English Literature books summary

English Literature books summary

financially as her husband. He becomes the workhouse master, giving up his

office as parish beadle. He regrets both marrying Mrs. Corney and becoming

the workhouse master. He and his wife accept a bribe from Monks to conceal

Oliver's identity. Grimwig and Brownlow ensure that he never holds public

office again after his role in Monks' schemes comes to light. As a result,

he lives the rest of his life in poverty.

Bulls-Eye Bill Sikes' dog. As brutal and vicious as his master, he

functions as Sikes' alter-ego. He leaves bloody footprints in the room

where Sikes murders Nancy. Sikes tries to drown him after the murder

because he is afraid the dog, who follows him everywhere, will give him

away to the legal authorities.

Charlotte the Sowerberrys' maid. She becomes romantically involved with

Noah Claypole, Mr. Sowerberry's charity-boy apprentice. She mistreats

Oliver when Oliver is also an apprentice to the undertaker. She runs away

with Noah to London after they rob the Sowerberrys. After Fagin's hanging,

she helps Noah live as a con man.

Noah Claypole Mr. Sowerberry's charity boy apprentice. He is an over-

grown, cowardly bully. He mistreats Oliver when Oliver is Sowerberry's

apprentice. He runs away to London with Charlotte after robbing the

Sowerberrys. He joins Fagin's band as a thief. After Fagin's execution, he

lives as a con man.

Mrs. Corney the matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. She is

hypocritical and callous. She marries Mr. Bumble but soon regrets it. She

accepts a bribe from Monks to conceal Oliver's identity. As a result,

Grimwig and Brownlow ensure that she never holds public office again. She

ends by living in poverty with her husband.

Toby Crackit He is one of Fagin and Sikes' associates. He participates in

the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Jack Dawkins (a.k.a. The Artful Dodger) f Jack Dawkins, The Artful Dodger,

the Artful Dodger, Dodger, the Dodger g The Dodger is one of Fagin's

pickpockets. He is an intelligent, humorous little thief. He introduces

Oliver to Fagin.

Du_ and Blathers Du_ and Blathers are the two bumbling police Officers who

investigate the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Fagin a conniving career criminal. He gathers homeless boys under his wing

and teaches them to pick pockets for him. He also serves as a fence for

other people's stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself because he

employs others to commit them for him. He schemes with Monks to keep

Oliver's identity a secret. Dickens portrays Fagin using extremely negative

anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Mr. Fang the harsh, judgmental, power-hungry magistrate who presides over

Oliver's trial for pickpocketing.

Agnes Fleming She is Oliver's mother, who gave birth to Oliver out of

wedlock. To save her father and her sister from the shame of her condition,

she ran away during her pregnancy. She died immediately after giving birth

to Oliver in a workhouse.

Mr. Gamfeld Mr. Gamfeld is a brutal chimney-sweep. Oliver almost becomes

his apprentice.

Mr. Giles Mrs. Maylie's butler. He shoots Oliver during the attempted

burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Mr. Grimwig Brownlow's pessimistic, curmudgeonly friend. He tells Brownlow

that Oliver is probably a boy of immoral and idle habits.

Mr. Leeford Oliver and Monks' father. His first marriage was forced on him

by his family for economic reasons. He separated from his wife and had a

love affair with Agnes Fleming, Oliver's mother.

Mr. Losberne He is Mrs. Maylie's family physician. He conceals Oliver's

role in the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home from the legal

authorities.

Mrs. Mann She superintends the juvenile workhouse where Oliver spends the

first nine years of his life. She steals from the stipend meant for the

care of the children living in her establishment. She physically abuses and

half-starves the children in her care.

Mrs. Maylie She is a kind, generous woman. She takes pity on Rose when she

finds her as a nameless, penniless orphan child. She welcomes Oliver in

after he shows up on her doorstep, half-dead from the gunshot wound he

suffered during the attempted burglary of her home. Her son, Harry, marries

Rose.

Harry Maylie He is Mrs. Maylie's son. He gives up his political ambitions

in order to marry Rose.

Rose Maylie She is Agnes Fleming's sister. Agnes and her father died when

she was very young. Mrs. Maylie took her in and raised her as her own. She

is kind and forgiving. She marries Harry Maylie.

