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OLIVER TWIST

Overview

Author
Charles Dickens
Years Published
1837–39
Type
Novel

Perspective and Narrator

Oliver Twist is told from a third-person point of view with an omniscient, or all-knowing,
narrator. This choice allows Dickens to accomplish several authorial goals: revealing interior
thought processes and various emotions, adding commentary on characters, and editorializing
on the events of the story and early 19th-century English society.
Tense
Oliver Twist is written in the past tense.
Characters
Oliver Twist,
Fagin,
Rose Maylie,
Mr. Brownlow,
Nancy
Bill Sikes,
Mr. Bumble
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Summary

Chapter 1
Oliver Twist is born in a workhouse, attended by a doctor and an old woman acting as a
nurse. Oliver's mother, Agnes Fleming, was found the night before lying in the street and was
brought to the workhouse. After Oliver's birth she takes her son in her arms, kisses him, and
dies. Leaving instructions for the baby to be fed gruel (a thin mixture of water and oats or
other grains) if "it" cries, the doctor notes that the dead girl wears no wedding ring and leaves
to eat his dinner. The nurse swigs from a flask before wrapping Oliver in a blanket.

Chapter 2
Oliver is transferred to a baby farm, where a fee is paid for the ongoing care of babies and
children. Old Mrs. Mann, for example, makes her living by raising poor orphaned children.
At Mrs. Mann's baby farm, Oliver receives little food, clothing, care, or affection. He's lucky
to survive, as several other children do not. On Oliver's ninth birthday, the parish beadle, Mr.
Bumble, takes him back to the workhouse.
At the workhouse Oliver's job is to pick oakum, untangling old tar-covered ropes to make
material used to seal a ship's seams. Under new regulations the workhouse children are fed
three meals of gruel per day supplemented by occasional bits of bread. After three months of
this regimen, the children are starving and desperate. Oliver and several others draw lots, and
it becomes Oliver's task to ask for more food. After finishing his small bowl of gruel, he
approaches the master and says, "Please, sir, I want some more." Overcome by the
impertinence of this demand, the master calls for Mr. Bumble, who informs the board. The
board decides to offer Oliver as an apprentice, and one of them predicts, "that boy will be
hung."

Analysis
Chapters 1 and 2 introduce the central mystery of Oliver Twist—his identity and that of his
mother—as well as several ongoing themes: poverty, criminality, and child abuse. They also
address the themes of hypocrisy and greed, especially in the character of Mrs. Mann, whose
desire to live well leads her to starve the children in her care while claiming that she "couldn't
see 'em suffer."

Mrs. Mann runs a baby farm. Under Hanway's Act of 1767, London's poor children under six
had to be educated in the countryside outside of the city, and London church parishes set
aside a small weekly stipend per child for this purpose. Since the parishes were in charge of
caring for the children, they chose the cheapest means of doing so: lodging them with
individuals who contracted to provide care, maintenance, and education. The system was
flawed from the start. In its first 10 years, over 20 percent of the children placed in these baby
farms did not survive the experience.

Children who survived the baby farm were then expected to work. Some went to work in the
factories; others, like nine-year-old Oliver, went to the workhouse. Oliver is given the job of
picking oakum. Old, tarry ropes had to be untwisted and the threads, or oakum, picked out for
reuse. It was a hard and painful task.
In his narration Dickens frequently creates verbal irony by having characters say the opposite
of what they mean. For instance the narrator says in Chapter 1 that being born in the
workhouse "was the best thing for Oliver Twist that could possibly have occurred" because it
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forced him to overcome his breathing difficulties on his own. In Chapter 2 Mr. Bumble tells
Mrs. Mann that the parish has been unable to discover Oliver's identity despite their
"supernat'ral exertions"; however, it is clear that the parish leaders would not exert
themselves on behalf of any of the orphans.

Chapter 3
While waiting for an apprenticeship, Oliver is held for a week alone in a dark room and taken
out each morning to wash in cold water while being caned by Mr. Bumble. Every other day
he is taken to the dining hall to be whipped in front of the other boys. Every evening he is
permitted to hear the boys pray they will "be guarded from the sins and vices of Oliver
Twist."
The first person to offer Oliver an apprenticeship is the chimney sweep, Mr. Gamfield, a
cruel man who, if one of his apprentices gets stuck in a chimney, lights a fire at the bottom to
prompt them to "struggle to hextricate theirselves." Mr. Bumble brings Oliver to meet Mr.
Gamfield before the magistrates, who must agree to the arrangement. But even the old,
shortsighted, and somewhat dimwitted magistrate can see the terror on Oliver's face, and he
asks the boy, "What is the matter?" Oliver begs not to go with the cruel-looking man, and the
magistrate—silencing Mr. Bumble's protests—refuses to okay the deal.

Chapter 4
Disappointed, the board instructs Mr. Bumble to look for a trading vessel that will take Oliver
as a ship's boy, hoping the master of the vessel will flog him to death. But before the beadle
can set off on his mission, Mr. Sowerberry, the parish undertaker, offers to take on an
apprentice. Mr. Bumble brings Oliver to the Sowerberrys that very night. There Oliver meets
Mrs. Sowerberry, who orders that Oliver be fed the scraps that had been put aside for the dog.
Oliver, amazed by the offer of meat, gobbles them up greedily. Mrs. Sowerberry then sends
him to sleep under the counter among the coffins in the shop.

Analysis
Few characters in Oliver Twist are fully developed; some are downright caricatures. This is
in line with the somewhat allegorical nature of the story, in which some characters symbolize
moral or political ideas, as well as with its melodramatic, or emotionally extreme, aspects.
One such caricature is Mr. Gamfield, the chimney sweep, who is unrelentingly greedy and
abusive. Readers first see him beating his donkey and realize this is exactly how he must treat
his apprentices. There follows a discussion between Mr. Gamfield and the workhouse board,
during which Mr. Gamfield describes the best way to get a boy to come out of a chimney:

 "Young boys have been smothered in chimneys before now," said another gentleman.

"That's acause they damped the straw afore they lit it in the chimbley to make 'em come down
agin," said Gamfield; "that's all smoke, and no blaze; vereas smoke ain't o' no use at all in
making a boy come down, for it only sinds him to sleep, and that's wot he likes. Boys is wery
obstinit, and wery lazy, gen'lmen, and there's nothink like a good hot blaze to make 'em come
down vith a run. It's humane too, gen'lmen, acause, even if they've stuck in the chimbley,
roasting their feet makes 'em struggle to hextricate theirselves." 
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To ensure he acquires Oliver as an apprentice, Mr. Gamfield tries to show he treats his boys
humanely by describing his cruelty in detail. This is another example of Dickens's use of
characters in his social satire. In fact boys forced to work as chimney sweeps might be as
young as three. Their masters starved them to keep them thin enough to go up and down the
chimneys, and it was extremely dangerous work. Many boys died from falls or, if they got
stuck in a chimney, of smoke inhalation; if the boys survived the work, they often died of the
long-term effects of breathing soot.

Chapter 5
After an uneasy night, Oliver wakes to the sound of someone kicking the door. It is Noah
Claypole, who also works for Mr. Sowerberry. They go to the kitchen, where Charlotte, the
serving girl, gives Noah "a nice little bit of bacon [she has saved] from master's breakfast"
and Oliver some stale bits of bread. Several weeks later Mr. Sowerberry decides that Oliver's
"expression of melancholy" would make the boy an effective mute—a professional mourner
—at children's funerals and takes Oliver along to an adult's funeral to learn about the
undertaker's profession.

Chapter 6
In a month Oliver's probationary period is at an end. As the town is experiencing "a nice
sickly season," Sowerberry has a lot of work. Oliver learns the trade quickly and is promoted
to mute. Because Noah Claypole treats him badly, so does Charlotte. And because Mr.
Sowerberry likes Oliver, Mrs. Sowerberry does not. One day when Mr. Sowerberry is out,
Noah goads Oliver viciously about the younger boy's mother. Finally the older boy says that
it's best "that she died when she did, or else she'd have been hard labouring [in prison], or
transported, or hung; which is more likely than either, isn't it?" Oliver knocks the larger boy
down. Charlotte cries out, drawing Mrs. Sowerberry to the kitchen. The two women beat
Oliver and lock him in the cellar and send Noah to fetch Mr. Bumble.

