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Oliver Twist by 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 bully Oliver 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 the Sowerberrys' 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 London house 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 thrives in 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 gold locket 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 ensuring that 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.
Main Characters
-Oliver Twist- The main character of the story, Oliver is an affection-starved little boy who will not commit crimes. He was abused as a young child, and only wants to be loved. His adventures make him the best of friends and the worst of enemies.
-Mrs. Mann - The woman who raised Oliver for the first nine years. She treated him and her other orphans very poorly by beating and starving them.
-Mr. Bumble- The town beadle who thinks very lowly of Oliver. He eventually marries Mrs. Corney and makes Oliver's life more difficult.
-Mr. Gamfield- A chimneysweeper who wanted Oliver as an apprentice.
-Mr. Sowerberry- A coffin maker that Oliver was apprenticed to. He generally treated the boy well, but chose his wife's lies over Oliver's truths.
-Mrs. Sowerberry- Wife of the coffin maker who disliked young Oliver.
-Charlotte- Maid to the Sowerberry's that ends up running away with Noah and beginning a life of crime.
-Noah Claypole - Another worker for the Sowerberry's, Noah antagonizes Oliver when he was there, and when he begins to work for Fagin, his actions lead to the death of Nancy.
-Young Dick- A friend of Oliver's at Mrs. Mann's who loves him.
-Jack Dawkins- "Artful Dodger" is a young accomplished thief who finds Oliver on the road to London and introduces him to Fagin.
-Fagin- The main antagonist in the story, "The Jew" takes Oliver under his wing and tries to make a pickpocket out of him. He is a powerful crime leader who has an affection for only money and will kill anyone who stands in his way.
-Charley Bates- Another one of Fagin's thieves who tends to laugh at everything in life.
-Betsy- A woman who works for Fagin.
-Nancy- A woman who works for Fagin and tries to help Oliver which eventually leads to her death. She is passionate, caring, and loves Sikes, who eventually kills her.
-Mr. Brownlow- A man who Oliver's thief friends rob on the street. He takes Oliver in, and discovers his true parentage.
-Mrs. Bedwin- Mr. Brownlow's housekeeper who nurses Oliver back to health.
-Mr. Grimwig- A friend of Mr. Brownlow who is very cynical of the boy but eventually helps to keep him safe.
-Mr. Sikes - Another evil character who is a member of Fagin's gang. He has a little white dog that follows him everywhere. He threatens Oliver and reluctantly leaves him to die in a field after the boy was shot. He kills Nancy in a rage, and eventually kills himself.
-Tom Chitling- Another petty thief of Fagin's
-Toby Crackit- A "flash" man who helps Sikes attempt to commit the robbery.
-Barney- A thief who helps Sikes.
-Mrs. Corney/ Mrs. Bumble- The matron of the workhouse Oliver was born in who eventually marries Mr. Brumble and here's the confession of the nurse on her deathbed. She finds the evidence of Oliver's parentage, and sells it to Monks.
-Giles- The butler of the Maylie household, he is the man who shot Oliver.
-Brittles- The "boy" of the Maylie household who was also there the night Oliver was shot.
-Rose Maylie- The adopted niece of Mrs. Maylie who turns out to be Oliver's Aunt. She is kind, loving, and a great joy in Oliver's life.
-Mrs. Maylie- An old woman who accepts Oliver into her home and finally gives him a loving atmosphere to live in.
-Mr. Losberne - The doctor and friend of Mrs. Maylie who helps Oliver in his adventures. He is impatient and earnest, but also happy and kindhearted.
-Blathers Duff- The two Bow Street Runners who come to investigate the attempted robbery. They are filled with stories to tell, and are suspicious of Oliver.
-Harry Maylie- The son of Mrs. Maylie, Harry is deeply in love with Rose and would do anything to marry her. He befriends Oliver and adds to the boy's loving atmosphere.
-Monks/ Edward Leeford- Oliver's older half brother who does not want to split his inheritance with the bastard child. He destroys the evidence of Oliver's mother, and is a cohort of Fagin and his gang.
Themes
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 may come 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 elevating influence 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 has its roots in the novels and poems of chivalry and redemption, where the good prosper and the “wicked” are sent packing.
Symbolism
A novel may have 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 illuminate his 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. In spite 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 and dark 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.
Style
Dickens’s style is marked by a kind of literary obesity that is displeasing to some modern tastes. But in this connection—as in all others—we need to look at Dickens from the standpoint of his contemporaries. This means judging his art in one instance as it was viewed by the audience he addressed, whose tastes and expectations were vastly different from our own. A tribute to the greatness 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 for its 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 abundant action 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.
