English Literature books summary

office again after his role in Monks' schemes comes to light. As a result,

he lives the rest of his life in poverty.

Bulls-Eye Bill Sikes' dog. As brutal and vicious as his master, he

functions as Sikes' alter-ego. He leaves bloody footprints in the room

where Sikes murders Nancy. Sikes tries to drown him after the murder

because he is afraid the dog, who follows him everywhere, will give him

away to the legal authorities.

Charlotte the Sowerberrys' maid. She becomes romantically involved with

Noah Claypole, Mr. Sowerberry's charity-boy apprentice. She mistreats

Oliver when Oliver is also an apprentice to the undertaker. She runs away

with Noah to London after they rob the Sowerberrys. After Fagin's hanging,

she helps Noah live as a con man.

Noah Claypole Mr. Sowerberry's charity boy apprentice. He is an over-

grown, cowardly bully. He mistreats Oliver when Oliver is Sowerberry's

apprentice. He runs away to London with Charlotte after robbing the

Sowerberrys. He joins Fagin's band as a thief. After Fagin's execution, he

lives as a con man.

Mrs. Corney the matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. She is

hypocritical and callous. She marries Mr. Bumble but soon regrets it. She

accepts a bribe from Monks to conceal Oliver's identity. As a result,

Grimwig and Brownlow ensure that she never holds public office again. She

ends by living in poverty with her husband.

Toby Crackit He is one of Fagin and Sikes' associates. He participates in

the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Jack Dawkins (a.k.a. The Artful Dodger) f Jack Dawkins, The Artful Dodger,

the Artful Dodger, Dodger, the Dodger g The Dodger is one of Fagin's

pickpockets. He is an intelligent, humorous little thief. He introduces

Oliver to Fagin.

Du_ and Blathers Du_ and Blathers are the two bumbling police Officers who

investigate the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Fagin a conniving career criminal. He gathers homeless boys under his wing

and teaches them to pick pockets for him. He also serves as a fence for

other people's stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself because he

employs others to commit them for him. He schemes with Monks to keep

Oliver's identity a secret. Dickens portrays Fagin using extremely negative

anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Mr. Fang the harsh, judgmental, power-hungry magistrate who presides over

Oliver's trial for pickpocketing.

Agnes Fleming She is Oliver's mother, who gave birth to Oliver out of

wedlock. To save her father and her sister from the shame of her condition,

she ran away during her pregnancy. She died immediately after giving birth

to Oliver in a workhouse.

Mr. Gamfeld Mr. Gamfeld is a brutal chimney-sweep. Oliver almost becomes

his apprentice.

Mr. Giles Mrs. Maylie's butler. He shoots Oliver during the attempted

burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Mr. Grimwig Brownlow's pessimistic, curmudgeonly friend. He tells Brownlow

that Oliver is probably a boy of immoral and idle habits.

Mr. Leeford Oliver and Monks' father. His first marriage was forced on him

by his family for economic reasons. He separated from his wife and had a

love affair with Agnes Fleming, Oliver's mother.

Mr. Losberne He is Mrs. Maylie's family physician. He conceals Oliver's

role in the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home from the legal

authorities.

Mrs. Mann She superintends the juvenile workhouse where Oliver spends the

first nine years of his life. She steals from the stipend meant for the

care of the children living in her establishment. She physically abuses and

half-starves the children in her care.

Mrs. Maylie She is a kind, generous woman. She takes pity on Rose when she

finds her as a nameless, penniless orphan child. She welcomes Oliver in

after he shows up on her doorstep, half-dead from the gunshot wound he

suffered during the attempted burglary of her home. Her son, Harry, marries

Rose.

Harry Maylie He is Mrs. Maylie's son. He gives up his political ambitions

in order to marry Rose.

Rose Maylie She is Agnes Fleming's sister. Agnes and her father died when

she was very young. Mrs. Maylie took her in and raised her as her own. She

is kind and forgiving. She marries Harry Maylie.