Chapter 7
Noah tells the beadle an exaggerated version of events: Oliver has tried to murder Noah,
Charlotte, and Mrs. Sowerberry and has stated his desire to kill Mr. Sowerberry as well.
Arriving at the undertaker's, Mr. Bumble shouts through the cellar door to Oliver, assuming
that Oliver will be terrified by the sound of his voice. But Oliver is not. The beadle explains
that this insolence is caused by meat: they have fed Oliver too much meat. After several more
beatings, Oliver decides to leave and sets out for London, passing the baby farm on his way.
In the garden he sees one of the young boys, Dick, who hugs Oliver and says, "God bless
you!" It is the first time Oliver has ever been blessed, and he never forgets it.

Analysis
Dickens makes frequent use of the literary device of authorial intrusion: he stops telling the
story and speaks directly to the reader, often employing irony to satirize characters' words
and actions. For instance, in Chapter 5, he comments on Noah Claypole's interest in bullying
Oliver: "This affords charming food for contemplation. It shows us what a beautiful thing
human nature may be made to be; and how impartially the same amiable qualities are
developed in the finest lord and the dirtiest charity-boy." These sentences do not further the
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plot or describe Noah's character; instead Dickens directly shares his private thoughts with
the reader.
Food is a continuing motif in Oliver Twist and one that is tied to the pervasive theme of
poverty. In the first two chapters, Oliver is given only bread, gruel, and onions. As a result he
is weak. However, Mr. Sowerberry, a middle-class professional, and his household (including
Noah and Charlotte) eat much better than the paupers in the workhouse. Even though Oliver
eats only scraps that might otherwise be given to the dog, they are often scraps of meat. It is
also likely that he receives potatoes, some fresh vegetables, and possibly some fruit. Along
with his diet, his health begins to improve, and he grows stronger in body and mind.
Noah comments that Oliver's mother was better off dead than facing a worse fate. During the
Victorian period, people who were convicted of crimes, even minor ones such as stealing
food, could face tough sentences. Some were sent to prison and forced to do grueling work,
such as walking on a huge treadmill. Another option involved being "transported," or sent to
far-off Australia, a penal colony to which England condemned thousands of prisoners. The
third option was the most drastic: death by hanging, usually at a public execution.

In Chapter 7 readers meet Dick, Oliver's friend, who is still trapped at the baby farm.
Although Dick appears in the novel only once more, he is mentioned frequently and assumes
great importance for Oliver. He represents one of the few kind people Oliver knew as a child
and was the first person who ever blessed him.

Chapter 8
Oliver sees a milestone that indicates London is 70 miles away. He has only a crust of bread
and a penny, both of which are soon gone. He tries begging but soon reaches towns that
outlaw begging and view strange children with suspicion. Seven days after setting out, Oliver
meets a boy his own age who treats Oliver to a meal. This is Jack Dawkins, otherwise known
as the Artful Dodger. Jack offers to take Oliver home with him and introduce him to a
"'spectable old gentleman" who will provide Oliver with a place to stay free of charge. Late
that night Jack leads Oliver through London to a dark, dirty neighborhood full of unsavory
smells and people. Finally the Artful Dodger pulls Oliver into a doorway and guides him up a
dark stairwell into a room where several other boys are drinking and smoking. There, Oliver
meets Fagin, "a very old shrivelled Jew, whose villainous-looking and repulsive face [is]
obscured by a quantity of matted red hair." Fagin gives Oliver a supper of sausages and
watered-down gin before putting him to bed.

Chapter 9
The next day Oliver finds himself alone with Fagin. Fagin takes a metal box from a hiding
place and examines its contents, which include a gold watch and some jewelry. When Fagin
catches Oliver looking at him, he grabs a knife and demands to know whether Oliver was
awake an hour ago. Satisfied with the boy's assurances that he was not, Fagin tells Oliver that
the things in the box are his. Soon Jack returns with another of the boys, Charley Bates. The
two give Fagin pocketbooks and handkerchiefs. Fagin explains that the boys have made
them. Oliver is puzzled when Charley laughs at this. Fagin and the boys play a game that
involves the boys trying to take things out of Fagin's pockets without his noticing. Two
friendly young women arrive, have a few drinks, and leave with Jack and Charley. Then
Fagin teaches Oliver how to pick the embroidery from handkerchiefs.
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Chapter 10
After spending many days picking embroidery and playing the strange game, Oliver is finally
allowed out with Charley and the Artful Dodger. He wonders what he will learn to make first
—handkerchiefs or pocketbooks. Instead he is startled to see Charley swiping fruit and
vegetables from market stalls. Then Jack spots a well-dressed gentleman at a bookstall and
reaches into the man's pocket, takes out a handkerchief, and passes it to Charley. The two run
off. Realizing where all the handkerchiefs and pocketbooks really come from, Oliver begins
to run. Soon a crowd is pursuing Oliver, joined by Charley and Jack yelling, "Stop, thief!" A
brutish fellow stops Oliver with a fist to the face. The gentleman arrives and identifies Oliver
as the thief but shows concern for his injuries. With the gentleman in attendance, a policeman
leads Oliver away.

Analysis
In Chapter 8 Oliver meets Fagin, who will become the greatest threat in his young life.
Oliver's initial impression—based on Fagin's ugliness and dirtiness, and the general
unpleasantness of the neighborhood in which he lives—is negative. But the boy gives Fagin
the benefit of the doubt because of his apparent generosity to the boys he has taken in.
Victorian London had a substantial Jewish population, and England, like other parts of
Europe, had a strong anti-Semitic tradition. The Jewish fence was a common
stereotype. Dickens named Fagin after a boy he worked with in the book-blacking factory,
Bob Fagin, whose name is actually Irish. Fagin taught him how to wrap and tie the pots of
blacking, defended him against taunts from the other boys, and even tended him when he was
ill. Dickens never explained why he immortalized such a kind boy by giving his name to a
personification of the devil.
In Victorian London child criminality was common, and there was much talk of criminal
bosses who trained and ran gangs of young thieves and then fenced the goods the boys stole.
In the early 19th century these included the thief-trainer Thomas Duggin; Charles King, who,
like Fagin, headed a gang of pickpockets; and Ikey Solomon, a notorious thief-trainer and
fence. Like Oliver the boys were usually orphans and runaways in need of a livelihood, and
of course, the criminal bosses were eager to improve their incomes by taking advantage of
these young boys. Dickens, in his usual manner, felt the need to draw the public's attention to
this human tragedy involving the young and vulnerable children of London.

Chapter 11
At the police station, Oliver is locked in a dismal cell, and the gentleman contemplates why
Oliver looks so familiar. Soon Oliver appears before the police magistrate, Mr. Fang. The
gentleman whose handkerchief was stolen identifies himself as Mr. Brownlow and says he
cannot be sure Oliver was the thief; he expresses concern that the boy is gravely ill. Oliver is
in fact so ill that he cannot answer any questions and soon passes out. Mr. Fang sentences
Oliver to three months' hard labor. As Oliver is being carried from the room, the bookstall
keeper rushes in and testifies that Oliver's companions were the thieves and that Oliver
himself "was perfectly amazed and stupefied" to see what they did. Mr. Fang voids his
previous decision and releases Oliver. When Mr. Brownlow and the bookseller leave the
station, they find Oliver lying in the street, bathed in sweat and shivering. Mr. Brownlow
calls for a coach, and the two men depart, taking Oliver with them.
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Chapter 12
Oliver wakes up in a clean, soft bed and is attended by Mrs. Bedwin, who is Mr. Brownlow's
housekeeper. Oliver is in Mr. Brownlow's house. Three days later Oliver is strong enough to
be taken downstairs where he is fascinated by a portrait of a young woman with a "beautiful,
mild face." The way the eyes seem to look at him "makes my heart beat ... as if it was alive,
and wanted to speak to me, but couldn't." Mr. Brownlow looks at Oliver and then at the
portrait and realizes that the boy's features and expression are the same as those of the young
woman.

After escaping with Mr. Brownlow's handkerchief, Jack Dawkins and Charley Bates return
to Fagin's. Charley finds the whole thing riotously funny, especially how they chased Oliver
crying, "Stop, thief!" But Jack asks, "What'll Fagin say?"