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 bully Oliver 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 the Sowerberrys' 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 London house 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 thrives in 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 gold locket 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 ensuring that 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.
Main Characters
-Oliver Twist- The main character of the story, Oliver is an affection-starved little boy who will not commit crimes. He was abused as a young child, and only wants to be loved. His adventures make him the best of friends and the worst of enemies.
-Mrs. Mann - The woman who raised Oliver for the first nine years. She treated him and her other orphans very poorly by beating and starving them.
-Mr. Bumble- The town beadle who thinks very lowly of Oliver. He eventually marries Mrs. Corney and makes Oliver's life more difficult.
-Mr. Gamfield- A chimneysweeper who wanted Oliver as an apprentice.
-Mr. Sowerberry- A coffin maker that Oliver was apprenticed to. He generally treated the boy well, but chose his wife's lies over Oliver's truths.
-Mrs. Sowerberry- Wife of the coffin maker who disliked young Oliver.
-Charlotte- Maid to the Sowerberry's that ends up running away with Noah and beginning a life of crime.
-Noah Claypole - Another worker for the Sowerberry's, Noah antagonizes Oliver when he was there, and when he begins to work for Fagin, his actions lead to the death of Nancy.
-Young Dick- A friend of Oliver's at Mrs. Mann's who loves him.
-Jack Dawkins- "Artful Dodger" is a young accomplished thief who finds Oliver on the road to London and introduces him to Fagin.
-Fagin- The main antagonist in the story, "The Jew" takes Oliver under his wing and tries to make a pickpocket out of him. He is a powerful crime leader who has an affection for only money and will kill anyone who stands in his way.
-Charley Bates- Another one of Fagin's thieves who tends to laugh at everything in life.
-Betsy- A woman who works for Fagin.
-Nancy- A woman who works for Fagin and tries to help Oliver which eventually leads to her death. She is passionate, caring, and loves Sikes, who eventually kills her.
-Mr. Brownlow- A man who Oliver's thief friends rob on the street. He takes Oliver in, and discovers his true parentage.
-Mrs. Bedwin- Mr. Brownlow's housekeeper who nurses Oliver back to health.
-Mr. Grimwig- A friend of Mr. Brownlow who is very cynical of the boy but eventually helps to keep him safe.
-Mr. Sikes - Another evil character who is a member of Fagin's gang. He has a little white dog that follows him everywhere. He threatens Oliver and reluctantly leaves him to die in a field after the boy was shot. He kills Nancy in a rage, and eventually kills himself.
-Tom Chitling- Another petty thief of Fagin's
-Toby Crackit- A "flash" man who helps Sikes attempt to commit the robbery.
-Barney- A thief who helps Sikes.
-Mrs. Corney/ Mrs. Bumble- The matron of the workhouse Oliver was born in who eventually marries Mr. Brumble and here's the confession of the nurse on her deathbed. She finds the evidence of Oliver's parentage, and sells it to Monks.
-Giles- The butler of the Maylie household, he is the man who shot Oliver.
-Brittles- The "boy" of the Maylie household who was also there the night Oliver was shot.
-Rose Maylie- The adopted niece of Mrs. Maylie who turns out to be Oliver's Aunt. She is kind, loving, and a great joy in Oliver's life.
-Mrs. Maylie- An old woman who accepts Oliver into her home and finally gives him a loving atmosphere to live in.
-Mr. Losberne - The doctor and friend of Mrs. Maylie who helps Oliver in his adventures. He is impatient and earnest, but also happy and kindhearted.
-Blathers Duff- The two Bow Street Runners who come to investigate the attempted robbery. They are filled with stories to tell, and are suspicious of Oliver.
-Harry Maylie- The son of Mrs. Maylie, Harry is deeply in love with Rose and would do anything to marry her. He befriends Oliver and adds to the boy's loving atmosphere.
-Monks/ Edward Leeford- Oliver's older half brother who does not want to split his inheritance with the bastard child. He destroys the evidence of Oliver's mother, and is a cohort of Fagin and his gang.
Themes
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 may come 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 elevating influence 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 has its roots in the novels and poems of chivalry and redemption, where the good prosper and the “wicked” are sent packing.
Symbolism
A novel may have 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 illuminate his 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. In spite 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 and dark 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.
Style
Dickens’s style is marked by a kind of literary obesity that is displeasing to some modern tastes. But in this connection—as in all others—we need to look at Dickens from the standpoint of his contemporaries. This means judging his art in one instance as it was viewed by the audience he addressed, whose tastes and expectations were vastly different from our own. A tribute to the greatness 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 for its 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 abundant action 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.