Mr. Monks He is Leeford's first son, and Oliver's brother. He schemes to

conceal Oliver's identity because he wants his father's wealth all to

himself.

Nancy She is one of Fagin's former child pickpockets. She tries to save

Oliver from being corrupted by Fagin's lifestyle. She is also Bill Sikes's

lover. Sikes murders her after he learns of her contact with Brownlow and

Rose.

Old Sally She is the nurse who attends Oliver's birth. She steals Agnes'

gold locket, the only clue to Oliver's identity.

Bill Sikes He is a professional burglar. He is also a brutal alcoholic. He

attempts to rob Mrs. Maylie's home. He leaves Oliver lying in a ditch after

he is wounded in the burglary. He murders Nancy in a _t of rage after Fagin

tells him that she has contacted Brownlow and Rose.

Mr. Slout He is the workhouse master before Mr. Bumble assumes the office.

Mr. Sowerberry He is the undertaker for the parish where Oliver is born.

He tries to be kind to Oliver when Oliver is his apprentice, but he

succumbs to his wife's pressure to beat Oliver for his physical

confrontation with Noah.

Mrs. Sowerberry She is a mean, judgmental woman. She mistreats and

underfeeds Oliver when he is Mr. Sowerberry's apprentice. She pressures her

husband to beat Oliver for his physical confrontation with Noah.

Oliver Twist He is the protagonist of the novel. He is born a poor,

nameless orphan in a workhouse. He represents the misery of poverty in

1830's England. His identity is the central mystery of the novel. He is the

illegitimate son of Mr. Leeford, a wealthy Englishman. His evil brother,

Monks, schemes to deprive him of his share of their father's wealth.

Overall Summary

Oliver Twist provides insight into the experience of the poor in 1830s

England. Beneath the novels raucous humor and flights of fancy runs an

undertone of bitter criticism of the Victorian middle class's attitudes

toward the poor. Dickens's scathing satire remains the hypocrisy and

venality of the legal system, workhouses, and middle class moral values and

marriage practices of 1830s England.

As a child, Dickens endured the harsh conditions of poverty. His family was

imprisoned for debt, and Dickens was forced to work in a factory at age

twelve. These experiences haunted him for the rest of his life. The misery

of impoverished childhood is a recurrent theme in his novels. Oliver Twist

epitomizes the unfortunate situation of the orphaned pauper child. Oliver

suffers the cruelty of hypocritical workhouse officials, prejudiced judges,

and hardened criminals. Throughout the novel, his virtuous nature survives

the unbelievable misery of his situation.

Oliver's experiences demonstrate the legal silence and invisibility of

the poor. In 1830s England, wealth determined voting rights. Therefore,

paupers had no say in the laws that governed their lives, and the Poor Laws

strictly regulated the ability to seek relief. Since begging was illegal,

workhouses were the only sources of relief. The workhouses were made to be

deliberately unpleasant in order to discourage paupers from seeking their

relief. The Victorian middle class assumed that the poor were impoverished

due to lassitude and immorality. Since the poor had no voting rights, the

State chose to recognize their existence only when they commited crimes,

died, or entered the workhouses.

Dickens' Oliver Twist is one sympathetic portrayal among dozens of

vicious, stereotypical portrayals of the poor. However, Dickens himself

exhibits middle class prejudice. He reproduces the worst anti-Semitic

stereotypes in Fagin, the "villainous old Jew." The portrayal of Noah

Claypole, the dirty charity boy, reveals some of the stereotypes of the

poor that Dickens criticizes. Monks, Oliver's evil half-brother, is "bad

from birth," although Dickens clearly satirizes the middle class's belief

that the poor are born criminals.

These inconsistencies weaken the larger impact of Dickens' crusade

against the abuses levelled against the poor.

Oliver Twist is not considered one of Dickens's best novels. The plot

is convoluted and often ridiculous. However, it merits study for its

scathing critique of Victorian middle class attitudes towards poverty.

Chapters 1-4

Summary

Oliver Twist is born a sickly infant in a workhouse. His birth is

attended by the parish surgeon and a drunken nurse. His mother kisses his

forehead and dies, and the nurse announces that Oliver's mother was found

lying in the streets the night before. The surgeon notices that she is not

wearing a wedding ring.

