Oliver TwistCharles Dickens←Plot Overview→

Oliver Twist is born in a workhouse in 1830s England. His mother,whose name no one knows, is found on the street and dies just after Oliver’s birth. Oliver spends the first nine years of his life in a badly run home for young orphans and then is transferred to a workhouse for adults. After the other boys bullyOliver into asking for more gruel at the end of a meal, Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, offers five pounds to anyone who will take the boy away from the workhouse. Oliver narrowly escapes being apprenticed to a brutish chimney sweep and is eventually apprenticed to a local undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry. When the undertaker’s other apprentice, Noah Claypole, makes disparaging comments about Oliver’s mother, Oliver attacks him and incurs theSowerberrys’ wrath. Desperate, Oliver runs away at dawn and travels toward London.

Outside London, Oliver, starved and exhausted, meets Jack Dawkins, a boy his own age. Jack offers him shelter in the Londonhouse of his benefactor, Fagin. It turns out that Fagin is a career criminal who trains orphan boys to pick pockets for him. After a few days of training, Oliver is sent on a pickpocketing mission with two other boys. When he sees them swipe a handkerchief from an elderly gentleman, Oliver is horrified and runs off. He is caught but narrowly escapes being convicted of the theft. Mr. Brownlow, the man whose handkerchief was stolen, takes the feverish Oliver to his home and nurses him back to health. Mr. Brownlow is struck by Oliver’s resemblance to a portrait of a young woman that hangs in his house. Oliver thrivesin Mr. Brownlow’s home, but two young adults in Fagin’s gang, Bill Sikes and his lover Nancy, capture Oliver and return him to Fagin.

Fagin sends Oliver to assist Sikes in a burglary. Oliver is shot by a servant of the house and, after Sikes escapes, is taken in by the women who live there, Mrs. Maylie and her beautiful adopted niece Rose. They grow fond of Oliver, and he spends an idyllic summer with them in the countryside. But Fagin and a mysterious man named Monks are set on recapturing Oliver. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Oliver’s mother left behind a goldlocket when she died. Monks obtains and destroys that locket. When the Maylies come to London, Nancy meets secretly with Rose and informs her of Fagin’s designs, but a member of Fagin’s gang overhears the conversation. When word of Nancy’s disclosure reaches Sikes, he brutally murders Nancy and flees London. Pursued by his guilty conscience and an angry mob, he inadvertently hangs himself while trying to escape.

Mr. Brownlow, with whom the Maylies have reunited Oliver, confronts Monks and wrings the truth about Oliver’s parentage from him. It is revealed that Monks is Oliver’s half brother. Their father, Mr. Leeford, was unhappily married to a wealthy woman and had an affair with Oliver’s mother, Agnes Fleming. Monks has been pursuing Oliver all along in the hopes of ensuringthat his half-brother is deprived of his share of the family inheritance. Mr. Brownlow forces Monks to sign over Oliver’s share to Oliver. Moreover, it is discovered that Rose is Agnes’s younger sister, hence Oliver’s aunt. Fagin is hung for his crimes. Finally, Mr. Brownlow adopts Oliver, and they and the Maylies retire to a blissful existence in the countryside.

Character List→Oliver Twist -  The novel’s protagonist. Oliver is an orphan bornin a workhouse, and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy toward the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is betweennine and twelve years old when the main action of the novel occurs. Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. His true identity is the central mystery of the novel.

Read an in-depth analysis of Oliver Twist.

Fagin -  A conniving career criminal. Fagin takes in homeless children and trains them to pick pockets for him. He is also a buyer of other people’s stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself, preferring to employ others to commit them—and often suffer legal retribution—in his place. Dickens’s portrait of Fagin displays the influence of anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Read an in-depth analysis of Fagin.

Nancy -  A young prostitute and one of Fagin’s former child pickpockets. Nancy is also Bill Sikes’s lover. Her love for Sikesand her sense of moral decency come into conflict when Sikes abuses Oliver. Despite her criminal lifestyle, she is among the noblest characters in the novel. In effect, she gives her life for Oliver when Sikes murders her for revealing Monks’s plots.

Read an in-depth analysis of Nancy.

Rose Maylie -  Agnes Fleming’s sister, raised by Mrs. Maylie after the death of Rose’s father. A beautiful, compassionate, andforgiving young woman, Rose is the novel’s model of female virtue. She establishes a loving relationship with Oliver even before it is revealed that the two are related. Mr. Brownlow -  A well-off, erudite gentleman who serves as Oliver’s first benefactor. Mr. Brownlow owns a portrait of Agnes Fleming and was engaged to Mr. Leeford’s sister when she died. Throughout the novel, he behaves with compassion and common senseand emerges as a natural leader. Monks -  A sickly, vicious young man, prone to violent fits and teeming with inexplicable hatred. With Fagin, he schemes to give Oliver a bad reputation.

Bill Sikes  -  A brutal professional burglar brought up in Fagin’s gang. Sikes is Nancy's pimp and lover, and he treats bothher and his dog Bull’s-eye with an odd combination of cruelty andgrudging affection. His murder of Nancy is the most heinous of the many crimes that occur in the novel. Mr. Bumble  -  The pompous, self-important beadle—a minor church official—for the workhouse where Oliver is born. Though Mr. Bumble preaches Christian morality, he behaves without compassiontoward the paupers under his care. Dickens mercilessly satirizes his self-righteousness, greed, hypocrisy, and folly, of which hisname is an obvious symbol. Agnes Fleming -  Oliver’s mother. After falling in love with and becoming pregnant by Mr. Leeford, she chooses to die anonymously in a workhouse rather than stain her family’s reputation. A retired naval officer’s daughter, she was a beautiful, loving woman. Oliver’s face closely resembles hers. Mr. Leeford -  Oliver and Monks’s father, who dies long before the events of the novel. He was an intelligent, high-minded man whose family forced him into an unhappy marriage with a wealthy woman. He eventually separated from his wife and had an illicit love affair with Agnes Fleming. He intended to flee the country with Agnes but died before he could do so. Mr. Losberne -  Mrs. Maylie’s family physician. A hot-tempered but good-hearted old bachelor, Mr. Losberne is fiercely loyal to the Maylies and, eventually, to Oliver. Mrs. Maylie -  A kind, wealthy older woman, the mother of Harry Maylie and adoptive “aunt” of Rose.

