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Oliver Twist Summary

By Charles Dickens

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Introduction

Summary
Chapter 1
Oliver Twist Summary
Chapter 2
Oliver is born in a workhouse in a small town about seventy miles
Chapter 3
from London, England in the early part of the 19th Century. His
Chapter 4
mother dies almost immediately after his birth. Nobody knows who
Chapter 5
she was, but the doctor notices that she wasn't wearing a wedding
Chapter 6
ring (scandalous!).
Chapter 7

Chapter 8
Oliver is brought up at a "child farm" in the country until he is about
Chapter 9
eight years old. At this point, the parish oJcials running the child
Chapter 10
farm decide it’s time for him to start working, and they send him
Chapter 11
back to the workhouse. But Oliver commits the unpardonable
Chapter 12
offense of asking for more food when he is close to starving, so
Chapter 13
the parish oJcials offer Lve pounds (a pretty good amount of
Chapter 14
money) to anyone who’s willing to take Oliver on as an apprentice.
Chapter 15
The parish oJcials eventually send Oliver off with a coJn-maker.
Chapter 16
(Creepy.)
Chapter 17

Chapter 18
At the coJn-maker’s shop, Oliver isn’t treated much better than he
Chapter 19
was at the workhouse or the child farm. The coJn-maker, Mr.
Chapter 20
Sowerberry, isn’t so bad, but his wife, Mrs. Sowerberry, and the
Chapter 21
other apprentice, Noah Claypole, have it in for Oliver from the start.
Chapter 22
Oliver gets in trouble for knocking Noah down (he totally had it
Chapter 23
coming). After being abused some more, Oliver decides to set out
Chapter 24
for London on foot.
Chapter 25

Chapter 26
When he’s almost there, he runs into an odd-looking young man
Chapter 27
named Jack Dawkins (better known as The Artful Dodger). The
Chapter 28
Dodger buys him lunch and offers to introduce him to a
Chapter 29
"gentleman" in London who will give him a place to stay.
Chapter 30

Chapter 31
Once in London, it quickly becomes clear to the reader (but not to
Chapter 32
Oliver) that the Dodger and his friends are an unsavory bunch. The
Chapter 33
old "gentleman," Fagin, trains kids to be pickpockets, and then he
Chapter 34
sells off what they steal. But Oliver doesn’t realize what’s up until
Chapter 35
he’s actually out with the Dodger and another one of the boys,
Chapter 36
named Charley Bates. Oliver sees the pair steal the pocket
Chapter 37
handkerchief out of a nice-looking old man's pocket. When Oliver
Chapter 38
turns to run away, the nice-looking old man sees him run and yells,
Chapter 39
"stop, thief!"
Chapter 40

Chapter 41
Oliver is tackled in the street, but by then the nice old man (his
Chapter 42
name is Mr. Brownlow) has taken a better look at him. He realized
Chapter 43
that Oliver looks too sweet and innocent (and terriLed) to be a
Chapter 44
pickpocket. In fact, Oliver isn’t so much a pick-pocket as he is a
Chapter 45
very sick little boy. So Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver home and cares
Chapter 46
for him until he’s well.
Chapter 47

Chapter 48
Unfortunately. Fagin, the Dodger, Nancy (a prostitute), and Bill
Chapter 49
Sikes (another criminal) are worried that Oliver will rat them out to
Chapter 50
the police, so they keep a watch on Brownlow’s house. One day,
Chapter 51
when Brownlow entrusts Oliver with some money and an errand to
Chapter 52
run in the city, Fagin and the criminals nab the poor kid once again.
Chapter 53
Nancy feels guilty and steps in to defend Oliver when Fagin tries to
Themes smack him around.
Characters

Analysis Fagin keeps Oliver shut up in a dreary old house for weeks, all the
while still trying to turn him into a criminal. How long can a nine-
Quotes
year-old hold out?
Flashcards

Quizzes
Not long afterwards, Bill Sikes and another thief say they need a
Write Essay small boy to help them break into a house outside of London; Fagin
Teaching volunteers Oliver. The plan goes awry when the servants of the
house wake up and catch Oliver in the act of sneaking in. The
servants don’t realize that Oliver is there against his will, and was
actually about to wake up the household to warn them about the
robbers. So poor Oliver takes a bullet and is left behind when the
rest are all running away.

Fortunately, Oliver is picked up by the people who shot him, a

family that turns out to be as nice as Mr. Brownlow. They become
Oliver’s caretakers.

Meanwhile, Fagin is at his wits’ end wondering what happened to

Oliver. He lets slip that a mysterious man named Monks offered to
pay him hundreds of pounds to corrupt the young boy. Nancy
pretends not to know what’s going on, but secretly resolves to help
Oliver, and to Lgure out why Monks is so keen on having Oliver turn
to crime.

While Fagin and the criminals distress, Oliver learns to read and
write with his new friends, the Maylies. He's also reunited with his
Lrst friend, Mr. Brownlow.

Fagin and his gang are still trying to track Oliver down. Monks has
managed to get hold of—and destroy—one of the few surviving
tokens of Oliver’s parentage. Nancy Lnds out about it and gets in
touch with Rose Maylie to warn her about Monks’s plot with Fagin.
Unfortunately for Nancy, Bill Sikes (her lover) Lnds out about it and
brutally murders her. Sikes tries to escape, but he’s haunted by
what he’s done. Eventually, he dies while trying to escape from the
police: he falls off a rooftop while he’s trying to lower himself down,
and inadvertently hangs himself.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brownlow has managed to Lnd Monks. Mr.

Brownlow was an old friend of Monks’s father and knows all about
him. As it turns out, Monks is actually the older half-brother of
Oliver, and was trying to corrupt Oliver so that he’d secure the entire
family inheritance for himself. Monks chooses to admit to
everything rather than face the police.

Oliver ends up with what’s left of his inheritance, is legally adopted

by Mr. Brownlow, and lives down the road from the Maylies.
Everybody lives happily ever after. Except for Fagin, who is arrested
and hanged, and Monks, who dies in prison.

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