Analysis
Readers will notice throughout Oliver Twist that a character's face tends to reveal his or her
personality. Oliver's face is sweet and open. This is one reason Fagin believes he would be a
valuable asset if only he could be subverted; it is also part of the reason Mr.
Brownlow believes the boy must be innocent. Fagin's face, in contrast, is "villainous-looking"
and "repulsive." Mr. Fang's face is "stern" and "flushed," as if he drinks too much; his
expression and color may, of course, indicate that he's angry over the article he's reading. He
is certainly short-tempered with everyone in the court, including the victim, Mr.
Brownlow. Dickens based Mr. Fang, whose name implies that he has a nasty bite, on a real
London magistrate named Laing, who was famous for being bad-tempered and rude.
The belief that a person's features indicate their character is not a literary conceit. In the 19th
century many people subscribed to the centuries-old "science" of physiognomy. Even the
ancient Greeks believed they could read a person's character in his or her head size or facial
shape. The 18th century Swiss writer and philosopher Johann Kaspar Lavater broke the face
down into sections—eyes, nose, mouth, etc.—and discussed what different characteristics of
each section meant. Terms such as highbrow, lowbrow, and stuck-up originate with
physiognomy. A related "science" is phrenology, which can be traced back to Franz Josef
Gall, an Austrian doctor, and was based on his belief that the shape of the skull reflects the
shape of the brain and thus the intelligence and character of the person. Phrenology was in
vogue in Britain and America when Dickens was writing Oliver Twist.
Oliver's brief trial takes place in a police court. The 1829 Metropolitan Police Act gave the
power of prosecution to the police. Petty criminals were therefore taken before a magistrate,
or more commonly two magistrates, where they would act as their own defense against the
accusation of their victim, who acted as the prosecutor. There was no jury, and decisions
often were not formally recorded.

Chapter 13
Jack Dawkins tells Fagin that the police have Oliver. Bill Sikes arrives, followed by his dog,
a canine version of his brutal master. Sikes and Fagin worry that Oliver will say something
that will lead the police to them. They realize they must retrieve Oliver, but neither the men
nor the boys are willing to endanger their freedom by doing so. Sikes then insists
that Nancy go. When she returns Nancy reports that the gentleman took Oliver to his house.
Fagin sends Nancy and Jack to find Oliver and bring him back.
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Chapter 14
When Oliver recovers Mr. Brownlow invites him to his study, where they discuss Oliver's
future. Oliver learns that the people Mr. Brownlow loves most are dead. Just as Oliver is
about to tell the story of his life, a visitor arrives—Mr. Grimwig, an old friend of Mr.
Brownlow. When Oliver leaves the room, Mr. Grimwig asks archly whether Mrs. Bedwin
tallies the silver, finding it likely that some might turn up missing. Later Mr. Brownlow asks
Oliver to come to him in the morning to continue their conversation, and Oliver, feeling
scrutinized harshly by Mr. Grimwig, is slow to reply. Mr. Grimwig takes this as an indication
that Oliver is lying, which angers Mr. Brownlow.
A packet of books is delivered. Mr. Brownlow realizes they have not been paid for and that
he has books that need to be returned. Oliver is dispatched to the bookseller's to attend to
these matters. Mr. Grimwig warns his friend that, with new clothes, a parcel of valuable
books, and money, Oliver will "join his old friends the thieves, and laugh at you. If ever that
boy returns to this house, sir, I'll eat my head." The two men sit waiting as night falls.

Analysis
When Nancy acts the part of a woman looking for her little brother, her habitual slightly
soiled, untidy dress is masked with "a clean white apron," and her hair and "curl-papers" with
a straw bonnet. She also carries a basket and a door key. These are the outward signs of
respectability—cleanliness, tidiness, possessions, and a home with a lock on the door. Nancy
is one of the few characters in Oliver Twist who is layered and who develops as the novel
progresses. In Chapter 13 readers don't yet know her very well, but it is clear that she is
resilient and quick-thinking. In Chapter 16 readers will learn more about Nancy's past and
motivations. And her acting talents will stand her in good stead later, when she must hide her
true intentions from those around her.
Dickens uses language carefully and effectively in his characterizations. For instance in
Chapter 13 Jack Dawkins asks whether Oliver is "to be kidnapped to the other ken"; a ken is a
house. A few lines later, Fagin says, "He has not peached so far"; to peach is to inform on
someone. Both characters use the vocabulary of crime; these words would be out of place in
the mouths of Mr. Brownlow or Mrs. Bedwin. In his characterization of Mr. Grimwig in
Chapter 14, Dickens repeatedly uses the idiomatic expression "I'll eat my head" to emphasize
that character's eccentricity.
In these two chapters, the criminal world that Oliver has fallen into and the respectable, kind
world he longs for have come together. As the novel unfolds, the reader will find these two
worlds in continual conflict, with Oliver caught in between.

Chapter 15
Fagin meets Bill Sikes in a pub to pay Bill for his latest haul. Nancy arrives and tells the men
that Oliver has been sick in bed. She would say more, but a look from Fagin silences her.
Nancy and Bill leave to hunt for Oliver, and they soon find him. The boy is on his way to the
bookseller, lost in memories of his workhouse friend Dick, when Nancy runs up and throws
her arms around him, crying out that Oliver is her brother, who ran away, breaking their
parents' hearts. Bill appears, grabs the boy, and snatches the books out of his arms, accusing
Oliver of stealing them. Egged on by several bystanders, Bill doles out some punitive blows
and calls on Bull's-eye to guard the boy. Meanwhile, night has fallen, and Brownlow's
household waits in vain for Oliver's return.
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Chapter 16
Bill Sikes and Nancy return Oliver to Fagin's, where Oliver begs Fagin to return the books
and money so that Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin will not think he has stolen from them.
Fagin and Sikes are congratulating each other on Oliver's fall from grace when Oliver makes
a break for it. Fagin retrieves him and is about to beat him when Nancy grabs the club out of
his hands and throws it in the fire. Nancy argues, "He's a thief, a liar, a devil, all that's bad,
from this night forth. Isn't that enough ... without blows?" She then blames Fagin for making
her into a thief to make her living on "the cold, wet, dirty streets" until she dies. Distressed,
Nancy faints. Oliver is stripped of his new clothes and locked in the kitchen to sleep.

Chapter 17
Mr. Bumble visits Mrs. Mann, where Dick asks to leave a dying message for "poor Oliver
Twist." To punish him for having fallen under Oliver's sway, Dick is locked in the coal cellar.
Mr. Bumble goes to London on parish business. There he reads a newspaper announcement
that Mr. Brownlow is offering a five-guinea reward for information about Oliver Twist. At
Mr. Brownlow's Mr. Bumble tells Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Grimwig that Oliver's parents were
"low" and "vicious" and that Oliver had always behaved with "treachery, ingratitude, and
malice." When Mr. Brownlow calls Oliver "an imposter," Mrs. Bedwin refuses to believe it.

Analysis
In Chapter 15 Bill Sikes and Nancy leave Fagin reading the Hue-and-Cry in the Cripples. The
actual name of this newspaper was the Police Gazette, but it had originally been the Public
Hue and Cry. Every Saturday it was sent by the Bow Street magistrates' court to mayors,
magistrates, court clerks, prison officials, police and military officers, and other officials
throughout the United Kingdom concerned with law and policing. The Gazette contained
information about the criminals, including details about convicts on parole, wanted
foreigners, military deserters, and the activities and locations of criminals. It also provided
follow-ups on criminals it had previously listed.
When Oliver dashes out to the bookseller, books and money in hand, it is an unplanned
outing; moreover, he takes a wrong turn. Nancy and Bill Sikes cannot know where Oliver
will be, yet he runs straight into them. Later in the story, when he has once more escaped
Fagin's grasp, it will again be pure coincidence that enables the old man to locate him. These
coincidences may seem hard to believe, but without them the story could not move forward.
Despite the realism of the subject matter in Victorian novels such as Oliver Twist, the use of
coincidence was typical of the era.
Mr. Brownlow lives in Clerkenwell, a part of London that was partly reconstructed in the
18th century. It is likely that he would have lived in a house in one of the Georgian terraces
built at that time. When Bill Sikes and Nancy capture Oliver, they lead him south into the old
streets that escaped the Great Fire of London, through Smithfield, and on to one of Fagin's
less-used houses.