Harry Maylie -  Mrs. Maylie’s son. Harry is a dashing young man with grand political ambitions and career prospects, which he eventually gives up to marry Rose. The Artful Dodger -  The cleverest of Fagin’s pickpockets. The Dodger’s real name is Jack Dawkins. Though no older than Oliver, the Dodger talks and dresses like a grown man. He introduces Oliver to Fagin. Charley Bates -  One of Fagin’s pickpockets. Charley is ready to laugh at anything. Old Sally -  An elderly pauper who serves as the nurse at Oliver’s birth. Old Sally steals Agnes’s gold locket, the only clue to Oliver’s identity. Mrs. Corney -  The matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. Mrs. Corney is hypocritical, callous, and materialistic. After she marries Mr. Bumble, she hounds him mercilessly. Noah Claypole -  A charity boy and Mr. Sowerberry’s apprentice. Noah is an overgrown, cowardly bully who mistreats Oliver and eventually joins Fagin’s gang. Charlotte -  The Sowerberrys’ maid. Charlotte becomes romantically involved with Noah Claypole and follows him about slavishly. Toby Crackit -  One of Fagin and Sikes’s associates, crass and not too bright. Toby participates in the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie’s home. Mrs. Bedwin -  Mr. Brownlow’s kindhearted housekeeper. Mrs. Bedwin is unwilling to believe Mr. Bumble’s negative report of Oliver’s character. Bull’s-eye -  Bill Sikes’s dog. As vicious as his master, Bull’s-eye functions as Sikes’s alter ego. Monks’s mother -  An heiress who lived a decadent life and alienated her husband, Mr. Leeford. Monks’s mother destroyed Mr. Leeford’s will, which left part of his property to Oliver. Much of Monks’s nastiness is presumably inherited from her. Mr. Sowerberry  -  The undertaker to whom Oliver is apprenticed. Though Mr. Sowerberry makes a grotesque living arranging cut-rateburials for paupers, he is a decent man who is kind to Oliver. Mrs. Sowerberry -  Sowerberry’s wife. Mrs. Sowerberry is a mean, judgmental woman who henpecks her husband.

Mr. Grimwig -  Brownlow’s pessimistic, curmudgeonly friend. Mr. Grimwig is essentially good-hearted, and his pessimism is mostly just a provocative character quirk. Mr. Giles -  Mrs. Maylie’s loyal, though somewhat pompous, butler. Mr. Brittles -  A sort of handyman for Mrs. Maylie’s estate. It is implied that Mr. Brittles is slightly mentally handicapped. Mrs. Mann -  The superintendent of the juvenile workhouse where Oliver is raised. Mrs. Mann physically abuses and half-starves the children in her care. Mr. Gamfield -  A brutal chimney sweep. Oliver almost becomes Mr.Gamfield’s apprentice. Bet -  One of Fagin’s former child pickpockets, now a prostitute.Mr. Fang -  The harsh, irrational, power-hungry magistrate who presides over Oliver’s trial for pickpocketing. Barney -  One of Fagin’s criminal associates. Like Fagin, Barney is Jewish. Duff and Blathers -  Two bumbling police officers who investigatethe attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie’s home. Tom Chitling -  A rather dim member of Fagin’s gang. Tom has served time in jail for doing Fagin’s bidding.

Analysis of Major Characters

→

Oliver Twist

As the child hero of a melodramatic novel of social protest, Oliver Twist is meant to appeal more to our sentiments than to our literary sensibilities. On many levels, Oliver is not a believable character, because although he is raised in corrupt surroundings, his purity and virtue are absolute. Throughout the novel, Dickens uses Oliver’s character to challenge the Victorianidea that paupers and criminals are already evil at birth, arguing instead that a corrupt environment is the source of vice.At the same time, Oliver’s incorruptibility undermines some of Dickens’s assertions. Oliver is shocked and horrified when he sees the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates pick a stranger’s pocketand again when he is forced to participate in a burglary. Oliver’s moral scruples about the sanctity of property seem inborn in him, just as Dickens’s opponents thought that corruption is inborn in poor people. Furthermore, other pauper children use rough Cockney slang, but Oliver, oddly enough, speaks in proper King’s English. His grammatical fastidiousness is also inexplicable, as Oliver presumably is not well-educated. Even when he is abused and manipulated, Oliver does not become angry or indignant. When Sikes and Crackit force him to assist ina robbery, Oliver merely begs to be allowed to “run away and die in the fields.” Oliver does not present a complex picture of a person torn between good and evil—instead, he is goodness incarnate.

Even if we might feel that Dickens’s social criticism would have been more effective if he had focused on a more complex poor character, like the Artful Dodger or Nancy, the audience for whomDickens was writing might not have been receptive to such a portrayal. Dickens’s Victorian middle-class readers were likely to hold opinions on the poor that were only a little less extremethan those expressed by Mr. Bumble, the beadle who treats pauperswith great cruelty. In fact, Oliver Twist was criticized for portraying thieves and prostitutes at all. Given the strict morals of Dickens’s audience, it may have seemed necessary for him to make Oliver a saintlike figure. Because Oliver appealed to

Victorian readers’ sentiments, his story may have stood a better chance of effectively challenging their prejudices.

Nancy

A major concern of Oliver Twist is the question of whether a bad environment can irrevocably poison someone’s character and soul. As the novel progresses, the character who best illustrates the contradictory issues brought up by that question is Nancy. As a child of the streets, Nancy has been a thief and drinks to excess. The narrator’s reference to her “free and agreeable . . .manners” indicates that she is a prostitute. She is immersed in the vices condemned by her society, but she also commits perhaps the most noble act in the novel when she sacrifices her own life in order to protect Oliver. Nancy’s moral complexity is unique among the major characters in Oliver Twist. The novel is full of characters who are all good and can barely comprehend evil, such as Oliver, Rose, and Brownlow; and characters who are all evil and can barely comprehend good, such as Fagin, Sikes, and Monks. Only Nancy comprehends and is capable of both good and evil. Her ultimate choice to do good at a great personal cost is a strong argument in favor of the incorruptibility of basic goodness, no matter how many environmental obstacles it may face.

