MovieChat Forums > Oliver! (1968) Discussion > Why is Fagin eating sausages?

Why is Fagin eating sausages?


I thought Fagin was meant to be a Jew, and Jews don't eat pork.

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One - there are beef sausages.
Two - I doubt if he was exactly Orthodox!

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The surname Fagin is derived from the Gaelic "O Faodhagain," which in turn comes from the Latin word "paganus," which refers to a "villager" or "peasant."

Fagan or Phagan is also a Norman-Irish surname, derived from the Latin word 'paganus' meaning 'rural' or 'rustic'. Variants of the name Fagan include Fegan and Fagen. It was brought to Ireland during the Anglo-Norman invasion in the twelfth century and is now considered very Irish.

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So what? Dreyfuss is a German name, is Richard Dreyfuss not Jewish?

Besides which, Fagin is explicitly Jewish in the book.

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