Chapter 18
After spending a week locked in the kitchen, Oliver is left alone with the run of the house.
The shutters are nailed closed, and the place is dark and dirty. The house is old, and Oliver
imagines that people once lived there happily. One day Jack Dawkins and Charley Bates
come home, and while Oliver polishes Jack's boots, the two boys try to convince him that he
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can make a good living as a thief. Soon Fagin arrives, along with Tom Chitling and Bet, and
they all pass the evening talking about the benefits of a life of crime. After that Oliver's days
are spent with Fagin, Jack, and Charley playing the old pickpocketing game and listening to
Fagin tell tales of his early career. His stories are so funny that even Oliver has to laugh.

Chapter 19
Fagin visits Bill Sikes to discuss plans for a burglary at Chertsey. Sikes explains that the
servants cannot be bribed to let them in, but he offers to break in for a larger cut of the take.
All he will need is a drill bit and a small boy. Nancy suggests Oliver as the boy for the job,
and Fagin agrees. It's time, he says, for Oliver "to work for his bread." Bill expresses less
confidence, but Fagin assures him that once Oliver has helped rob the house, he will view
himself as one of the gang. They decide the robbery will take place two nights later. Bill
drinks until he passes out, and Fagin leaves, congratulating himself that Nancy has forgotten
her concerns for Oliver.

Chapter 20
Fagin tells Oliver that he will be going with Bill Sikes and warns the boy to do what he's told
because Bill is a "rough man." Fagin has given Oliver a book to read while waiting; it is a
graphic true crime book, and it frightens Oliver so much that he soon puts it aside and starts
praying to be saved from a life of crime. Nancy arrives and takes Oliver to Bill, who holds a
pistol to Oliver's head and threatens to shoot him if he crosses him. After a few hours' sleep
and a quick breakfast, Bill and Oliver head out into the early morning hours.

Analysis
In Chapter 18 Fagin proves himself to be an adept psychological manipulator. He uses
solitary confinement to make Oliver susceptible to a sort of brainwashing. This is a
corruption of an experimental method being used on prison inmates at the time Dickens was
writing. Prisoners were left in isolation with Bibles to read and occasional visits from the
prison chaplain. It was hoped that through reflection they could be rehabilitated.
In the late 17th century, philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) argued that the mind is more or
less a tabula rasa, or blank slate. General principles of morality, logic, and so forth are
learned (through sensory experience and reflection) rather than innate (something people are
born with). However, philosopher Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) felt that such principles are
innate, rather than coming from sources outside the individual, such as experience. This
opposition forms the basis of the ongoing debate on nature (innateness) versus nurture
(tabula rasa).
Dickens places Oliver squarely in the midst of this debate. Clearly Oliver was born with a
kind, sweet nature that somewhat insulates him from the wiles and meanness of Fagin, Sikes,
and the others. But for how long? Will his nature be subsumed over time by an unremitting
evil and criminal environment?

Chapter 21
Day breaks as Bill Sikes and Oliver make their way through London. They pass through
Smithfield market; it's market day, and Oliver is amazed at the commotion of people and
animals. The pubs are open, but Bill passes them by. They travel all day, sometimes walking,
sometimes getting a ride in a cart. By nightfall they have left London behind. Finally, at a
distance from any town, Sikes leads the boy into "a solitary house: all ruinous and decayed."
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Chapter 22
Inside the house Toby Crackit and Barney meet Bill Sikes and Oliver and provide them with
food washed down by spirits. They grab a few hours of sleep and rise again at 1:30 a.m. After
dressing warmly in dark clothing and assembling their equipment, Bill and Toby lead Oliver
out into the night, while Barney goes back to sleep. There's a dense fog and no moon, making
the night all the darker. The three walk through a nearby town and beyond it until they reach
a house. The men lift Oliver over the wall that surrounds it, and, suddenly understanding their
mission, he begs them to let him go. Bill pulls out his gun, but Toby stops Bill from shooting
and threatens to smash Oliver's head if he doesn't behave. Bill pries open a small window,
instructs Oliver how to find and open the front door, and slips the boy through the window.
Oliver, having decided to run up the stairs and alert the inhabitants, moves forward.

Suddenly, Bill shouts, "Come back!" Oliver sees two men appear at the top of the stairs.
There's a flash and a loud noise. Oliver has been shot. Bill drags him back through the
window and carries him off in the midst of more gunshots and shouting. Oliver passes out.

Analysis
Chertsey is an old market town near the Thames, southwest of London. It takes Bill Sikes and
Oliver a very long day to reach it, during which they walk or ride through many districts in
the city and beyond. Because many of his readers would have been aware of each district, its
location, and its character, Dickens presents a litany of them in the expectation that readers
will follow the characters' journey in their minds. They start walking in the dark old
neighborhoods well to the east of central London. It's getting light but is still foggy as they
reach Smithfield market, where livestock—mostly cattle and sheep—were sold and
slaughtered; Dickens calls attention to the "reeking bodies of the cattle." This dark,
confusing, and threatening atmosphere contrasts starkly with the sundrenched "better"
suburbs such as Kensington and Chiswick, which they ride through later on their way west.
When they arrive in Chertsey, Sikes leads Oliver across a bridge built in 1780 to connect
Chertsey with the London road. Again, Dickens's understanding of the geography of the area
feeds the logic of events. Later Oliver will cross the bridge again and recognize it.

During their travels, readers learn that Sikes, like Nancy, can put on a pleasant face when
necessary. He is agreeable with the two men who offer them rides. He also treats Oliver with
some care, allowing the boy to rest and sleep at times. This may, of course, be purely
practical; after all, he needs Oliver to be awake and at his best when called on to perform
during the burglary. But it may also indicate that there is still a speck of humanity in an
otherwise inhumane character.
"Flash" Toby Crackit is Sikes's partner in the housebreaking. As with many characters, his
name is a clue to his occupation. In the early 1800s, crack meant "burglary."

Chapter 23
Mrs. Corney, the workhouse matron, has just made herself a pot of tea when Mr.
Bumble stops by for a chat. They speak about the greed of the paupers under their care. Mr.
Bumble moves closer to the widow and kisses her. Just then the message arrives that an old
woman is about to die and has asked for the matron. Left on his own to wait for her return,
Mr. Bumble expresses delight as he takes inventory of Mrs. Corney's silver and furnishings.
 12

Chapter 24
Mrs. Corney is brought to the dying woman, who turns out to be the nurse who attended at
the birth of Oliver Twist. She confesses to the matron that after Oliver's mother died, she
stole something made of gold from the body. But the old woman dies before she can say
exactly what she took.

Analysis
To understand Mr. Bumble's actions in Chapter 23, readers should know that in the early
1800s when a woman married, everything she owned or earned became the property of her
husband. This would not begin to change until the first of series of Married Women's
Property Acts was passed in 1870.
Characters in Oliver Twist—especially lower-middle-class and poor characters, as in Chapter
24—frequently drink gin, an alcoholic beverage. In the 1700s London, the heart of England's
gin distilling, experienced a "gin craze," with Londoners drinking on average 14 gallons of
gin a year. It was cheap and easy to find—cheaper than wholesome food—so it was the
preferred drink of the poor. Widespread drunkenness was the root of much of London's high
crime and death rates and low birth rates.
Oliver has been immersed in a gin-soaked environment since his arrival in
London. Fagin provides plentiful supplies of it to his boys and girls. And even the poorest of
the poor find it available, including the kind old crones in the workhouse who administer it to
the dying woman. This tolerant attitude toward and easy availability of gin poses yet one
more threat to young Oliver as he strives to escape this world.

Chapter 25
In the Whitechapel house, Jack Dawkins, Charley Bates, and Tom Chitling are playing
cards. Fagin, meanwhile, appears distracted and pays little attention. When the bell rings,
Jack goes to answer; Toby Crackit reports, alone. This worries Fagin, and he shoos Charley
and Tom out of the room while Jack fetches Crackit. Toby says he hasn't eaten in three days
and insists on doing so before telling his story. Fagin knows from the newspaper that the
burglary failed, but he hasn't heard from Bill Sikes. Toby says he and Bill carried Oliver
away, but they were being hunted by armed men and dogs and left the boy in a ditch. Fagin
cries out and runs from the house.