Nancy’s love for Sikes exemplifies the moral ambiguity of her character. As she herself points out to Rose, devotion to a man can be “a comfort and a pride” under the right circumstances. Butfor Nancy, such devotion is “a new means of violence and suffering”—indeed, her relationship with Sikes leads her to criminal acts for his sake and eventually to her own demise. The same behavior, in different circumstances, can have very different consequences and moral significance. In much of Oliver Twist, morality and nobility are black-and-white issues, but Nancy’s character suggests that the boundary between virtue and vice is not always clearly drawn.

Fagin

Although Dickens denied that anti-Semitism had influenced his portrait of Fagin, the Jewish thief’s characterization does seem

to owe much to ethnic stereotypes. He is ugly, simpering, miserly, and avaricious. Constant references to him as “the Jew” seem to indicate that his negative traits are intimately connected to his ethnic identity. However, Fagin is more than a statement of ethnic prejudice. He is a richly drawn, resonant embodiment of terrifying villainy. At times, he seems like a child’s distorted vision of pure evil. Fagin is described as a “loathsome reptile” and as having “fangs such as should have beena dog’s or rat’s.” Other characters occasionally refer to him as “the old one,” a popular nickname for the devil. Twice, in Chapter 9 and again in Chapter 34, Oliver wakes up to find Fagin nearby. Oliver encounters him in the hazy zone between sleep and waking, at the precise time when dreams and nightmares are born from “the mere silent presence of some external object.” Indeed, Fagin is meant to inspire nightmares in child and adult readers alike. Perhaps most frightening of all, though, is Chapter 52, inwhich we enter Fagin’s head for his “last night alive.” The gallows, and the fear they inspire in Fagin, are a specter even more horrifying to contemplate than Fagin himself.

Themes, Motifs & Symbols

→

Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Failure of Charity

Much of the first part of Oliver Twist challenges the organizations of charity run by the church and the government in Dickens’s time. The system Dickens describes was put into place by the PoorLaw of 1834, which stipulated that the poor could only receive government assistance if they moved into government workhouses. Residents of those workhouses were essentially inmates whose rights were severely curtailed by a host of onerous regulations. Labor was required, families were almost always separated, and rations of food and clothing were meager. The workhouses operatedon the principle that poverty was the consequence of laziness andthat the dreadful conditions in the workhouse would inspire the poor to better their own circumstances. Yet the economic dislocation of the Industrial Revolution made it impossible for many to do so, and the workhouses did not provide any means for social or economic betterment. Furthermore, as Dickens points out, the officials who ran the workhouses blatantly violated the values they preached to the poor. Dickens describes with great sarcasm the greed, laziness, and arrogance of charitable workers like Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Mann. In general, charitable institutions only reproduced the awful conditions in which the poor would live anyway. As Dickens puts it, the poor choose between “being starved by a gradual process in the house, or by aquick one out of it.”

The Folly of Individualism

With the rise of capitalism during the Industrial Revolution, individualism was very much in vogue as a philosophy. Victorian capitalists believed that society would run most smoothly if individuals looked out for their own interests. Ironically, the clearest pronunciation of this philosophy comes not from a legitimate businessman but from Fagin, who operates in the illicit businesses of theft and prostitution. He tells Noah Claypole that “a regard for number one holds us all together, and

must do so, unless we would all go to pieces in company.” In other words, the group’s interests are best maintained if every individual looks out for “number one,” or himself. The folly of this philosophy is demonstrated at the end of the novel, when Nancy turns against Monks, Charley Bates turns against Sikes, andMonks turns against Mrs. Corney. Fagin’s unstable family, held together only by the self-interest of its members, is juxtaposed to the little society formed by Oliver, Brownlow, Rose Maylie, and their many friends. This second group is bound together not by concerns of self-interest but by “strong affection and humanity of heart,” the selfless devotion to each other that Dickens sees as the prerequisite for “perfect happiness.”

Purity in a Corrupt City

Throughout the novel, Dickens confronts the question of whether the terrible environments he depicts have the power to “blacken [the soul] and change its hue for ever.” By examining the fates of most of the characters, we can assume that his answer is that they do not. Certainly, characters like Sikes and Fagin seem to have sustained permanent damage to their moral sensibilities. Yeteven Sikes has a conscience, which manifests itself in the apparition of Nancy’s eyes that haunts him after he murders her. Charley Bates maintains enough of a sense of decency to try to capture Sikes. Of course, Oliver is above any corruption, though the novel removes him from unhealthy environments relatively early in his life. Most telling of all is Nancy, who, though she considers herself “lost almost beyond redemption,” ends up makingthe ultimate sacrifice for a child she hardly knows. In contrast,Monks, perhaps the novel’s most inhuman villain, was brought up amid wealth and comfort.

The Countryside Idealized

All the injustices and privations suffered by the poor in Oliver Twist occur in cities—either the great city of London or the provincial city where Oliver is born. When the Maylies take Oliver to the countryside, he discovers a “new existence.” Dickens asserts that even people who have spent their entire lives in “close and noisy places” are likely, in the last moments

of their lives, to find comfort in half--imagined memories “of sky, and hill and plain.” Moreover, country scenes have the potential to “purify our thoughts” and erase some of the vices that develop in the city. Hence, in the country, “the poor people[are] so neat and clean,” living a life that is free of the squalor that torments their urban counterparts. Oliver and his new family settle in a small village at the novel’s end, as if a happy ending would not be possible in the city. Dickens’s portrait of rural life in Oliver Twist is more approving yet far less realistic than his portrait of urban life. This fact does not contradict, but rather supports, the general estimation of Dickens as a great urban writer. It is precisely Dickens’s distance from the countryside that allows him to idealize it.

Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Disguised or Mistaken Identities

The plot of Oliver Twist revolves around the various false identities that other characters impose upon Oliver, often for the sake of advancing their own interests. Mr. Bumble and the other workhouse officials insist on portraying Oliver as something he is not—an ungrateful, immoral pauper. Monks does hisbest to conceal Oliver’s real identity so that Monks himself can claim Oliver’s rightful inheritance. Characters also disguise their own identities when it serves them well to do so. Nancy pretends to be Oliver’s middle-class sister in order to get him back to Fagin, while Monks changes his name and poses as a commoncriminal rather than the heir he really is. Scenes depicting the manipulation of clothing indicate how it plays an important part in the construction of various characters’ identities. Nancy donsnew clothing to pass as a middle-class girl, and Fagin strips Oliver of all his upper-class credibility when he takes from him the suit of clothes purchased by Brownlow. The novel’s resolutionrevolves around the revelation of the real identities of Oliver, Rose, and Monks. Only when every character’s identity is known with certainty does the story achieve real closure.

Hidden Family Relationships

The revelation of Oliver’s familial ties is among the novel’s most unlikely plot turns: Oliver is related to Brownlow, who was married to his father’s sister; to Rose, who is his aunt; and to Monks, who is his half-brother. The coincidences involved in these facts are quite unbelievable and represent the novel’s rejection of realism in favor of fantasy. Oliver is at first believed to be an orphan without parents or relatives, a positionthat would, in that time and place, almost certainly seal his doom. Yet, by the end of the novel, it is revealed that he has more relatives than just about anyone else in the novel. This reversal of his fortunes strongly resembles the fulfillment of a naïve child’s wish. It also suggests the mystical binding power of family relationships. Brownlow and Rose take to Oliver immediately, even though he is implicated in an attempted robberyof Rose’s house, while Monks recognizes Oliver the instant he sees him on the street. The influence of blood ties, it seems, can be felt even before anyone knows those ties exist.

Surrogate Families

Before Oliver finds his real family, a number of individuals serve him as substitue parents, mostly with very limited success.Mrs. Mann and Mr. Bumble are surrogate parents, albeit horribly negligent ones, for the vast numbers of orphans under their care.Mr. Sowerberry and his wife, while far from ideal, are much more serviceable parent figures to Oliver, and one can even imagine

that Oliver might have grown up to be a productive citizen under their care. Interestingly, it is the mention of his real mother that leads to Oliver’s voluntary abandonment of the Sowerberrys. The most provocative of the novel’s mock family structures is theunit formed by Fagin and his young charges. Fagin provides for and trains his wards nearly as well as a father might, and he inspires enough loyalty in them that they stick around even afterthey are grown. But these quasi-familial relationships are built primarily around exploitation and not out of true concern or selfless interest. Oddly enough, the only satisfactory surrogate parents Oliver finds are Brownlow and Rose, both of whom turn outto be actual relatives.

Oliver’s Face

Oliver’s face is singled out for special attention at multiple points in the novel. Mr. Sowerberry, Charley Bates, and Toby Crackit all comment on its particular appeal, and its resemblanceto the portrait of Agnes Fleming provides the first clue to Oliver’s identity. The power of Oliver’s physiognomy, combined with the facts that Fagin is hideous and Rose is beautiful, suggests that in the world of the novel, external appearance usually gives a fair impression of a person’s inner character.

Symbols Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Characters’ Names

The names of characters represent personal qualities. Oliver Twist himself is the most obvious example. The name “Twist,” though given by accident, alludes to the outrageous reversals of fortune that he will experience. Rose Maylie’s name echoes her association with flowers and springtime, youth and beauty. Toby Crackit’s name is a lighthearted reference to his chosen profession of breaking into houses. Mr. Bumble’s name connotes his bumbling arrogance; Mrs. Mann’s, her lack of maternal instinct; and Mr. Grimwig’s, his superficial grimness that can beremoved as easily as a wig.

Bull’s-eye

Bill Sikes’s dog, Bull’s-eye, has “faults of temper in common with his owner” and is a symbolic emblem of his owner’s character. The dog’s viciousness reflects and represents Sikes’s own animal-like brutality. After Sikes murders Nancy, Bull’s-eye comes to represent Sikes’s guilt. The dog leaves bloody footprints on the floor of the room where the murder is committed. Not long after, Sikes becomes desperate to get rid of the dog, convinced that the dog’s presence will give him away. Yet, just as Sikes cannot shake off his guilt, he cannot shake off Bull’s-eye, who arrives at the house of Sikes’s demise beforeSikes himself does. Bull’s-eye’s name also conjures up the image of Nancy’s eyes, which haunts Sikes until the bitter end and eventually causes him to hang himself accidentally.

London Bridge

Nancy’s decision to meet Brownlow and Rose on London Bridge reveals the symbolic aspect of this bridge in Oliver Twist. Bridges exist to link two places that would otherwise be separated by an uncrossable chasm. The meeting on London Bridge represents the collision of two worlds unlikely ever to come into contact—the idyllic world of Brownlow and Rose, and the atmosphere of degradation in which Nancy lives. On the bridge, Nancy is given the chance to cross over to the better way of life that the others represent, but she rejects that opportunity, and by the time the three have all left the bridge, that possibility has vanished forever.

Oliver Twist's mother dies after the birth of her child in a workhouse. The infant's father is unknown, and the orphan is placed in a private juvenile home. After nine years of mistreatment, the boy is returned to the workhouse for even more abuse. After representing his fellow sufferers in an attempt to get more food, Oliver is punished and is apprenticed to Sowerberry, an undertaker. Noah Claypole, a charity boy working for Oliver's master, goads Oliver to rebellion, for which Oliver

is savagely flogged. Consequently, Oliver runs away and heads forLondon.