Oliver remains at the workhouse for about nine months, until the

authorities hear of his "hungry and destitute situation." They send him to

a branch-workhouse for juvenile offenders against the poor laws. The

overseer, Mrs. Mann, receives an adequate sum for each child's upkeep, but

she keeps most of the money and lets the children go hungry. Since she

receives advance warning of upcoming inspections, her establishment always

appears neat and clean for the inspectors.

On Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle (a minor

church official), informs Mrs. Mann that Oliver is too old to stay at her

establishment. Since no one has been able to locate his father or discover

his mother's identity, it has been decided that he must return to the

workhouse.

Mrs. Mann asks how the boy came to have any name at all. Mr. Bumble

tells her that he keeps a list of names in alphabetical order, naming the

orphans from the list as they are born. Mrs. Mann fetches Oliver. When Mr.

Bumble is not looking, she glowers and shakes her fist at Oliver. He stays

silent about the miserable conditions at her establishment. Before he

departs, Mrs. Mann gives him some bread and butter so that he will not seem

too hungry at the work house.

The workhouse offers the poor the opportunity to starve slowly as

opposed to starving quickly on the streets. The undertaker's bill is a

major budget item due to the large number of deaths. Oliver and his young

companions suffer the "tortures of slow starvation." After lots are cast,

it falls to Oliver to ask for more food at supper. His request so shocks

the authorities that they offer five pounds reward to anyone who will take

Oliver o_ the hands of the parish. They lock him in a dark room, taking him

out only to wash and eat, and ogging him all the while as a public example.

Mr. Gamfield, a brutish chimney sweep, offers to take Oliver as an

apprentice. Because several boys have died under his supervision, the board

considers five pounds too large a reward. After acrimonious negotiation,

they settle on just over three pounds. Mr. Bumble, Mr. Gamfield, and Oliver

appear before a magistrate to seal the bargain. At the last minute, the

magistrate notices Oliver's pale, alarmed face. He asks the boy why he

looks so terrified. Oliver falls on his knees and begs that he be locked in

a room, beaten, killed, or anything besides being apprenticed to Mr.

Gamfield. The magistrate refuses to approve the apprenticeship, and the

workhouse authorities again advertise Oliver's availability.

The workhouse board considers sending Oliver out to sea as a cabin

boy, expected that he would die quickly in such miserable conditions.

However, Mr. Sowerberry, the parish undertaker, takes Oliver on as his

apprentice.

Mr. Bumble informs Oliver that he will suffer dire consequences if he ever

complains about his situation. Mrs. Sowerberry remarks that Oliver is

rather small. Mr. Bumble assures her that he will grow, but she grumbles

that he will grow by eating their food. She serves Oliver the left-overs

that the dog has declined to eat. Oliver devours the food as though it were

a great feast.

After he finishes, Mrs. Sowerberry leads him to his bed, worrying that

his appetite seems so large.

Chapters 5-8

Summary

In the morning, Noah Claypole, Mr. Sowerberry's charity-boy

apprentice, awakens Oliver. He and Charlotte, the maid, taunt Oliver during

breakfast.

Oliver accompanies Sowerberry to a pauper's burial. The husband of the

deceased delivers a tearful tirade against his wife's death by starvation.

He says that he once tried to beg for her, but the authorities sent him to

prison for the offense. The deceased's mother begs for some bread and a

cloak to wear for the funeral.

At the graveyard before the funeral, some ragged boys play hide and

seek among the gravestones and jump back and forth over the coffin to amuse

themselves. Mr. Bumble beats a few of the boys to keep up appearances.

The clergyman performs the service in four minutes. Mr. Bumble ushers

the grieving family out of the cemetery, and Mr. Sowerberry takes the cloak

away from the dead woman's mother. Oliver decides that he is not at all

fond of the undertaking business.

A measles epidemic arrives, and Oliver gains extensive experience in

undertaking. His master dresses him well so that he can march in the

processions. Oliver notes that the relatives of deceased wealthy elderly

people quickly overcome their grief after the funeral. Their fortitude in

the face of loss impresses him.

Noah becomes increasingly jealous of Oliver's speedy advancement. One

day, he insults Oliver's dead mother. Oliver attacks him in a _t of rage.