Chapter 26
Fagin heads to the Cripples, asks after someone called Monks, and leaves a message that
Monks should visit him the next day. He then goes to Bill Sikes's room, where Nancy is
sitting alone and distraught. In their emotional exchange, it becomes clear that Oliver is more
valuable to Fagin than any of his gang, all of whom he could send to the gallows with a word.
He also lets slip that he himself is bound to "a born devil that only wants the will, and has the
power to, to—" but he catches himself before finishing his thought and doesn't go on. Having
made sure that Nancy did not notice his slip, Fagin heads home, where Monks confronts him.
Monks is angry that Fagin has lost Oliver and wants Oliver transported, but under no
circumstances dead—not if it can be tied to him in any way. Suddenly, Monks cries, "What's
that?" He has seen the shadow of a woman outside the door. But a search reveals nothing.
 13

Chapter 27
While awaiting Mrs. Corney's return, Mr. Bumble continues his inventory of her belongings.
When she finally arrives, she is in a state, and the beadle pours her a teacup of liquid comfort,
finishing half of it himself. He tells her that the workhouse master is close to dying, which
will leave a vacancy—and provide an opportunity for them to join their "hearts and
housekeepings," and they agree to marry. Mrs. Corney tells him that the old woman has died,
but she does not tell him what she learned about Oliver's mother. Mr. Bumble goes to the
undertaker's to order a coffin for the Mrs. Thingummy. When he gets there, the Sowerberrys
are out, and he finds Charlotte feeding oysters to Noah, who has been drinking. When he
hears Noah call Charlotte over for a kiss, the beadle berates them for their lewd behavior.

Analysis
In Chapter 25 Fagin's boys are playing whist. Known under other names since the
Renaissance, by the 19th century, whist was an exceedingly popular card game. It could be
played by partners or, as in the chapter, individually. It was considered a game of intellect,
and the Artful Dodger's success at whist is another indication of how clever he is.
Before Fagin asks for Monks in the Cripples, readers have not heard of him. But it can be
inferred from Fagin's comments to Nancy about a "born devil" and his uneasiness when he
finds Monks waiting for him outside his door that Fagin has had dealings with him before and
that Monks is one of the few people Fagin fears. Their conversation deepens the mystery of
Oliver's identity. Why should Monks be so desperately concerned about Oliver?
In Chapter 27 Charlotte is feeding Noah oysters. Today oysters are expensive, but in
Victorian times, they were eaten by the working and middle classes. Since Mr. Sowerberry is
an undertaker, the Sowerberrys are middle class. They can afford some high-protein foods
such as bacon and oysters, both of which Dickens mentions as part of their diet. The working
urban poor had fewer options, and some never tasted meat. When they did they might eat
premature calves (called slink), undesirable cuts of mutton (diseased sheep—called broxy—
or sheep's heads), or even spoiled meat. The food fed to workhouse inmates was even worse.

Chapter 28
With their pursuers close on their heels, Toby Crackit and Bill Sikes leave Oliver in a ditch.
Their pursuers give up shortly afterward and head for home. Several hours later Oliver
wakes, tired, cold, and weak with pain. He staggers along the road through the rain until he
reaches a house—the same house they had tried to rob the night before. He knocks at the door
and collapses on the doorstep. The servants, the tinker, and the tinker's dogs go together to
answer the door. Giles recognizes Oliver as the boy he shot during the break-in and brings
Oliver inside. Their young mistress asks them to fetch a constable and a doctor and to treat
the boy kindly.

Chapter 29
While at breakfast Giles fills Mrs. Maylie and her niece Rose Maylie in on the night's events.
The doctor, Mr. Losberne, arrives and goes upstairs, where Oliver has been installed in a
bedroom. After some time he returns and insists that Rose and her aunt accompany him to
meet his patient.
 14

Chapter 30
Rose and Mrs. Maylie want to help Oliver rather than turn him over to the law, and Mr.
Losberne agrees on condition that he question Oliver when he wakes to make sure the boy
isn't a hardened criminal. Rose, who was an orphan Mrs. Maylie took in and raised, clearly
feels that she herself might otherwise have ended up in Oliver's shoes. Oliver doesn't wake
until evening, but then he tells the doctor and the two women the story of his life. Mr.
Losberne goes to the kitchen, where he convinces the constable and the staff that Oliver is not
the same boy who broke in. At that moment the Bow Street officers arrive.

Analysis
In Chapter 28 readers meet Rose Maylie. Rose was the first of several young female
characters in whom Dickens memorialized his wife's sister, Mary Hogarth, who lived with
the couple for several months before dying of a sudden illness in May 1837—just three
months after the first installment of Oliver Twist was published. Like Mary, Rose is a pretty,
sweet-tempered 17-year-old girl. Rose's sudden illness in Chapter 33 also recalls Dickens'
real-life loss. Like Harry Maylie (Chapter 34), Dickens was 25 at the time of Mary's death.
In Chapter 28 Oliver has been given a second chance to escape the criminal environment
imposed by Fagin and Sikes. Dickens sometimes offered his young characters the opportunity
to change their lives for the better and more than once gave them second chances. Readers
should note the chances offered to Nancy in later chapters and her response to those
opportunities.
Mr. Losberne is summoned to dress Oliver's wound and set his broken arm. Dickens makes a
point of saying that Mr. Losberne is a surgeon but is referred to as "the doctor." He makes
this distinction because in Victorian England one became a surgeon through apprenticeship;
in contrast, a physician attended university and earned a medical degree. So only a physician
could be called a doctor, while a surgeon was addressed as "Mr."—a form of address still
used today.

The Bow Street Runners were a specialized force created in the mid-18th century by the
Westminster court justice (and novelist) Henry Fielding to apprehend criminals. In addition
to investigating crimes, the Runners patrolled major roads into and within London and
testified at trials. Police offices modeled after Bow Street were set up around the city, and in
1842, the first professional detective force was established. Still the Bow Street Runners were
not viewed as an official force, and tricking them, as Mr. Losberne will in Chapter 31, would
not have been considered illegal or even distasteful.

Chapter 31
Two Bow Street officers—Blathers and Duff—arrive, examine the scene, and interview Giles
and Brittles. They determine that the servants were not involved in the crime and ask to
interview the boy. To buy time the doctor and the Maylies offer them drinks, which the
officers accept. Rose Maylie induces Blathers to tell a long story about a previous
investigation. Then the doctor takes the investigators to Oliver's sickroom, where he explains
that the boy was injured in an accident on a nearby property and that Giles mistook him for
the burglars' boy. Oliver himself is too fevered to respond to questions. The two officers
interview Giles and Brittles again and investigate the gun Giles used. They find that it is
loaded with powder and paper only—the doctor removed the ball while the officers sat with
the Maylies—and largely lose interest in Oliver, who recovers and continues living happily
with the Maylies.
 15

Chapter 32
It takes some time for Oliver to recover from his broken arm and fever. When he does Mr.
Losberne takes him up to London. On the way Oliver points out the dilapidated house where
he stayed in the hours before the burglary attempt. The doctor stops the carriage and pounds
on the door. The hunchback who opens the door claims to have lived there for 25 years. The
interior of the house looks nothing like Oliver's description, and they leave, but not before the
hunchback gets a look at Oliver. Upon arrival at Mr. Brownlow's, they discover that the
house is empty and for rent; Mr. Brownlow has moved to the West Indies, taking Mrs.
Bedwin and a gentlemen friend. Oliver feels disappointed as he hoped to let them know he is
not a liar or thief. Two weeks later the Maylies move—taking Oliver with them—to their
country cottage. There Oliver has a tutor who helps him improve his reading and learn to
write. On Sundays they attend church and engage in charitable activities.

Chapter 33
In the summer Rose becomes gravely ill. Mrs. Maylie gives Oliver a letter for Mr. Losberne
and asks the boy to take it to the inn in the nearest market town; she gives him her purse to
pay for the letter to be carried to Chertsey as quickly as possible. Oliver does this task, and he
bumps into a man in a long cloak as he's leaving the inn. The man curses at him, demands to
know what he is doing there, and then falls to the ground in an epileptic fit. Oliver fetches
help for the stranger and then goes home. That night Rose's condition worsens, and she
becomes delirious. Mr. Losberne arrives the following evening, but he does not hold out
much hope. However, a day later, Rose passes the crisis and begins to recover.