Near London, Oliver joins company with John Dawkins, The Artful Dodger, a questionable character who brings the boy to Fagin, theringleader of a gang of criminals. Instructed in the "art" of picking pockets, Oliver goes out with Charles Bates and the Dodger. His companions pick an old gentleman's pocket and flee, and Oliver is arrested for their offense. At the police station, the terrified boy is cleared by the testimony of the bookseller who witnessed the theft. Oliver collapses and is taken home by Mr. Brownlow, the victim of the crime.

While Oliver recovers at his benefactor's home, Brownlow is puzzled by the resemblance between Oliver's features and the portrait of a young woman. Fagin is apprehensive and furious at Oliver's rescue. Nancy, one of his trusty retainers, is set on the boy's trail as the gang shifts headquarters.

Mr. Grimwig, Brownlow's friend, has no faith in Oliver, so Oliveris sent on an errand to test his honesty. The boy is recaptured by Nancy and her friend Bill Sikes, a vicious lawbreaker. Oliver is restored to Fagin, who holds him in strict captivity for a while. In the meantime, Bumble, a minor parish official from Oliver's birthplace, answers Brownlow's advertisement inquiring about Oliver. Bumble turns Oliver's benefactor against him by grossly misrepresenting the boy's history and character.

Eager to get Oliver completely in his power by thoroughly involving the child in some crime, Fagin convinces Bill Sikes to use Oliver in a major burglary that is being planned. Sikes takesOliver westward through the city to a rendezvous near Chertsey with Toby Crackit.

At the house that is to be burglarized, Oliver is hoisted througha small window. The occupants are aroused and in the resulting melee, Oliver is shot. The robbers run off with the wounded Oliver but abandon him in a ditch.

In the workhouse, Sally, the old pauper who attended Oliver's mother, is dying. At her urgent request, Mrs. Corney, the matron,sees the old woman alone before she expires. Immediately thereafter Bumble and the matron agree to marry.

Fagin is greatly upset when Toby Crackit returns alone. Fagin makes anxious inquiries about Sikes. He then has an ominous meeting with a person called Monks, who is angry with Fagin, who he claims has failed in his obligation to ruin Oliver by trickinghim into a lawless life

When Oliver regains consciousness in a ditch, he stumbles to the nearest house, which proves to be the site of the attempted burglary. The owner, Mrs. Maylie, takes the boy in and protects him with connivance of her doctor, Mr. Losberne. The boy is takento a cottage in the country, where Mrs. Maylie's niece Rose suffers a near-fatal illness. In the town inn yard, Oliver encounters a repulsive stranger who later spies on him with Fagin. Rose rejects the proposal of Mrs. Maylie's son, Harry, buthe does not accept her refusal as final.

Monks meets the Bumbles and purchases a locket that Mrs. Bumble redeemed with a pawn ticket that she took away from the dead Sally, who had received the pledge from Oliver's dying mother. The trinket contains a ring inscribed with the name "Agnes"; Monks drops it into the river.

Nancy, who sympathizes with Oliver, nurses Sikes until he regainshis "natural" meanness. She drugs the man and slips away to Hyde Park for a secret meeting with Rose Maylie. Nancy tells Miss Maylie everything that she has learned by eavesdropping on Fagin and Monks on two occasions. The two rogues are plotting the destruction of the object of Monks's inveterate hatred — his brother Oliver. Mr. Brownlow, who has been absent from London, reappears and Rose tells him Nancy's story. Harry Maylie, Grimwig, and Mr. Losberne are also briefed on what Nancy has learned.

Noah Claypole and Charlotte, Sowerberry's maidservant, hide out in London after she has plundered the undertaker's till. They are

discovered by Fagin, and Noah is employed to visit the police station to bring back information about the Dodger's indictment as a pickpocket. Because of her suspicious behavior, Fagin then assigns the sneak to spy on her. Nancy has a midnight meeting with Rose and Brownlow on London Bridge. Nancy informs Brownlow how he can corner Monks. Noah hears everything and immediately reports his findings to Fagin.

Fagin waits up for the marauding Sikes and provokingly discloses Nancy's double-dealing. Sikes promptly goes home and bludgeons her to death. After wandering in the country for a day, haunted by his evil deed, the murderer returns to London.

Mr. Brownlow has seized Monks and taken him to his home. The resultant disclosures clear up many mysteries. Brownlow had been engaged to the sister of his friend Edwin Leeford, Monk's father.While yet a mere boy, Leeford was forced into a bad marriage. Thecouple had only one child — Monks — and separated. Leeford becameattached to a retired naval officer's daughter, Agnes Fleming. But Leeford died suddenly in Rome while looking after an inheritance. His wife had come to him from Paris just before his death. At the time, Agnes was expecting a child — the future Oliver Twist. Before leaving for Italy, Leeford had left the girl's picture with his friend Brownlow.

On account of the striking similarity between Oliver's face and Agnes Fleming's, Brownlow has been searching for Monks since the boy's disappearance. With the help of Nancy's discoveries, Brownlow has learned all about the destruction of Leeford's will,the disposal of the identifying trinket that Oliver's mother possessed, and Monks's vindictive conspiracy with Fagin to destroy the innocent boy. Faced with these revelations and a reminder of his complicity in the murder of Nancy, Monks comes toterms in return for immunity on the condition that Monks make restitution to his brother (Oliver) in accordance with the original will.

Toby Crackit and Tom Chitling have taken refuge in a crumbling building amid the ruins of Jacob's Island, in an inlet on the south side of the Thames. Fagin has been arrested, along with

Claypole, while Chitling and Bates escaped. An unwelcome additionto the group is Bill Sikes, who is being tracked down. Charley Bates turns against the killer and raises an alarm to guide the pursuers. Attempting to escape from the house top, Sikes falls and is hanged in his own noose.

Oliver returns to the town of his birth with Mrs. Maylie, Rose, and Mr. Losberne. Brownlow follows with Monks. Monks confirms what he has already declared in writing. The past history of the two half-brothers is recapitulated. Their father's will left the bulk of his fortune to Agnes Fleming and her expected child. The Bumbles admit their part in the affair after being confronted with Monks's confession.