Charlotte and Mrs. Sowerberry rush to Noah's aid, and the three of

them beat Oliver and lock him in the cellar. Noah rushes to fetch Mr.

Bumble, sobbing and convulsing so that his injuries appear much worse than

they are.

Mr. Bumble informs Mrs. Sowerberry that feeding meat to Oliver gives

him more spirit than is appropriate to his station in life. Still enraged,

Oliver kicks at the cellar door. Sowerberry returns home and gives Oliver a

sound thrashing and locks him up again. Oliver's rage dissipates, and he

dissolves into tears. Early the next morning, he runs away.

Oliver decides to walk the seventy miles to London. Hunger, cold, and

fatigue weaken him over the next seven days. Apart from an old woman and a

kind turnpike man, many people are cruel to him during his journey.

In one village, signs warn against begging under the penalty of jail.

Oliver limps into a small town where he collapses in a doorway. He notices

a boy his age staring at him.

The boy, named Jack Dawkins, wears a man's clothing and acts much

older than his age. He purchases a large lunch for Oliver and informs him

that he knows a "gentleman" in London who will lodge him for free. Oliver

learns that Jack's nickname is "The Artful Dodger." He guesses from the

Dodger's appearance that his way of life is immoral. He plans to ingratiate

himself with the gentleman in London and then end all association with the

Dodger.

That night, Jack takes Oliver to a squalid London neighborhood. At a

dilapidated house, Jack calls out a password, and a man allows them to

enter.

Jack conducts Oliver into a filthy, black back-room where a

"shrivelled old Jew" named Fagin and some boys are having supper. Silk

handkerchiefs hang everywhere. The boys smoke pipes and drink liquor

although none appear older than the Dodger. Oliver takes a share of the

dinner and sinks into a deep sleep.

Chapters 9-12

Summary

The next morning, Fagin takes out a box full of jewelry and watches.

He notices Oliver observing him. Grabbing a bread knife, he asks Oliver if

he had been awake an hour before. Oliver denies it, and Fagin instantly

regains his kindly demeanor.

The Artful Dodger returns with another boy, named Charley Bates, with

rolls and hams for breakfast. Fagin asks if they worked hard that morning.

The Dodger produces two pocket-books, and Charley pulls out four

handkerchiefs. Fagin replies that they will have to teach Oliver how to

pick out the marks with a needle. Oliver does not know that he has joined a

band of pick-pockets, so he believes their sarcastic jokes about teaching

him how to make handkerchiefs and pocket-books.

Dodger and Charley practice picking Fagin's pockets. Two young women,

Bet and Nancy, drop in for drinks. Fagin gives the all of them some money

and sends them out. Fagin lets Oliver practice taking a handkerchief out of

his pocket and gives him a shilling for a job well done. He begins teaching

him to remove marks from the handkerchiefs.

For days, Fagin keeps Oliver indoors practicing the art of

pickpocketting and removing the marks from handkerchiefs. He notices that

Fagin punishes the Dodger and Charley if they return home empty-handed.

Finally, Fagin sends him out to "work."

After some time, the Dodger notices a wealthy gentleman absorbed in

reading at a bookstall. Oliver watches with horror as they sneak up behind

the man and steal his handkerchief. In a rush, he understands what Fagin's

idea of "work" means.

The gentleman turns just in time to see Oliver running away. Thinking

that Oliver is the thief, he raises a cry. The Dodger and Charley see

Oliver running past them, so they join in the cries of, "Stop thief!" A

large crowd joins the pursuit. A man punches Oliver, knocking him to the

pavement.

The gentleman arrives, giving that man a look of disgust. A police officer

arrives and grabs Oliver's collar, ignoring the boy's protests of his

innocence.

The gentleman asks him not to hurt Oliver and follows the officer as

he drags Oliver down the street. The officer locks Oliver in a jail cell to

await his appearance before Mr. Fang, the district magistrate. Mr.

Brownlow, the gentleman, protests that he does not want to press charges.

He thinks he recognizes something in Oliver's face, but cannot put his

finger on it. Oliver faints in the courtroom, and Mr. Fang sentences him to

three months of hard labour. The owner of the bookstall rushes in and tells

Mr. Fang that two other boys committed the crime. Oliver is cleared of all

charges. Pitying the poor, sickly child, Brownlow takes Oliver into a coach

with him and drives away.

