciliation, the branch of the olive tree is chosen by God to mean to Noé (Noah) that the Flood is finished and that the diminution begins, symbol of the forgiveness.
Also symbolising of victory, the olive tree is a present loaded with a gratifying meaning during the Olympic Games in Athens. Crown of olive tree and jars of olive oil are so offered to the winners.
A symbol of force, the olive tree is renowned for its very compact, very heavy and very hard wood. It is wooden of olive tree that are made Hercules's bludgeons and it is with the wooden picket of olive tree that Ulysses brings down Cyclops in the Odyssey.
I think this name suits Oliver very well as his name, derived from the olive tree. It symbolizes peace and reconciliation as Oliver duly shows in the book. As Oliver has almost never shown any violence in the book except for the time he beat up Noah Claypole, the undertaker's apprentice, because he insulted Oliver's parents. It also symbolizes victory, and as Oliver always succeeds in the end. (At escaping the Sowerberry's undertaking company, returning to Mr. Brownlow, and many more.) Oliver also...
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