A new disclosure concerns Rose, who is of uncertain origin, although recognized by Mrs. Maylie as her niece. Rose is in reality the younger sister of Agnes Fleming, hence Oliver's aunt.Harry Maylie has repudiated his station in life to become a village parson, so the way is cleared for the young couple's betrothal.

Fagin is found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. While in prisonawaiting execution, he disintegrates into a state of unrepentant maliciousness, but on his last night, he is visited by Brownlow and Oliver. Regaining some semblance of humanity, he reveals the location of some papers relevant to Oliver's interests.

For testifying against Fagin, Claypole is pardoned, and he and Charlotte live by disreputable means. Charles Bates reforms and becomes a herdsman. The other leading members of Fagin's gang aretransported from England. In accordance with Mr. Brownlow's recommendation, Oliver shares his fortune with Monks, who nevertheless later dies in prison, destitute.

Rose and Harry Maylie are married, and Mrs. Maylie lives with them. Brownlow adopts Oliver and they settle near the parsonage, as does Mr. Losberne.

The Bumbles lose their positions and become inmates of the workhouse where Agnes Fleming died after giving birth to Oliver Twist.

Setting of Oliver Twist The story of Oliver Twist is a dark tale of corruption, degrading living conditions, and the terror of unanticipated violence. The novel takes place against a background that is by degrees appropriately sinister. Slime and filth seem inescapable. Even the elements conspire to accentuate the dismal atmosphere; the weather is often bitterly cold, and rain and fog are frequent.

Because criminals are thought to be creatures of the night, a large amount of significant action that takes place after dark. Sunlight rarely penetrates their gloomy world and even then perhaps only to mock — as on the morning that Nancy is killed. The only period of sustained brightness is during the summer months when Oliver stays with the Maylies at their rural cottage.Even then, black shadows are cast by Rose's near-fatal illness and the chilling intrusion of Monks and Fagin.

The novel deals mainly with poverty and crime — the results of abandoning the rules and practices of social awareness and

compassion. The criminal elements in the novel represent the outcasts of society who lurk inside crumbling ruins. These structures represent the tottering institutions that have helped to deform their lives. In Dickens's descriptions, the words "neglect" and "decay" recur insistently. And it has been the neglect of human values that has fostered the spiritual decay that is so aptly reflected in the odious surroundings.

Plot and Structure of Oliver Twist The plot of a novel is a synthesis of all elements that make up the material. It is not the same as the story, although story is an essential component of plot. The story provides the framework in the form of a sequence of events related by the forces that cause them to take place.

Oliver Twist is a typical Dickens novel, fashioned around a core of tangled intrigue that brings together a large number of people. These characters are of varied origins and diverse backgrounds. On the surface, it would seem unlikely that their paths should ever cross, but they are all inexorably drawn into the same web of circumstances. Dickens suggests that the lives of people of all stations may become intertwined. No one, he says, is safe from being influenced by the actions of others — possibly even complete strangers. The resulting complications and their unraveling contribute a large measure of mystery and suspense. Writers and critics sometimes use the term denouement in connection with the resolution of a story. The French word simplymeans an unknotting or an unscrambling of a jumble of twine. See how easily that relates to the complex interactions of a Dickens story.

The characteristic distinguishing ingredients of plot are conflict and resolution. In Oliver Twist, there are dual conflicts: the one between Monks and Oliver, the other between Fagin and Sikes. Through his conspiracy with Monks, Fagin becomes involved in both conflicts. He also becomes the agent whose decisions

trigger the two lines of inevitable action, which subsequently converge.

The crisis in Oliver's conflicts involves no significant desire on his part. Fagin makes one critical decision when he maneuvers Oliver into the Chertsey fiasco. The unsuccessful burglary is theclimax in the boy's misadventures. The grim disaster leaves him utterly helpless, but it is a turning point and his fortunes steadily improve from there. The resolution of his difficulties is achieved by Brownlow's triumph over Monks.

In the smoldering rivalry between Sikes and Fagin, the crisis is reached when Fagin actually plans to have Sikes murdered. Fagin'sfirst step to eliminate Sikes involves having Nancy spied upon. This leads directly to the climax of the girl's murder. With thatbloody deed, the entire company of thieves is drawn into a whirlpool of events, which ultimately brings them all to ruin. The denouement discussed earlier — the unknotting of story complications — comes with Sikes literally being hanged in his own noose, at the end of the day when the gang has been demolished.

Dickens's illustrations of the complications and their unravelingare accomplished by means of a complex mosaic of back-illumination. This technique offers several distinct advantages. It makes it easier to raise suspense to a high pitch and keep reader interest at a lively level. In order to draw the numerous persons into the current of events, Dickens is forced to make liberal use of accident and coincidence. By using the tricks and techniques of the dramatist that he was, Dickens is able to obscure his coincidences and accidents to the point where the reader scarcely notices.

Other improbabilities are also made to seem real through Dickens's manipulation. In Chapter 49, for example, Brownlow undermines Monks's resistance with the startling words "the only proofs of the boy's identity lie at the bottom of the river, and the old hag that received them from the mother is rotting in her coffin." These are the exact words that Nancy claimed to have overheard from Monks while she was engaged in her risky game of

eavesdropping on Monks's secret meeting with Fagin. Then Rose precisely remembered this statement after her tempestuous meetingwith Nancy in Chapter 40 and passed it on to Brownlow, who uses it to demoralize Monks with the very words that he spoke to Faginin supposed secret. This flawless transmission would verge on theabsurd if it were methodically reported in normal time-sequence. But as it is, the implausibility is lost sight of in the intricate patterns of disclosure.

The novel exhibits many characteristics of melodrama. The qualityof pathos (sentimentality) is freely injected, most gratuitously in the case of Oliver's friend, "little Dick." The portrait of Oliver's mother and Monks's scar are signs used as recognition devices. Other examples of standard melodramatic apparatus include the doings of the evil brother, a destroyed will, assumednames, and the discovery of unknown relatives.

