“The workhouse would become the only relief offered to anyone seeking assistance, and the level of relief there would have to be worse than the standard of living of the poorest worker outside” (Richardson 226). This new law sparked outrage because it never made a difference between the unemployed and the disabled, the sick and the healthy, newborns and the elderly, so they were all treated the same. This created a life of poverty for more people, because the help people received was minimal compared to the help they needed and sought. Dickens actively opposed this Poor Law. In fact, “Dickens is known to have had many discussions with a newspaper editor about the policy of the Poor Law” (Richardson 233). Knowing how Dickens was so against the Poor Law makes you understand why Dickens made this law the basis of Oliver Twist. Dickens writes of Oliver as one of the many victims of this law. Dickens reveals the brutality of the system by showing the treatment Oliver receives as a result of being in the Workhouse system his entire life. Oliver is never pitied; he is neglected, threatened several times, flogged, put in prison, cursed, sent to apprentice undertaker, fed animal scraps and constantly taunted. Essentially, Oliver is constantly abused by society everywhere he goes. Also due to the Poor Law, Oliver repeatedly falls into the hands of brutal people. Most brutal people