Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist was born into a life of poverty and misfortune
in a workhouse in an unnamed town (although when originally published in Bentley's Miscellany in 1837 the town was called Mudfog and said to be within 70 miles north of London – in reality this
is the location of the town ofNorthampton). Orphaned almost from his first breath by his mother's death
in childbirth and his father's unexplained absence, Oliver is meagrely provided
for under the terms of the Poor Law and spends the first nine years of his life at
a baby farm in the 'care' of a woman named Mrs. Mann. Oliver is brought up
with little food and few comforts. Around the time of Oliver's ninth birthday,
Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, removes Oliver from the baby farm and puts
him to work picking and weaving oakum at the main workhouse. Oliver, who toils with
very little food, remains in the workhouse for six months. One day, the
desperately hungry boys decide to draw lots; the loser must ask for another
portion of gruel. The task falls to Oliver, who at the next
meal tremblingly comes up forward, bowl in hand, and begs Mr. Bumble for gruel
with his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more".
A great uproar ensues. The board of well-fed gentlemen who
administer the workhouse hypocritically offer £5 to any person wishing to take
on the boy as an apprentice. Mr. Gamfield, a brutal chimney sweep, almost claims Oliver. However, when he begs despairingly not
to be sent away with "that dreadful man", a kindly old magistrate
refuses to sign the indentures. Later, Mr. Sowerberry, an undertaker employed
by the parish, takes Oliver into his service. He treats Oliver better and,
because of the boy's sorrowful countenance, uses him as a mourner at children's
funerals. However, Mr. Sowerberry is in an unhappy marriage, and his wife takes
an immediate dislike to Oliver – primarily because her husband seems to like
him – and loses few opportunities to underfeed and mistreat him. He also
suffers torment at the hands of Noah Claypole, an oafish but bullying fellow
apprentice and "charity boy" who is jealous of Oliver's promotion to mute, and Charlotte, the Sowerberrys' maidservant,
who is in love with Noah.
While attempting to bait Oliver, Noah insults Oliver's
biological mother, calling her "a regular right-down bad 'un". Oliver
flies into a rage, attacking and even beating the much bigger boy. Mrs.
Sowerberry takes Noah's side, helps him to subdue, punch, and beat Oliver, and
later compels her husband and Mr. Bumble, who has been sent for in the
aftermath of the fight, to beat Oliver again. Once Oliver is sent to his room
for the night, he breaks down and weeps, upset at the events which he had
faced. At dawn, Oliver escapes from the Sowerberrys' and decides to run away to London.
George Cruikshank original engraving of the Artful Dodger (centre), here introducing Oliver (right) to Fagin(left)
During his journey to London, Oliver encounters Jack Dawkins, a pickpocket more commonly known by the nickname the "Artful Dodger" and his sidekick, Charley Bates, but Oliver's innocent nature prevents him from recognising
this hint that the boy may be dishonest. Dodger provides Oliver with a free
meal and tells him of a gentleman in London who will "give him lodgings
for nothing, and never ask for change". Grateful for the unexpected
assistance, Oliver follows Dodger to the "old gentleman's" residence.
In this way, Oliver unwittingly falls in with an infamous Jewish criminal known
as Fagin, the so-called gentleman of whom the Artful
Dodger spoke. Ensnared, Oliver lives with Fagin and his gang of juvenile
pickpockets in their lair at Saffron Hill for some time, unaware of their criminal
occupations. He believes they make wallets and handkerchiefs.
Later, Oliver naïvely goes out to "make handkerchiefs"
(because there is no income) with two of Fagin's underlings, the Artful Dodger
and a boy of a humorous nature named Charley Bates. Oliver realises too late
that their real mission is to pick pockets. Dodger and Charley steal the
handkerchief of an old gentleman named Mr. Brownlow, and promptly flee. When he
finds his handkerchief missing, Mr. Brownlow turns round, sees Oliver running
away in fright, and pursues him. Others join the chase and Oliver is caught and
taken before the magistrate. Curiously, Mr. Brownlow has second thoughts about
the boy – he seems reluctant to believe he is a pickpocket. To the judge's
evident disappointment, a bookstall holder who saw Dodger commit the crime
clears Oliver, who, by now actually ill, faints in the courtroom. Mr. Brownlow
takes Oliver home and, along with his housekeeper Mrs. Bedwin, cares for him.
Oliver stays with Mr. Brownlow, recovers rapidly, and blossoms
from the unaccustomed kindness. His bliss, however, is interrupted when Fagin,
fearing Oliver might "peach" on his criminal gang, decides that
Oliver must be brought back to his hideout. When Mr. Brownlow sends Oliver out
to pay for some books, one of the gang, a young girl named Nancy, whom Oliver had previously met at Fagin's,
accosts him with help from her abusive lover, a brutal robber named Bill Sikes, and Oliver is quickly bundled back to Fagin's lair. The
thieves take the five-pound note Mr. Brownlow had entrusted to him, and strip
him of his fine new clothes. Oliver, dismayed, flees and attempts to call for
police assistance, but is ruthlessly dragged back by the Artful Dodger, Charley
and Fagin. Nancy, however, is sympathetic towards Oliver and saves him from
beatings by Fagin and Sikes.
