| “ | Delighted to see you looking so well my Dear! The Dodger will give you another suit for fear you will spoil that Sunday one! | „ |
| ~ Fagin's request to get Oliver his new attire |
| “ | Shut up and drink your gin! | „ |
| ~ Fagin's humorous response after the children complained about the food. |
| “ |
I'm reviewing the situation |
„ |
| ~ Fagin's famous musical verse |
Fagin is a major supporting character of Lionel Bart's stage musical Oliver! and later Carol Reed's 1968 threatrical adaptation with the same name; which was an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1838 novel Oliver Twist.
In contrary of his original novel counterpart, who was a self-centered criminal who had no problems in abducting, abusing and teaching children how to steal for his own gains and had a personal hostility toward Oliver. But instead, he was portrayed as a more sympathetic figure who genuinely cared about the children, and taught them how to steal only for the sake of survival. He also had many times of considering to abandon his criminal lifestyle to go clean.
He was portrayed by the late Ron Moody.
Personality[]
While the original counterpart of Fagin in the novel (and some faithful adaptations) was a notorious criminal who did not mind in abducting children and forcing them to do his criminal acts just for his personal gain, this iteration played by Ron Moody, while remained a thief, was a much better and more moral person. He is a tragic and sympathetic thief who stole just to survive and plan to get clean in the future. His children were not abducted by him, but they were also homeless children who had nowhere to go and joined him to form a family. Oliver was no exception as he had nowhere to go and was referred by Dodger to reach out to him.
Biography[]
It is unknown of his origin story, but he was known to be a criminal crook who frequently stole people's goods to survive day to day. He also recruited many homeless abandoned children to form a heartful family.
When Oliver suddenly woke up and accidentally saw Fagin's treasure, he kindly comforted him and explained about his treasure as his retirement funds. After that, we know he had many times "reviewing the situation" to get clean and live an honest life, he genuinely wanted to stop being a thief but he still needed to care for the children.
After Oliver went to live with Mr. Brownlow, Bill Sikes got him back, but Fagin tried his best to reassure him and not to harm Oliver. After realizing Sikes' true nature, Fagin's consideration of getting clean got stronger and stronger. When the climax reached, him and the boys helped the police to save Oliver and stop Bill Sikes. At the end, his treasure got suffocated in quicksand, and he considered getting clean. Just when he wanted to get clean, Artful Dodger dragged him back to criminal life.
Differences from his original counterpart[]
The Absence of Monks[]
In the original novel (or another faithful adaptations of the story), Fagin and Monks, who was Oliver's half-brother, conspired with each other to kidnap him and try to get his inheritance from his long lost parents. In the musical, Monks was completely erased from the story, making Oliver a genuine orphan, as well as Fagin having no idea who Oliver was before meeting him. Therefore, their relationship was genuine and Oliver was taught stealing from Fagin to survive.
Fagin's Personality[]
In the original version, Fagin was an extremely mischevious villain who tried everything to satisfy his own greed, even if he had to exploit children. However, in the musical, he had become much more lighthearted and was a genuine old family man who tried to raise his children and tought them to survive in a poor Victorian era. Although he had some selfishness, he was still generous no matter what, even once he tried to get away with the criminal life for good, but failed because one of his children dragged him back in.
Trivia[]
- One of the reason why Fagin's heinousness was heavily toned down from his original counterpart was the actor Ron Moody being Jewish himself, as he wanted to make Fagin less stereotypical than the novel iteration, making him a more sympathetic and lovable crook.