Will Eisner had good intentions. In his graphic novel "Fagin the Jew," Eisner attempts to redeem the Oliver Twist character of Fagin, the thief lord by stripping away harmful Jewish stereotypes and injecting backstory and positive character traits. However, on his path of rescuing this character from the prejudices of the time period, Eisner manages to create a new character altogether. Eisner accomplishes this through changing Fagin’s personality, graphically depicting Fagin different than how he is described, and by altering actual events in Oliver Twist. These artistic choices add up to a character that is completely different than the one we find in Oliver Twist. Eisner leaves us with a character that resembles the Fagin we know in name alone. In Oliver Twist Fagin is a character that Dickens first characterizes only by his Jewish ethnicity (Dickens 63). However, throughout the novel Fagin manages to overcome simply being “The Jew” and evolves into an effective, memorable and well-rounded villain. In Oliver Twist Fagin is presented as having a selfish personality and someone who always remains one step ahead of everyone else. He is willing to lie, cheat, steal and backstab to assure his continued prosperity and freedom from the cells of Newgate prison. For example, in a fit of passion he announces to Nancy that he “with six words can strangle Sikes” (Dickens 201). These character traits make Fagin one of the more unpredictable characters in the novel and a character whose fate I was increasingly interested in throughout Oliver Twist. In Fagin the Jew Eisner replaces this self-serving nature with an altruistic disposition that is completely incongruous to the original Fagin. In Fagin the Jew Fagin becomes a character is who acted upon and reacts to situations, rather than being the puppet master behind the scenes. An example of this change can be seen when Oliver is selected to accompany Sikes on the robbery of the Mayl