Mr. Monks He is Leeford's first son, and Oliver's brother. He schemes to

conceal Oliver's identity because he wants his father's wealth all to

himself.

Nancy She is one of Fagin's former child pickpockets. She tries to save

Oliver from being corrupted by Fagin's lifestyle. She is also Bill Sikes's

lover. Sikes murders her after he learns of her contact with Brownlow and

Rose.

Old Sally She is the nurse who attends Oliver's birth. She steals Agnes'

gold locket, the only clue to Oliver's identity.

Bill Sikes He is a professional burglar. He is also a brutal alcoholic. He

attempts to rob Mrs. Maylie's home. He leaves Oliver lying in a ditch after

he is wounded in the burglary. He murders Nancy in a _t of rage after Fagin

tells him that she has contacted Brownlow and Rose.

Mr. Slout He is the workhouse master before Mr. Bumble assumes the office.

Mr. Sowerberry He is the undertaker for the parish where Oliver is born.

He tries to be kind to Oliver when Oliver is his apprentice, but he

succumbs to his wife's pressure to beat Oliver for his physical

confrontation with Noah.

Mrs. Sowerberry She is a mean, judgmental woman. She mistreats and

underfeeds Oliver when he is Mr. Sowerberry's apprentice. She pressures her

husband to beat Oliver for his physical confrontation with Noah.

Oliver Twist He is the protagonist of the novel. He is born a poor,

nameless orphan in a workhouse. He represents the misery of poverty in

1830's England. His identity is the central mystery of the novel. He is the

illegitimate son of Mr. Leeford, a wealthy Englishman. His evil brother,

Monks, schemes to deprive him of his share of their father's wealth.

Overall Summary

Oliver Twist provides insight into the experience of the poor in 1830s

England. Beneath the novels raucous humor and flights of fancy runs an

undertone of bitter criticism of the Victorian middle class's attitudes

toward the poor. Dickens's scathing satire remains the hypocrisy and

venality of the legal system, workhouses, and middle class moral values and

marriage practices of 1830s England.

As a child, Dickens endured the harsh conditions of poverty. His family was

imprisoned for debt, and Dickens was forced to work in a factory at age

twelve. These experiences haunted him for the rest of his life. The misery

of impoverished childhood is a recurrent theme in his novels. Oliver Twist

epitomizes the unfortunate situation of the orphaned pauper child. Oliver

suffers the cruelty of hypocritical workhouse officials, prejudiced judges,

and hardened criminals. Throughout the novel, his virtuous nature survives

the unbelievable misery of his situation.

Oliver's experiences demonstrate the legal silence and invisibility of

the poor. In 1830s England, wealth determined voting rights. Therefore,

paupers had no say in the laws that governed their lives, and the Poor Laws

strictly regulated the ability to seek relief. Since begging was illegal,

workhouses were the only sources of relief. The workhouses were made to be

deliberately unpleasant in order to discourage paupers from seeking their

relief. The Victorian middle class assumed that the poor were impoverished

due to lassitude and immorality. Since the poor had no voting rights, the

State chose to recognize their existence only when they commited crimes,

died, or entered the workhouses.

Dickens' Oliver Twist is one sympathetic portrayal among dozens of

vicious, stereotypical portrayals of the poor. However, Dickens himself

exhibits middle class prejudice. He reproduces the worst anti-Semitic

stereotypes in Fagin, the "villainous old Jew." The portrayal of Noah

Claypole, the dirty charity boy, reveals some of the stereotypes of the

poor that Dickens criticizes. Monks, Oliver's evil half-brother, is "bad

from birth," although Dickens clearly satirizes the middle class's belief

that the poor are born criminals.

These inconsistencies weaken the larger impact of Dickens' crusade

against the abuses levelled against the poor.

Oliver Twist is not considered one of Dickens's best novels. The plot

is convoluted and often ridiculous. However, it merits study for its

scathing critique of Victorian middle class attitudes towards poverty.