Oliver lies in a delirious fever for days. When he awakes, Brownlow's

kindly housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin is watching over him. He says that he feels

as if his mother had come to sit by him. The story of Oliver's pitiful

orphanhood brings tears to her eyes. Once he is strong enough to sit in an

easy-chair, Mrs. Bedwin carries him downstairs to her room. A portrait of a

young woman catches Oliver's eye. It seems to affect him so much, that Mrs.

Bedwin fears the emotion will wear him out. She turns the chair away from

the picture.

Mr. Brownlow drops in to see how Oliver was faring. Tears come to his

eyes when Oliver tries to stand, but collapses from weakness. Oliver thanks

him for his kindness. Brownlow exclaims with astonishment that Oliver so

closely resembles the portrait of the young lady. Brownlow's exclamation

startles Oliver so much that he faints.

Chapters 13-15

Summary

Fagin erupts into a rage when the Dodger and Charley return without

Oliver. He tosses a pot of beer at Charley, but hits Bill Sikes instead.

Sikes is a rough and cruel man who makes his living by robbing houses. They

resolve to find Oliver before he snitches on their entire operation. They

persuade Nancy to go to the police station to find out what happened to

him.

Nancy dresses respectably and presents herself at the station as

Oliver's distraught "sister." She learns that the gentleman from whom the

hankerchief was stolen took Oliver home with him to the neighborhood of

Pentonville because the boy had fallen ill during the proceedings. Fagin

sends Charley, the Dodger, and Nancy to Pentonville to find Oliver. He

decides to shut down his operation and relocate. He fills his pockets with

the watches and jewelry from the hidden box after they leave.

When Oliver next enters the housekeeper's room he notices that the portrait

is gone. Mrs. Bedwin states that Brownlow removed it because it seemed to

"worry" him. Oliver asks no more questions. One day, Brownlow sends for

Oliver to meet him in his study. Thinking that Brownlow means to send him

away, Oliver begs to remain as a servant. Brownlow assures him that he

means to be his friend. He asks Oliver to tell him his history. Before

Oliver can begin, Brownlow's friend, Mr. Grimwig, arrives to visit.

Grimwig, a crusty old curmudgeon, hints that Oliver might be a boy of

bad habits and idle ways. Brownlow bears his friend's eccentric

irascibility with good humor. Mrs. Bedwin brings in a parcel of books

delivered by the bookstall keeper's boy. Brownlow tells her to stop the boy

because he wishes to send his payment and some returns back with him.

However, the boy has disappeared from sight. Grimwig suggests that he send

Oliver, but hints that he might steal the payment and the books. Wishing to

prove Grimwig wrong, Brownlow sends Oliver on the errand. It grows dark and

Oliver does not return.

Oliver takes a wrong turn on the way to the bookstall. Suddenly Nancy

jumps out of nowhere. She tells everyone on the street that Oliver is her

runaway brother. She announces that he joined a band of thieves and that

she is taking him back home to their parents. Everyone ignores Olive's

protests. Bill Sikes runs out of a beer shop and they drag him through the

dark, narrow backstreets.

Nancy and Sikes take Oliver to a dilapidated house in a squalid

neighborhood. Fagin, the Dodger, and Charley laugh hysterically at his

clothing.

He tries to escape, calling for help. Sikes threatens to set his

vicious dog, Bulls-Eye, on him. Nancy leaps to Oliver's defense, saying

that they have ruined all his good prospects. She has worked for Fagin

since she was a small child, and she knows that cold, dank streets and a

life of bad repute lay in wait for Oliver. Fagin tries to beat Oliver for

his escape attempt, and Nancy fles at Fagin in a rage. Sikes catches her by

the wrists, and she faints. They strip Oliver of his clothing, Brownlow's

money, and the books. Fagin returns his old clothing to him and sends him

to bed. Oliver had given the clothing to Mrs. Bedwin to sell to a Jew; the

Jew then delivered the clothing to Fagin, thus giving him his first clue to

Oliver's whereabouts.

Chapters 16-22

Summary

Mr. Brownlow publishes an advertisement offering a reward of five

guineas for information about Oliver's whereabouts or his past. Mr. Bumble

notices it in the paper while traveling to London. He quickly goes to

Brownlow's home. Mr. Bumble states that, since birth, Oliver had displayed

nothing but "treachery, ingratitude, and malice." Brownlow decides Oliver

is nothing but an impostor, but Mrs. Bedwin refuses to believe it.

