Is there a battle of good vs. evil in Oliver Twist? How do these forces try to shape Oliver?

Charles Dickens' second novel, Oliver Twist (1837-39)  is
the story of the eponymous young orphan boy who reflects the life of poverty of
Victorian England.  The novel portrays  the evils of the 'Poor Houses' of the time and
the corruption of the people who work there.  It also shows the depths of London's crime
with an emphasis on petty robbery and pick pocketing.

The
arch villain of the  novel, Fagin, also referred to as "The Jew", is characterized as
the personification of cruelty and greed .  His main goals are to take advantage of and
exploit the marginalized people of his community. Oliver, on the contrary, is the
complete opposite of Fagin.  Innocent, and full of the milk of human kindness, Oliver
symbolizes all that is good in society.  He hates the thought of stealing, violence, or
mistreatment of any sort, and genuinely cares for others around
him.

"Oliver Twist" is a story about the battles of good
versus evil, with the evil continually trying to corrupt and exploit the good.  It
portrays the power of Love, Hate, Greed, and Revenge and how each can affect the people
involved.  The love between Rose and Harry eventually overcomes all the obstacles
between them.  The hatred that Monks feels for Oliver and the greed he feels towards his
inheritance proves to be self destructive.  The revenge that Sikes inflicts on Nancy
drives him almost insane and results in accidental suicide. Dickens' wide array of true
to life characters emphasizes the virtues of sacrifice, compromise, charity, and
loyalty. At the end of the novel though the system for the poor is not changed, the good
in Dickens' novel outweighs the evil, and the main characters that are part of this good
live happily ever after. In real life however the publication of "Oliver Twist" resulted
in the government attempting to reform the system of 'Poor
Houses.'