Chapters 1-4

Summary

Oliver Twist is born a sickly infant in a workhouse. His birth is

attended by the parish surgeon and a drunken nurse. His mother kisses his

forehead and dies, and the nurse announces that Oliver's mother was found

lying in the streets the night before. The surgeon notices that she is not

wearing a wedding ring.

Oliver remains at the workhouse for about nine months, until the

authorities hear of his "hungry and destitute situation." They send him to

a branch-workhouse for juvenile offenders against the poor laws. The

overseer, Mrs. Mann, receives an adequate sum for each child's upkeep, but

she keeps most of the money and lets the children go hungry. Since she

receives advance warning of upcoming inspections, her establishment always

appears neat and clean for the inspectors.

On Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle (a minor

church official), informs Mrs. Mann that Oliver is too old to stay at her

establishment. Since no one has been able to locate his father or discover

his mother's identity, it has been decided that he must return to the

workhouse.

Mrs. Mann asks how the boy came to have any name at all. Mr. Bumble

tells her that he keeps a list of names in alphabetical order, naming the

orphans from the list as they are born. Mrs. Mann fetches Oliver. When Mr.

Bumble is not looking, she glowers and shakes her fist at Oliver. He stays

silent about the miserable conditions at her establishment. Before he

departs, Mrs. Mann gives him some bread and butter so that he will not seem

too hungry at the work house.

The workhouse offers the poor the opportunity to starve slowly as

opposed to starving quickly on the streets. The undertaker's bill is a

major budget item due to the large number of deaths. Oliver and his young

companions suffer the "tortures of slow starvation." After lots are cast,

it falls to Oliver to ask for more food at supper. His request so shocks

the authorities that they offer five pounds reward to anyone who will take

Oliver o_ the hands of the parish. They lock him in a dark room, taking him

out only to wash and eat, and ogging him all the while as a public example.

Mr. Gamfield, a brutish chimney sweep, offers to take Oliver as an

apprentice. Because several boys have died under his supervision, the board

considers five pounds too large a reward. After acrimonious negotiation,

they settle on just over three pounds. Mr. Bumble, Mr. Gamfield, and Oliver

appear before a magistrate to seal the bargain. At the last minute, the

magistrate notices Oliver's pale, alarmed face. He asks the boy why he

looks so terrified. Oliver falls on his knees and begs that he be locked in

a room, beaten, killed, or anything besides being apprenticed to Mr.

Gamfield. The magistrate refuses to approve the apprenticeship, and the

workhouse authorities again advertise Oliver's availability.

The workhouse board considers sending Oliver out to sea as a cabin

boy, expected that he would die quickly in such miserable conditions.

However, Mr. Sowerberry, the parish undertaker, takes Oliver on as his

apprentice.

Mr. Bumble informs Oliver that he will suffer dire consequences if he ever

complains about his situation. Mrs. Sowerberry remarks that Oliver is

rather small. Mr. Bumble assures her that he will grow, but she grumbles

that he will grow by eating their food. She serves Oliver the left-overs

that the dog has declined to eat. Oliver devours the food as though it were

a great feast.

After he finishes, Mrs. Sowerberry leads him to his bed, worrying that

his appetite seems so large.

Chapters 5-8

Summary

In the morning, Noah Claypole, Mr. Sowerberry's charity-boy

apprentice, awakens Oliver. He and Charlotte, the maid, taunt Oliver during

breakfast.

Oliver accompanies Sowerberry to a pauper's burial. The husband of the

deceased delivers a tearful tirade against his wife's death by starvation.

He says that he once tried to beg for her, but the authorities sent him to

prison for the offense. The deceased's mother begs for some bread and a

cloak to wear for the funeral.

At the graveyard before the funeral, some ragged boys play hide and

seek among the gravestones and jump back and forth over the coffin to amuse

themselves. Mr. Bumble beats a few of the boys to keep up appearances.

The clergyman performs the service in four minutes. Mr. Bumble ushers

the grieving family out of the cemetery, and Mr. Sowerberry takes the cloak

away from the dead woman's mother. Oliver decides that he is not at all

fond of the undertaking business.