Analysis
Mr. Brownlow, readers learn in Chapter 32, has gone to the West Indies. In 1837 the British
Empire included a number of islands in the Caribbean and Atlantic. These were important
economically and militarily. Sugar was grown on plantations worked by slaves and processed
in factories, and the islands, especially Jamaica, hosted important British naval bases. When
slavery was banned in British colonies in 1838, the economic value of these holdings
declined.
In Chapter 32 the Maylies move with Oliver to their country cottage. Dickens had spent the
best years of his childhood in the countryside, and like Dickens, Oliver is happy there. The
country is everything the city is not—bright, colorful, and safe. Through the activities
of Rose Maylie, Oliver also learns about true charity, which differs drastically from the
institutional mistreatment of the poor masquerading as charity that had characterized his early
youth.
Dickens does not specify what is wrong with Rose in Chapter 33, but it is miraculous that she
should recover from so serious an illness. From the symptoms that Dickens describes and
since Rose spends a lot of time outside, Rose may have contracted typhus. Rose's aunt, Mrs.
Maylie, immediately realizes Rose is likely to die. But why is she so pessimistic? Today the
use of antibiotics has made death from typhus rare, but Dickens was writing more than a
century before antibiotics came into widespread use.

Chapter 34
Giles has fetched Harry Maylie, who arrives shortly after the doctor has announced the good
news. Harry reproaches his mother for waiting so long before sending word that Rose was ill.
Mrs. Maylie warns him against marrying Rose; she worries that later in life something may
 16

be discovered about Rose's unknown past that would cause him to regret the marriage. She
says that she will not stop Harry from asking Rose to marry him but implies that Rose herself
may turn him down for love of him. Rose continues to improve, and Oliver is happy. One
evening he falls asleep over his studies and dreams of Fagin talking about him with another
man. He starts awake to find the two of them staring in the window at him, and the man with
Fagin is the same one he ran into at the inn.

Chapter 35
Oliver cries out, and the household comes running. Oliver points in the direction Fagin took,
and Harry Maylie runs off to find the old thief, followed by Oliver, Giles, and Mr. Losberne.
But they search in vain. Several days later, as Mrs. Maylie foretold, Rose turns down Harry's
marriage proposal because she does not want her low beginnings to damage his prospects in
life. She does, however, admit that she loves him. Harry says that he will ask her once more
in a year's time.

Chapter 36
Oliver has breakfast with Mr. Losberne and Harry Maylie, who are preparing to leave for
home. The two men discuss Harry's career prospects. He is to become a member of
parliament before the end of the year. Before he leaves Harry asks Oliver to write to him
twice a month with news of the family. Unseen, Rose cries as she watches the post-chaise, a
small carriage that holds two passengers, carry the men away.

Analysis
The figure of Monks is reminiscent of a Gothic villain. His long cloak, which disguises his
shape and identity, intensifies his mysterious and threatening nature, and his name, Monks,
recalls the title of one of the best-selling of the original romantic-era Gothic novels, Matthew
Gregory Lewis's The Monk ( 1796). Although Monks does not frequent the castles and ruins
typical of the Gothic genre, he often appears in dark, dangerous settings. Gothic novels also
featured the dreamlike, eerie, and inexplicable. It is dreamlike when Oliver wakes to
find Fagin and Monks peering in the window at him and eerie and inexplicable that his
friends can find no trace of the two men afterward.
At the beginning of Chapter 36, Mr. Losberne says to Harry that "the great nobs ... will get
[him] into parliament at the election before Christmas." In Victorian England members of
parliament did not receive a salary, so they had to be extremely rich to be able to afford to
serve. Typically, a group of wealthy supporters, or nobs, would sponsor the political career of
a man who did not have the necessary means. But to retain their support, the candidate had to
meet their criteria. For Harry, among other things, that meant having a wife who was above
reproach.

Mr. Losberne and Harry Maylie leave in a post-chaise, a small carriage that held two
passengers. It was called "post" because it was the only type of carriage besides a mail coach
or stagecoach that could change out its team of horses at various stages of its journey. This
meant that the vehicle could keep traveling rather than stopping for the animals to feed and
rest. While most middle-class travelers would use a mail coach or stagecoach, those with
more money would travel in their own or a rented post-chaise.
 17

Chapter 37
Mr. Bumble has been married to the former Mrs. Corney for two months, and things are not
going well. He is depressed over the loss of his status as a beadle, disappointed in the
material goods that came to him upon his marriage, and decidedly henpecked. Even the
paupers know his wife rules the roost and have lost all fear of him. One day he takes refuge in
a pub, where he meets a stranger in a long cloak. The stranger wants to know what has
become of Oliver's birth nurse, and Mr. Bumble tells him she died in the winter but he knows
a woman who might tell him more. The man tells Mr. Bumble to bring her to him the next
evening. Mr. Bumble rushes after him to ask his name; it is Monks.

Chapter 38
The Bumbles make their way to a rundown neighborhood near the river, where they meet
with Monks. His brusque disdain intimidates even Mrs. Bumble at first. But she recovers and
won't part with her information about Oliver until she's paid 25 pounds in gold. Monks pays,
and Mrs. Bumble tells her story: Mrs. Thingummy took something from Oliver's mother's
dead body but died before she could say more. In her hand was a pawnbroker's ticket, and
Mrs. Bumble redeemed it for a locket. Inside were two locks of hair, a wedding ring, the
inscription "Agnes," and a date one year before Oliver's birth. She gives these things to
Monks, who drops them in the river.

Analysis
Chapter 37 offers some comic relief. As Dickens points out, Mr. Bumble has always been a
bully, and it is satisfying to see him get his comeuppance, not only from his wife but also
from the pauper women. Soon, however, the comedy is over as Bumble enters a public house
and meets an unexpected but—to readers—familiar character. Monks's extensive knowledge
about the nurse at Oliver's birth and about Mr. Bumble makes him seem an even greater
threat and deepens the mystery surrounding Oliver's true identity.
Monks pays Mrs. Bumble 25 pounds in gold, the pound being the basic unit of currency in
England. At that time the pound coin was made of gold and was known as a sovereign,
reflecting the fact that the coins were traditionally stamped with the monarch's image.
Although paper money—called notes—had long been in use in England, recent economic
instability had made people uncertain that the notes would be honored. And how much was
25 pounds worth? It would have paid a typical lower middle–class rent for a year.
While Oliver Twist was being serialized, Fagin was referred to "the Jew" throughout. But
while he was editing the first book version of Oliver Twist, Dickens received a letter from a
Jewish acquaintance who pointed out that his constant use of this term was a "great wrong" to
Jews. The first 38 chapters had already been typeset and could not be changed. Still Dickens
removed almost all mention of "the Jew" from the remaining chapters.

Chapter 39
Bill Sikes has been ill for a long time, but he is finally on the mend. Nancy stops by Fagin's
to pick up Bill's pay. While she's there Monks arrives, and Fagin takes him upstairs to talk.
Nancy silently follows. She returns and begins putting on her shawl just as the men return.
Fagin gives her the money, and she runs home. The next day Nancy doses Sikes with
laudanum and leaves him sleeping. She hurries across town to a family hotel near Hyde Park
to see Rose Maylie.
 18

Chapter 40
Nancy meets with Rose Maylie and explains her role in Oliver's life. She asks whether Rose
knows Monks. Rose does not, but since Monks knows where Rose is staying, Nancy infers
that Rose knows him under some other name. Nancy tells Rose that she has heard two
conversations between Fagin and Monks, from which she learned that Monks paid Fagin to
make Oliver a thief and that evidence of the boy's identity lies on a river bottom. This left
Monks with an inheritance that should have gone to Oliver, whom Monks referred to as his
"young brother." Rose offers to help Nancy to safety, but Nancy refuses to leave Bill. She
agrees, however, that she will come to London Bridge each Sunday night for an hour so that
they can talk again.