The romantic subplot between Rose and Harry uses elements of melodrama. In the contest between the evil and good forces of thebook, Rose stands out in a dazzling display that would today be called "goody-goody." Harry's noble abandonment of fame and fortune for the sake of true love is a lofty tribute to virtuous sentiment — it could happen in real life, but it often does not. Although the romance is hardly a vital element of the plot, it does follow established literary tradition and provides a center of interest for bringing the book to a conclusion.

Themes of Oliver Twist Oliver Twist is a novel teeming with many closely interrelated ideas.There is preoccupation with the miseries of poverty and the spread of its degrading effects through society. With poverty comes hunger, another theme that is raised throughout the book, along with Dickens's notion that a misguided approach to the issues of poverty and homelessness brings many evils in its wake.

One of the worse consequences of poverty and being deprived of life's essentials is crime, with all of its corrosive effects on human nature. Dickens gives a great deal of attention to the painful alienation from society suffered by the criminal, who maycome to feel completely isolated as the fragile foundations of his own hostile world snap. Crime is bad enough in itself, Dickens seems to be saying. When crime is the result of poverty, it completely dehumanizes society.

On the positive side, Dickens places heavy value on the elevatinginfluence of a wholesome environment. He emphasizes the power of benevolence to overcome depravity. And goodness — like criminal intent — may expect to earn its own suitable reward. Sound familiar? The Dickensian theme of virtue being its own reward hasits roots in the novels and poems of chivalry and redemption, where the good prosper and the "wicked" are sent packing.

Symbolism in Oliver Twist many levels of symbolism. Setting and characters may convey symbolic meaning aside from their plot functions. Some trait or gesture of a person may symbolize an aspect of his character, as Bumble's fondness for his three-cornered hat serves to illuminatehis devotion to a tradition of recognition, status, and power.

A purely symbolic character is one who has no plot function at all. The chimney sweep, Gamfield, may be looked upon in this light. He contributes nothing to the development of the plot but stands forth as a significant embodiment of unprovoked cruelty. Ordinarily, symbolic statement gives expression to an abstraction, something less obvious and, perhaps, even hidden. Inspite of his conspicuous role in the plot, Brownlow exemplifies at all times the virtue of benevolence.

The novel is shot through with another symbol, obesity, which calls attention to hunger and the poverty that produces it by calling attention to their absence. It is interesting to observe

the large number of characters who are overweight. Regardless of economics, those who may be considered prosperous enough to be reasonably well-fed pose a symbolic contrast to poverty and undernourishment. For example, notice that the parish board is made up of "eight or ten fat gentlemen"; the workhouse master is a "fat, healthy man"; Bumble is a "portly person"; Giles is fat and Brittles "by no means of a slim figure"; Mr. Losberne is "a fat gentleman"; one of the Bow Street runners is "a portly man." In many ways, obesity was as much a sign of social status as clothing.

Setting is heavily charged with symbolism in Oliver Twist. The physical evidences of neglect and decay have their counterparts in society and in the hearts of men and women. The dark deeds anddark passions are concretely characterized by dim rooms, smoke, fog, and pitch-black nights. The governing mood of terror and merciless brutality may be identified with the frequent rain and uncommonly cold weather.

Dickens's style is marked by a kind of literary obesity that is displeasing to some modern tastes. But in this connection — as inall others — we need to look at Dickens from the standpoint of his contemporaries. This means judging his art in one instance asit was viewed by the audience he addressed, whose tastes and expectations were vastly different from our own. A tribute to thegreatness of his work is that it can still be read with pleasure today in spite of some of its excesses.

In many ways, the pace of life was more unhurried and deliberate in the early-nineteenth century than it is now, so readers would have the time to savor Dickens's rich use of language. In a period when people were thrown much on their own resources for diversion, without the intrusions of movies, radio, or television, they could enjoy a display of literary virtuosity forits own sake. The practice of reading aloud helped to bring out the novelist's artistry. When Dickens read from his books, his audiences were entranced, so he must, at least unconsciously, have written with some thought for oral effect.

The conditions of publication undoubtedly were instrumental in shaping the writer's technique. When he was faced with the challenge of holding his readers for over a year, he had to make his scenes unforgettable and his characters memorable. Only a vivid recollection could sustain interest for a month between chapters. Also, there was a need to cram each issue with abundantaction to satisfy those who would re-read it while waiting impatiently for the next installment. What may seem excessively rich fare to those who can read the novel straight through without breaking may have only whetted the appetites of the original readers. The immediate popularity of Dickens's works bears witness to the soundness of his literary judgment.

About Oliver Twist In his preface to Oliver Twist, Dickens emphatically expressed resentment at the practice in popular literature of depicting rogues, like Macheath in The Beggar's Opera, as dashing figures, leading lively and colorful lives. He considers such misrepresentations as a potentially harmful influence on impressionable minds. Dickens firmly maintains that the nature and behavior of his seemingly extreme characters reflect truth without distortion, however implausible they may seem.

Dickens is frequently charged with offering a view of the world that exaggerates reality. A novelist, however, communicates his interpretation of life through the medium of fiction. His accomplishment grows out of a blend of experience and imagination. In judging the writer's success, we have to grant

his purposes and goal. Dickens was fascinated by extreme behaviorand attitudes. He had a peculiar talent for exaggeration. For him, real life was the springboard for fancy. Thus the world of story he created is a mirror in which the truths of the real world are reflected.

Oliver Twist is a good illustration of Dickens's belief that the novel should do more than merely entertain. It should, he believed, be directed toward social reform. This does not mean Dickens was a propagandist who held forth idealistic goals as cures for the ills of the world. Although he bitterly attacks thedefects of existing institutions — government, the law, education, penal systems — and mercilessly exposes the injustice and wretchedness inflicted by them, he does not suggest the overthrow of the established order. Nor will you find any easy answers or pat solutions.

Dickens's attitudes and themes reflect a general approval of the English state and society. He could not have had such enormous popularity if he had not in a large measure voiced sentiments andvalues that motivated the readers of his times. Dickens looked upon almost all institutions with suspicion, including religious movements. In Hard Times, trade unionism is shown to be loaded withthe potential for mischief, in the manner of all oppressive forces when those in power fall prey to corruption and abuse. Dickens had little confidence in systems as agencies of good but placed his faith in people.