A measles epidemic arrives, and Oliver gains extensive experience in

undertaking. His master dresses him well so that he can march in the

processions. Oliver notes that the relatives of deceased wealthy elderly

people quickly overcome their grief after the funeral. Their fortitude in

the face of loss impresses him.

Noah becomes increasingly jealous of Oliver's speedy advancement. One

day, he insults Oliver's dead mother. Oliver attacks him in a _t of rage.

Charlotte and Mrs. Sowerberry rush to Noah's aid, and the three of

them beat Oliver and lock him in the cellar. Noah rushes to fetch Mr.

Bumble, sobbing and convulsing so that his injuries appear much worse than

they are.

Mr. Bumble informs Mrs. Sowerberry that feeding meat to Oliver gives

him more spirit than is appropriate to his station in life. Still enraged,

Oliver kicks at the cellar door. Sowerberry returns home and gives Oliver a

sound thrashing and locks him up again. Oliver's rage dissipates, and he

dissolves into tears. Early the next morning, he runs away.

Oliver decides to walk the seventy miles to London. Hunger, cold, and

fatigue weaken him over the next seven days. Apart from an old woman and a

kind turnpike man, many people are cruel to him during his journey.

In one village, signs warn against begging under the penalty of jail.

Oliver limps into a small town where he collapses in a doorway. He notices

a boy his age staring at him.

The boy, named Jack Dawkins, wears a man's clothing and acts much

older than his age. He purchases a large lunch for Oliver and informs him

that he knows a "gentleman" in London who will lodge him for free. Oliver

learns that Jack's nickname is "The Artful Dodger." He guesses from the

Dodger's appearance that his way of life is immoral. He plans to ingratiate

himself with the gentleman in London and then end all association with the

Dodger.

That night, Jack takes Oliver to a squalid London neighborhood. At a

dilapidated house, Jack calls out a password, and a man allows them to

enter.

Jack conducts Oliver into a filthy, black back-room where a

"shrivelled old Jew" named Fagin and some boys are having supper. Silk

handkerchiefs hang everywhere. The boys smoke pipes and drink liquor

although none appear older than the Dodger. Oliver takes a share of the

dinner and sinks into a deep sleep.

Chapters 9-12

Summary

The next morning, Fagin takes out a box full of jewelry and watches.

He notices Oliver observing him. Grabbing a bread knife, he asks Oliver if

he had been awake an hour before. Oliver denies it, and Fagin instantly

regains his kindly demeanor.

The Artful Dodger returns with another boy, named Charley Bates, with

rolls and hams for breakfast. Fagin asks if they worked hard that morning.

The Dodger produces two pocket-books, and Charley pulls out four

handkerchiefs. Fagin replies that they will have to teach Oliver how to

pick out the marks with a needle. Oliver does not know that he has joined a

band of pick-pockets, so he believes their sarcastic jokes about teaching

him how to make handkerchiefs and pocket-books.

Dodger and Charley practice picking Fagin's pockets. Two young women,

Bet and Nancy, drop in for drinks. Fagin gives the all of them some money

and sends them out. Fagin lets Oliver practice taking a handkerchief out of

his pocket and gives him a shilling for a job well done. He begins teaching

him to remove marks from the handkerchiefs.

For days, Fagin keeps Oliver indoors practicing the art of

pickpocketting and removing the marks from handkerchiefs. He notices that

Fagin punishes the Dodger and Charley if they return home empty-handed.

Finally, Fagin sends him out to "work."

After some time, the Dodger notices a wealthy gentleman absorbed in

reading at a bookstall. Oliver watches with horror as they sneak up behind

the man and steal his handkerchief. In a rush, he understands what Fagin's

idea of "work" means.

The gentleman turns just in time to see Oliver running away. Thinking

that Oliver is the thief, he raises a cry. The Dodger and Charley see

Oliver running past them, so they join in the cries of, "Stop thief!" A

large crowd joins the pursuit. A man punches Oliver, knocking him to the

pavement.

