Quote 1
"What a fine thing capital punishment is! Dead men never repent; dead men never bring awkward stories to light. The prospect of the gallows, too, makes them hardy and bold. Ah, it’s a fine thing for the trade! Five of them strung up in a row, and none left to play booty or turn white-livered!" (9.9)
Fagin’s reflection on capital punishment shows another way that the system of institutionalized control just permeates society. Is capital punishment actually a good motivator for criminals? In Oliver Twist, the fear of being hanged makes members of Fagin’s gang betray each other, more often than not. Fagin still thinks he can stay one step ahead of all of them. This is Fagin’s version of the old "dead men tell no tales" line. And, of course, to "turn white-livered" means to lose courage and turn yourself (or your fellow criminals) in to the authorities. So this speech is ironic on a couple of levels: first, it’s clearly the opposite of what the author (and, presumably, the reader) believes about capital punishment. Second, it’s dramatic irony – we know that Fagin will eventually be betrayed and turned in to the police himself.
Quote 2
"Once let him feel that he is one of us; once fill his mind with the idea that he has been a thief, and he’s ours,– ours for his life!" (19.83)
This is obviously Fagin speaking, and he’s gloating over the idea of how Oliver’s going to be forced into helping Bill Sikes and Toby Crackit rob a house, and then he’ll be corrupted forever. Wait, what? There’s no turning back? It’s not like when you spill bleach on your jeans – yes, that’s forever. But even if Oliver did commit a crime, or help others to commit a crime – does that make him a criminal forever? Doesn’t he get a choice? Is it always one or the other? Is there no chance for redemption in this novel?
Quote 3
"The worst of these women is, that a very little thing serves to call up some long-forgotten feeling; and the best of them is, that it never lasts. Ha! ha!" (19.103)
This is Fagin, deciding that Nancy has totally gotten over her sympathy for Oliver. This quotation sets up a couple of extremes – worst and best, "little things" and "long-forgotten feelings." And Fagin suggests that all women embody all those extremes – but that "it never lasts." He at first suggests that Nancy might have a really complicated psychology, but then throws that idea out by saying that "it never lasts." Also, by setting up that generalization (this is how all women are), Fagin dooms Nancy to living her life in one of two extremes – does she have no choice in the matter? Is it always one extreme or the other?