To bring about improvements, he depended upon the release of the goodness that he felt to be inherent in all human nature. Dickenskept a strong belief that people, if they were not stifled, wouldbehave with fairness. As a result, he firmly hated all individuals, institutions, and systems that he regarded as standing in the way of natural human goodness. He does not believe this endowment of human goodness is indestructible. In Oliver Twist, he acknowledges that the trait of goodness in humanity can be irretrievably lost if it is subjected to ungoverned corrupting influences.

For this reason, Dickens lays great stress on environment in the development of character and regulation of conduct. Although he had little faith in the operation of politics, he rested his hopes for progress on education. But schooling must be well conceived and administered. In many of his books, Dickens demonstrates with the full strength of his satiric lash how education, in the hands of the wrong authority figures, can become as bad if not worse than ignorance. It is noteworthy that whenever Oliver Twist's fortunes begin to rise, his benefactors immediately take an interest in his education.

Dickens is often accused of being weak or lacking in character portrayal. But in this regard, as in other feats of dramatic exposition, Dickens's distinctive gifts as a storyteller yielded the most remarkable creations. Dickens was more concerned with the outer behavior of people than he was with the exploration of psychological depths. For the most part, his characters are considered "flat" because they don't reveal varied facets of personality or develop as the narrative unfolds. Instead, they remain unchanged through the course of events and interaction with other characters. Since they are not gradually built up intocomplex human beings, characters may sometimes suddenly act contrary to expectations.

Some of Dickens's more eccentric characters may seem overdrawn, but they usually discharge a serious function in his fiction. They are not to be looked upon as representative types of actual humanity. Second-rank characters regularly are given some identity tag or trait when they are first introduced, often by being labeled with some idiosyncrasy. They are readily rememberedthereafter by the recurring peculiarity of speech or behavior, even when they have little to do with the mainstream of action. Thus, Dickens's secondary characters are usually the most memorable. His unsavory figures also tend to stand out more than the models of rectitude and propriety. This is because it is moredifficult for a writer to dramatize or signify by a phrase or gesture. As a result, Dickens's protagonists are frequently pallid, unconvincing figures who lack the vitality and

individuality that distinguish the villains and secondary characters.

Dickens loved the operatic and demonstrative narrative intensity that has been called melodrama. His characters reflect this. The principals fall into two groups whose natures are predominantly white (virtuous or proper) or black (villainous and mean-spiritedbordering on violent) . The serious characters between whom the essential conflict takes place therefore embody the extremes of virtue and viciousness.

The novels of Dickens are marked — many would insist marred — by an erratic looseness of construction that may confuse readers whoare more used to unified works. In the case of Dickens, it may bedifficult to discover what the center of a work is — what it is precisely about — which should be expressible in a succinct statement. The plot is woven out of an involved central intrigue that can be hard to unravel because of the distractions of subordinate and irrelevant incidents.

The resort to melodrama, particularly in the rendition of great crucial scenes, can defeat the writer's designs. When the effort to portray tragic intensity lapses into melodrama and sentimentality, the effect upon the reader is reduced. Pathos must be utilized with care, otherwise readers may resent having their feelings exploited.

In his humor , Dickens's exuberance also carried him beyond the bounds of moderation, but he seldom lost sight of his intentions.He liberally indulged in humorous riffs solely to ornament the story and amuse his audience. He also made use of humor for satiric effect by exaggerating weakness or vice to reduce it to maximum absurdity. When particularly aroused by an offense against humanity, Dickens may introduce the exaggeration of caustic irony — saying the opposite of what he really meant, but trusting the reader to "get" the true intent — that resolves intoopen sarcasm.

But whatever faults Dickens may have, they are the faults of genius. Many of the technical flaws in his works were imposed by

historical circumstances. He was not only a confirmed moralist but a supreme storyteller. He fully recognized that in order for the world to receive his message, his books had to be read. That meant that he had subtly to attract his readers by taking into account their tastes and desires.

When Dickens began writing, the novel had not yet reached the state of development and acceptance it was later to reach. Peoplewho read novels expected to be entertained. Fiction was looked upon as light reading and at the time was not always considered respectable. Shrewd novelist that he was, Dickens provided his readers with lively diversion while soothing their consciences with moral flavoring.

The novel as a literary form was still developing ,so Dickens followed the eighteenth-century tradition that favored long, rambling tales, freely embellished with uplifting attributes. In addition, the form of Dickens's books was partially dictated by the needs of serial publication. Serialization prescribed an episodic structure rather than a tightly contrived plot conveyed by a dexterously linked story. Each installment needed to be in some degree an independent entity with its own center of interest, while at the same time leading up to a height of suspense in anticipation of the next issue.

For Dickens, this episodic format meant that he was often writingthe installments of a particular novel to keep up with the publication schedule of a magazine, sometimes barely keeping ahead of the typesetters. He had no opportunity for revising and polishing his efforts after a novel was finished, and a work might never be planned as a whole. The author sometimes knew no better than his readers what was to happen next. On November 3, 1837, writing about Oliver Twist, Dickens observed to his friend and biographer, John Forster: "I hope to do great things with Nancy. If I can only work out the idea I have formed of her, and of the female who is to contrast with her. . . ." In September 1838, when the novel was almost completed, he confided to Forster that he had not yet "disposed of the Jew Fagin, who is such an out andouter that I don't know what to make of him." In that same work, the author had intended to have Rose Maylie die, but he later

rejected the opportunity for a pathetic scene and allowed her to recover.

Whatever imperfections Dickens's writing may contain, his extraordinary popularity can leave no doubt that he was the reigning literary figure of his day. His works represented the blending of his genius with a tradition he inherited from the times in which he lived. In spite of his occasional grouchiness, Dickens supported the best of which Victorian England was capable. And each succeeding generation has affirmed the originaljudgment by paying homage to the generosity of his spirit and theimmensity of his creative achievement.