Chapter 41
Oliver arrives and says he has seen Mr. Brownlow going into a house and has the address.
Rose goes with the boy to see Mr. Brownlow. She tells Mr. Brownlow Oliver's story, and
Oliver is joyously received by Mr. Brownlow, Mrs. Bedwin, and even Mr. Grimwig. That
evening Mr. Brownlow visits the hotel to confer with the Maylies and Mr. Losberne about
how they can discover Oliver's true identity and restore his inheritance. They decide to meet
Nancy the following Sunday to learn where they can find Monks. In the meantime Mr.
Brownlow will ask Mr. Grimwig for his help, and Mr. Losberne will approach Harry Maylie.

Analysis
Nancy doses Bill Sikes with laudanum so he'll sleep while she goes out. Laudanum was
commonly taken by rich and poor alike in the Victorian era, mostly for medicinal reasons to
treat anything from insomnia to intestinal pain to tuberculosis. It consisted of 10 percent
powdered opium, 90 percent alcohol, and spices for flavoring. Opiates, of which laudanum
was the least expensive, were in wide use; although people knew they were habit-forming, no
stigma was attached to their use. They were even used to calm cranky infants and children.
The sale of opiates went unregulated until the second half of the 19th century.
Rose Maylie's hotel is near Hyde Park. As readers of the day would know, Hyde Park was a
fashionable meeting place. People strolled through the manicured gardens and rode horses
and carriages along the broad drives. The surrounding area, while not extremely wealthy, was
very much middle and upper class. Nancy would have looked and felt very out of place,
which explains her chilly reception by the hotel staff.
The female members of the hotel staff are less willing to hear Nancy out. Her profession was
probably clear to them despite her attempt to look respectable. Dickens refers to the young
women as "the Dianas"—a reference to the goddess Diana, a popular Victorian image of
beauty. Ironically, Diana was the goddess not only of the hunt but also of fertility.

Chapter 42
Noah Claypole and Charlotte have stolen the money from Mr. Sowerberry's till and walked to
London. There they get a room at the Three Cripples. While they're eating dinner, Fagin spies
on them and learns that Noah wants to join a criminal gang and make his fortune. Fagin
makes himself known and arranges for Noah—who introduces himself as Morris Bolter and
Charlotte as Mrs. Bolter—to meet someone the next day who can set them up with a place to
live and jobs in the gang.
 19

Chapter 43
Noah Claypole and Charlotte move into Fagin's house, where Fagin says that he has just lost
his "best hand": the Artful Dodger has been arrested for pickpocketing, and Fagin expects
him to be transported. Charley is uncharacteristically sad at the news, and Fagin convinces
him that Jack Dawkins is so clever that he'll have the courtroom in stitches with his humor.
Noah is costumed as a country wagoner and sent to attend the trial and report back on the
outcome. At his trial Jack's confidence and wit keep the audience and even the police
laughing but don't prevent him being sentenced and taken off to jail.

Analysis
On their way into London, Noah Claypole and Charlotte travel along the Great North Road,
the main highway from the north, and pass the Angel in Islington, an important coaching inn
that dated to the early 1600s. The inn was a landmark, and readers in Victorian England
would have been able to place them exactly. Readers would understand why Noah would not
want to stay at the Angel: not only would it charge more than he wanted to spend, but he and
Charlotte might stand out.

The conversation between Fagin and Charley Bates in Chapter 43 reflects the importance of

the Artful Dodger to the mythology of the group. Fagin hopes Charley will retain his naïve
sense of the fun, flash, and romance of being a thief—in line with the popular image of the
dashing highwayman. Jack, with his wit, humor, and endearing self-assurance, has helped to
brand Fagin's crew in this way. Now, with everything falling apart, Fagin tries desperately to
hold on to this image.
Chapter 43 returns to the Victorian justice system. Fagin talks about the gallows with Noah,
who then watches Jack Dawkins's trial. Jack is tried at Bow Street, the main magistrates'
court in London. Dickens was familiar with the Bow Street magistrates' court because he had
covered trials there as a reporter. Jack performs and is sentenced to transportation just as
Fagin predicted. Serious or habitual child criminals under 14 were generally not sentenced to
death but to transportation. In the 1830s—the decade in which Oliver Twist appeared—some
5,000 young convicts per year were transported to Australia, where they were employed in
construction and other manual labor.

Chapter 44
Nancy gets ready to meet Rose, but Bill Sikes won't let her leave. Their altercation
makes Fagin suspicious. When Fagin leaves Nancy lights his way downstairs, and he asks her
what the problem is. Fagin suspects that Nancy has a new boyfriend and wants to meet the
man and bring him into the gang. But Sikes would be a danger to the new man and, since he
knows so much about their activities, to the everyone in the gang. Could Nancy be induced to
poison Sikes? This would rid Fagin of Sikes and bind Nancy to him more closely.

Chapter 45
The next morning Fagin asks Morris Bolter (a.k.a. Noah Claypole) to follow a woman and
see whom she meets and where and, if possible, find out what she says. For this he will pay
 20

Bolter a pound. Six days pass before the opportunity arises, but on the next Sunday night,
Fagin takes Bolter to the Cripples and points out the woman.

Chapter 46
Followed by Noah, Nancy arrives on London Bridge at 11:45 p.m. She finds no one there to
meet her, but waits until past midnight, when Rose and Mr. Brownlow arrive. The three talk
on the stairs leading down to the river; Noah hides nearby and hears every word. Mr.
Brownlow promises that Fagin and his gang will not come to harm as long as he can talk to
Monks, who will never know how they found him. Nancy tells them that Monks frequents the
Cripples and when they can find him there. She describes Monks, and from the description
Mr. Brownlow thinks he knows him. Once again, Mr. Brownlow and Rose offer to help
Nancy, but she refuses.

Analysis
Fagin is generally a good judge of character; that's what makes him such an effective gang
leader. But somehow Nancy deceives him again and again. In this case he does not see that
she is suffering a deep moral dilemma; instead he assumes she's having an affair and looks
for a way to turn it to his own benefit. His faulty assumption coupled with his inability to
believe in Nancy's loyalty sets in motion the events that will end Bill and Nancy's lives, as
well as Fagin's own.
In Chapter 44 Sikes says he will "let [Nancy] a little blood, without troubling the doctor."
Bloodletting as a medical treatment for a variety of ailments dates back thousands of years.
Doctors used methods such as leeches, which would suck the patient's blood, or phlebotomy,
which involved opening the patient's vein with a lancet or a handheld instrument known as a
fleam. Barbers were often called in to perform phlebotomies, so it is not surprising that Sikes
might do it himself. However, while bloodletting was not an uncommon medical procedure,
Sikes's threatening nature and capacity for violence suggest that he is not planning to heal
Nancy, but to harm her.

Rose and Mr. Brownlow repeat their desire to help Nancy escape to live in "a quiet asylum."
Prostitution was an acknowledged problem in the cities of that time. In the mid-1800s
London may have been home to as many as 80,000 prostitutes. Concerned Victorians set up
asylums to help "fallen women," and in 1846 Dickens became involved with one called
Urania Cottage. He insisted the women be taught useful skills and treated compassionately.

Chapter 47
Bill Sikes comes to Fagin with the loot from his latest burglary, and Fagin and Noah tell him
about Nancy's conversation the night before with the gentleman and young woman. Bill is
infuriated. When he gets home he tells Nancy he knows all about her meeting, and she says
that he must know that she didn't betray him, and she begs him to leave their criminal life
behind and come away with her. He knocks her down and beats her to death with a club.
 21

Chapter 48
Sikes leaves in the glare of the morning sun and wanders aimlessly around north London.
That evening he stops for a meal in a village pub, where he feels safe until a peddler grabs his
hat to demonstrate his stain remover. Bill grabs it back angrily and leaves. He comes upon the
mail coach from London and overhears people talking about the "dreadful murder" of a
woman. Bill starts walking north, imagining Nancy's corpse following him. While trying to
sleep in a shed, he awakens to shouting. A farm is on fire, and Bill joins people in fighting it.
After working among them all night, he hears the rumor that the murderer has fled to
Birmingham and decides no one would think to look for him in London. So he heads back to
lie low at Fagin's. Realizing that Bull's-eye might be recognized, he gets ready to drown the
dog, but Bull's-eye senses his master's intention and runs off.