In a renewed attempt to draw Oliver into a life of crime, Fagin
forces him to participate in a burglary. Nancy reluctantly assists in
recruiting him, all the while assuring the boy that she will help him if she
can. Sikes, after threatening to kill him if he does not co-operate, sends
Oliver through a small window and orders him to unlock the front door. The
robbery goes wrong, however, and Oliver is shot and wounded in his left arm at
the targeted house. After being abandoned by Sikes, the wounded Oliver makes it
back to the house and ends up under the care of the people he was supposed to
rob: Miss Rose and her guardian Mrs. Maylie.
A mysterious man named Monks has found Fagin and is plotting
with him to destroy Oliver's reputation. Monks denounces Fagin's failure to
turn Oliver into a criminal, and the two of them agree on a plan to make sure
he does not find out about his past. Monks is apparently related to Oliver in
some way, although it's not mentioned until later. Back in Oliver's home town,
Mr. Bumble has married Mrs Corney, the wealthy matron of the workhouse where
the story first began, only to find himself in an unhappy marriage, constantly
arguing with his domineering wife. After one such argument, Mr. Bumble walks
over to a pub, where he meets Monks, who questions him about Oliver. Bumble
informs Monks that he knows someone who can give Monks more information for a
price, and later Monks meets secretly with the Bumbles. After Mrs. Bumble has
told Monks all she knows, the three arrange to take a locket and ring which had
once belonged to Oliver's mother and toss them into a nearby river. Monks
relates this to Fagin as part of the plot to destroy Oliver, unaware that Nancy
has eavesdropped on their conversation and gone ahead to inform Oliver's
benefactors.
Now ashamed of her role in Oliver's kidnapping and fearful for
the boy's safety, Nancy goes to Rose Maylie and Mr. Brownlow to warn them. She
knows that Monks and Fagin are plotting to get their hands on the boy again and
holds some secret meetings on the subject with Oliver's benefactors. One night,
Nancy tries to leave for one of the meetings, but Sikes refuses permission when
she doesn't state exactly where she's going. Fagin realises that Nancy is up to
something and resolves to find out what her secret is. Meanwhile, Noah has
fallen out with the undertaker Mr. Sowerberry, stolen money from him, and fled
to London. Charlotte has accompanied him — they are now in a relationship.
Using the name "Morris Bolter", he joins Fagin's gang for protection
and becomes a practicer of "the kinchin lay" (robbing children), and
Charlotte (it is implied) becomes a prostitute. During Noah's stay with Fagin,
the Artful Dodger is caught with a stolen silver snuff box, convicted (in a
very humorous courtroom scene), and transported to Australia. Later, Noah is
sent by Fagin to "dodge" (spy on) Nancy, and discovers her secret:
she has been meeting secretly with Rose and Mr. Brownlow to discuss how to save
Oliver from Fagin and Monks.
Fagin angrily passes the information on to Sikes, twisting the
story just enough to make it sound as if Nancy had informed on him. Believing
Nancy to be a traitor, Sikes beats her to death in a fit of rage and flees to
the countryside to escape from the police. There, Sikes is haunted by visions of
Nancy's ghost and increasingly alarmed by news of her murder spreading across
the countryside. He returns to London to find a hiding place, only to die by
accidentally hanging himself while attempting to flee across a rooftop from an
angry mob.
Fagin in his cell.
Monks is forced by Mr. Brownlow to divulge his secrets: his real
name is Edward Leeford, and he is Oliver's paternal half-brother and, although
he is legitimate, he was born of a loveless marriage. Oliver's mother, Agnes,
was their father's true love. Mr. Brownlow has a picture of her, and began
making inquiries when he noticed a marked resemblance between her face and the
face of Oliver. Monks has spent many years searching for his father's
child – not to befriend him, but to destroy him (see Henry Fielding's Tom
Jones for similar
circumstances). Brownlow asks Oliver to give half his inheritance (which proves
to be meagre) to Monks because he wants to give him a second chance; and
Oliver, being prone to giving second chances, is more than happy to comply.
Monks later moves to America, where he squanders his money, reverts to crime,
and ultimately dies in prison. Fagin is arrested and condemned to the gallows.
On the eve of his hanging, in an emotional scene, Oliver, accompanied by Mr.
Brownlow, goes to visit the old reprobate in Newgate Gaol, where
Fagin's terror at being hanged has caused him to lose himself in daydreams and
come down with fever. As Mr. Brownlow and Oliver leave the prison, Fagin
screams in terror and despair as a crowd gathers to see his hanging.
On a happier note, Rose Maylie turns out to be the long-lost
sister of Agnes, and therefore Oliver's aunt. She marries her long-time
sweetheart Harry, and Oliver lives happily with his saviour, Mr. Brownlow. Noah
becomes a paid, semi-professional police informer. The Bumbles lose their jobs
and are reduced to great poverty, eventually ending up in the same workhouse
where they originally lorded it over Oliver and the other orphan boys. Charley
Bates, horrified by Sikes's murder of Nancy, becomes an honest citizen, moves
to the country, and works his way up to prosperity.
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