The gentleman arrives, giving that man a look of disgust. A police officer

arrives and grabs Oliver's collar, ignoring the boy's protests of his

innocence.

The gentleman asks him not to hurt Oliver and follows the officer as

he drags Oliver down the street. The officer locks Oliver in a jail cell to

await his appearance before Mr. Fang, the district magistrate. Mr.

Brownlow, the gentleman, protests that he does not want to press charges.

He thinks he recognizes something in Oliver's face, but cannot put his

finger on it. Oliver faints in the courtroom, and Mr. Fang sentences him to

three months of hard labour. The owner of the bookstall rushes in and tells

Mr. Fang that two other boys committed the crime. Oliver is cleared of all

charges. Pitying the poor, sickly child, Brownlow takes Oliver into a coach

with him and drives away.

Oliver lies in a delirious fever for days. When he awakes, Brownlow's

kindly housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin is watching over him. He says that he feels

as if his mother had come to sit by him. The story of Oliver's pitiful

orphanhood brings tears to her eyes. Once he is strong enough to sit in an

easy-chair, Mrs. Bedwin carries him downstairs to her room. A portrait of a

young woman catches Oliver's eye. It seems to affect him so much, that Mrs.

Bedwin fears the emotion will wear him out. She turns the chair away from

the picture.

Mr. Brownlow drops in to see how Oliver was faring. Tears come to his

eyes when Oliver tries to stand, but collapses from weakness. Oliver thanks

him for his kindness. Brownlow exclaims with astonishment that Oliver so

closely resembles the portrait of the young lady. Brownlow's exclamation

startles Oliver so much that he faints.

Chapters 13-15

Summary

Fagin erupts into a rage when the Dodger and Charley return without

Oliver. He tosses a pot of beer at Charley, but hits Bill Sikes instead.

Sikes is a rough and cruel man who makes his living by robbing houses. They

resolve to find Oliver before he snitches on their entire operation. They

persuade Nancy to go to the police station to find out what happened to

him.

Nancy dresses respectably and presents herself at the station as

Oliver's distraught "sister." She learns that the gentleman from whom the

hankerchief was stolen took Oliver home with him to the neighborhood of

Pentonville because the boy had fallen ill during the proceedings. Fagin

sends Charley, the Dodger, and Nancy to Pentonville to find Oliver. He

decides to shut down his operation and relocate. He fills his pockets with

the watches and jewelry from the hidden box after they leave.

When Oliver next enters the housekeeper's room he notices that the portrait

is gone. Mrs. Bedwin states that Brownlow removed it because it seemed to

"worry" him. Oliver asks no more questions. One day, Brownlow sends for

Oliver to meet him in his study. Thinking that Brownlow means to send him

away, Oliver begs to remain as a servant. Brownlow assures him that he

means to be his friend. He asks Oliver to tell him his history. Before

Oliver can begin, Brownlow's friend, Mr. Grimwig, arrives to visit.

Grimwig, a crusty old curmudgeon, hints that Oliver might be a boy of

bad habits and idle ways. Brownlow bears his friend's eccentric

irascibility with good humor. Mrs. Bedwin brings in a parcel of books

delivered by the bookstall keeper's boy. Brownlow tells her to stop the boy

because he wishes to send his payment and some returns back with him.

However, the boy has disappeared from sight. Grimwig suggests that he send

Oliver, but hints that he might steal the payment and the books. Wishing to

prove Grimwig wrong, Brownlow sends Oliver on the errand. It grows dark and

Oliver does not return.

Oliver takes a wrong turn on the way to the bookstall. Suddenly Nancy

jumps out of nowhere. She tells everyone on the street that Oliver is her

runaway brother. She announces that he joined a band of thieves and that

she is taking him back home to their parents. Everyone ignores Olive's

protests. Bill Sikes runs out of a beer shop and they drag him through the

dark, narrow backstreets.

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