Analysis
Dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows something the character does
not. Dickens creates dramatic irony twice to tragic effect in Chapter 47 when Fagin leads
Sikes to believe Nancy has agreed to inform on them; the reader, however, knows that is not
what she said—or what Noah reported. Subsequently Bill tells Nancy he knows what she
said, and she of course knows that she refused to give them up and speaks with him based on
that knowledge. She cannot know what Fagin has told Bill, but the reader knows that Fagin
has misled him and deliberately placed Nancy's life in jeopardy.
After the murder Bill, so skilled at creating fear in others, becomes frightened himself. His
crime colors the world around him, and he vividly imagines Nancy as a phantom following
him wherever he goes. Bill describes his experience of Nancy's ghost in hair-raising sensory
language: "He could trace its shadow in the gloom, supply the smallest item of the outline,
and note how stiff and solemn it seemed to stalk along. He could hear its garments rustling in
the leaves, and every breath of wind came laden with that last low cry." For him there is no
escape from his crime.

Sikes desperately tries to conceal his identity and realizes he can only avoid capture if he no
longer has the dog with him. Bull's-eye is an extension of Sikes, and Bill's decision to kill
him can be seen as an unconscious decision to commit suicide. Like Sikes, in Chapter 48
Bull's-eye evades capture and "execution," but later he will, in effect, commit suicide in order
to stay with his master.

Chapter 49
Mr. Brownlow, Mr. Losberne, and Harry Maylie bring Monks to Mr. Brownlow's house.
Readers learn that Monks, whose real name is Edward Leeford, is the son of Mr. Brownlow's
long-dead friend. Mr. Brownlow's friend had been ordered to marry an older woman; the
marriage was unhappy, and the two parted—but not before having a son, Edward. Some
years later Edward's father met the daughter of a widowed naval officer and fell in love. Soon
after he became ill and died. His estranged wife destroyed his will so that all his money
passed to her and Edward. But they knew that there was another child, who, it turns out, was
Oliver. After meeting Oliver Mr. Brownlow had gone to the West Indies to look for Edward
Leeford, but Leeford was in London, posing as Monks. Mr. Brownlow makes clear that he
knows everything Monks has done, and Monks agrees to sign a confession and to give Oliver
his portion of their father's estate.
 22

Chapter 50
Tom Chitling pays a visit to Toby Crackit and his associate Kags. Chitling gives the latest
news: Fagin and Bolter (Noah) have been arrested. Bet went to identify Nancy's body and
went crazy with grief; she has been locked away in a mental hospital. Others in the gang have
been taken as well, and the police are lying in wait at the gang's usual haunts. Tom says he
saw Fagin taken away, covered in blood and surrounded by police, who were defending him
from onlookers. He expects Bolter to testify against Fagin and speculates that Fagin will hang
within the week as an accomplice to murder. Bull's-eye, who's in bad shape, jumps in the
window, and the men are glad to see Bill Sikes isn't with him. Several hours later, though,
Sikes arrives, too. Grudgingly, Toby says he can stay and that they won't turn him in. But
Charley Bates soon arrives and, upon seeing Sikes, calls him a murderer, says he will turn
him in, and, shouting for help, attacks the larger man.
A search party comes for Sikes, led by a man on a horse. As the searchers try to enter the
front of the house, Sikes takes a rope, goes to the roof, and prepares to climb down the back.
The man on horseback offers 50 pounds to anyone who can capture Sikes alive. Sikes makes
a loop in the rope, and he's about to lower himself from the roof when he again sees Nancy's
eyes looking at him. He cries out, staggers, and falls from the roof, hanging himself. Bull's-
eye jumps to reach Bill but misses and is killed in the fall.

Analysis
Victorian readers expected a novel to be wrapped up tidily, which occurs in the last five
chapters of Oliver Twist. In Chapter 49 Dickens explains many of the mysteries, including
that of Oliver's identity. The author also provides an answer to the question of nature versus
nurture: Oliver is innately virtuous because his parents loved one another and his mother was
good and selfless; Monks is innately immoral because his parents did not love one another
and his mother, who destroyed her dead husband's will, was greedy and selfish.
Chapter 50 begins with social criticism: Dickens comments on the dangerous conditions in
which the poor live. Several of Fagin's gang members meet in a ruined house on Jacob's
Island in Southwark on the south shore of the industrially polluted Thames. Jacob's Island
had been a thriving area, with most people employed in the timber industry and shipbuilding.
But when that industry moved downriver, closing a local water mill, the population sank into
poverty. A lead mill took over from the water mill in the 1830s, quickly adding its poisons to
the waste-filled Folly Ditch, which supplied the inhabitants' water.
Sikes does not live to stand trial, but he hangs for his crime nevertheless. Just as in the police
courts, where criminals are brought face to face with their victims, Bill looks into Nancy's
eyes one last time, and then "justice" is done. However, it is unlikely that Nancy, who was so
selfless, would have wanted Bill to hang under any circumstances, as she made clear in
Chapter 16.

Chapter 51
Oliver, Rose, Mrs. Maylie, Mrs. Bedwin, Mr. Brownlow, and a sixth person travel to the
town where Oliver was born. Oliver looks forward to seeing Dick, whom he plans to bring to
live with him. Mr. Grimwig meets them at the best hotel in town. That evening Oliver meets
his brother and is shocked that it is the man he'd bumped into at the inn and later seen
with Fagin. The true story of his parentage is revealed: Mr. Brownlow's friend wanted to
 23

marry Oliver's mother, Agnes Fleming, but he died before the wedding. He did, however,
leave a will, which gave 800 pounds each to his wife and her son, Edward, and left the rest of
his fortune to be divided between Agnes and her son—provided her son reached adulthood
without engaging in any criminal acts. It is also revealed that Rose is Agnes's sister. Harry
Maylie arrives and again asks Rose to marry him. However, she still feels that her sister's
history would bring shame on him. Harry tells her he has decided not to make a career in
parliament, has renounced any friends who would not accept her, and has become a vicar.
The two can marry after all. Oliver is sad, though, having learned that Dick is dead.

Chapter 52
On a Friday Fagin is found guilty and condemned to hang on the following Monday. After
his sentencing Fagin sits in his cell in the dark, remembering the faces of all the men he has
seen hung, until someone comes to stay with him. He waits through the weekend, counting
down the hours he has left to live. Around midnight on Sunday, Mr. Brownlow and Oliver
come to see Fagin. As they go in, they hear the scaffold being built. When they reach his cell,
Fagin is rambling, talking to people who aren't there. Mr. Brownlow wants to know the
location of some papers Monks gave him; Fagin whispers the location to Oliver. Oliver offers
to stay and pray with him all night, but Fagin wants the boy to help him escape. His jailers
pull him back, and he screams. Outside, the crowd gathers around the gallows.

Chapter 53
Harry and Rose marry, and Mrs. Maylie goes to live with them. Mr. Brownlow adopts Oliver
and moves his household to the village where the Maylies live. Mr. Losberne also goes to live
there, where his new friend, Mr. Grimwig, frequently visits him. Giles and Brittles help in all
three households. In the church a white marble tablet has been engraved with the name
"Agnes."

Oliver and his brother have split their father's remaining estate equally between them; Monks
moves to "a distant part of the New World," quickly spends his inheritance, returns to crime,
and is clapped in prison, where he dies. Noah Claypole becomes a professional informer; the
Bumbles end up as paupers in the workhouse; and Charley Bates decides crime doesn't pay
and becomes a livestock farmer.

Analysis
At the end of Oliver Twist, most of the characters get what they deserve: The criminals and hypocrites
are punished, and the virtuous live happily ever after. The only flaw in Oliver's happiness is that Dick
is dead. But since Dick told Oliver in Chapter 7 that he looked forward to going to heaven, the reader
must assume that Dick also finds happiness.
Fagin, who has taken such pains to keep himself safe, winds up being sentenced to the gallows. The
gallows have thrown their shadow across the entire book, beginning with the comments of the
gentleman in the white waistcoat, but not until Chapter 52 do readers see the gallows for the first time.
The scaffold stands in the rising sun surrounded by a crowd of people gaming, fighting, and joking to
pass the time before the execution. In the end the gallows is a means of entertaining the masses rather
than a vehicle of justice.
After Dickens's many comments about the hypocrisy of Christians, readers may be surprised to find
him espousing Christianity in the final chapter. Dickens was not conventionally religious, but he once
wrote that he believed in moral goodness and crafted his good characters to encompass the qualities
promoted in the New Testament—humility, true charity, faithfulness, and willingness to forgive.