Fagin leaves Oliver locked up in the house for days. From morning

until midnight, Oliver has no human company. Dodger and Charley ask him why

he does not just give himself over to Fagin since the money comes quickly

and easily. Fagin gradually allows Oliver to spend more time in the other

boys' company. Sometimes, Fagin himself regales his crew with funny stories

of robberies he committed in his youth. Oliver often laughs at the stories

despite himself. Fagin's plan has been to isolate Oliver until he comes to

desire any human contact, even Fagin's. He begins to win Oliver over to his

lifestyle.

Sikes plans to rob a house, but he needs a small boy for the job.

Fagin offers Oliver for the work. Sikes warns that he will kill Oliver if

he betrays any signs of hesitation during the robbery. Fagin assures him

that he has won Oliver over in spirit, but he wants Oliver to take part in

a serious crime in order to firmly seal the boy in his power. Sikes

arranges to have Nancy deliver Oliver to the scene. Fagin watches Nancy for

any signs of hesitation.

She once railed against trapping Oliver into a life of crime, but she

seems to betray no further misgivings about doing her part to include

Oliver in the robbery.

Fagin informs Oliver that he will be taken to Sikes' residence that

night. He gives Oliver a book to read. Oliver waits, shivering in horror at

the book's bloody tales of famous criminals and murderers. Nancy arrives to

take him away. Oliver considers calling for help on the streets. Reading

his thoughts on his face, Nancy warns him that he could get both of them

into deep trouble. They arrive at Sikes' residence, and Sikes shows Oliver

a pistol. He warns Oliver that if he causes any trouble, he will kill him.

At five in the morning, they prepare to leave for the job.

Sikes takes Oliver on a long journey to the town of Shepperton. They

arrive after dark. Sikes leads him to a decayed, ruinous house where his

partners-in- crime, Toby Crackit and Barney, are waiting. At half past one,

Sikes and Crackit set out with Oliver. They arrive at the targeted house

and climb over the wall surrounding it. Oliver begs Sikes to let him go.

Sikes curses and prepares to shoot him, but Crackit knocks the pistol away,

saying that gunfire will draw attention.

Crackit clasps his hand over Oliver's mouth while Sikes pries open a

tiny window. Sikes instructs Oliver to take a lantern and open the street

door to let them inside, reminding him that he is within shooting range all

the while. Oliver plans to dash for the stairs and warn the family. Sikes

lowers him through the window. However, the residents of the house awake

and one shoots Oliver. Sikes pulls him back through the window. He and

Crackit flee with Oliver.

Chapters 23-28

At the workhouse, Mr. Bumble visits Mrs. Corney, the matron of the

establishment, to deliver some wine for the infirmary. She invites him tea.

They flirt while he slowly moves his chair closer to hers, and he plants a

kiss on her lips. An old pauper woman interrupts them to report that Old

Sally is close to death. She wishes to tell Mrs. Corney something before

she dies.

Irritated at the interruption, Mrs. Corney leaves Bumble alone in her

room. Mrs. Corney enters Old Sally's room. The dying woman awakes and asks

that her two elderly bedside companions be sent away. Once alone, she

confesses that she once robbed a woman in her care. The woman had been

found on the road close to childbirth. She had a gold locket that she gave

to Old Sally for safe keeping. She said that if her child lived, the locket

might lead to some people who would care for it. The child's name was

Oliver.

Sally shudders and dies, and Mrs. Corney steps out of the room. She

tells the nurses who attended Sally that she had nothing to say, after all.

Crackit arrives at Fagin's. Fagin has learned from the newspapers that the

robbery has failed. Crackit informs Fagin that Oliver was shot during the

attempted break-in. He reports that the entire population in the area

surrounding the targeted house then chased after them. He and Sikes fled,

leaving Oliver lying in a ditch.

Fagin rushes out to a bar to look for a man named Monks. Not finding

him, he hurries to Sikes' residence, where Nancy is in a drunken stupor.

She says that Sikes is hiding. He relates the news of Oliver's misfortune,

and Nancy cries that she wishes that Oliver is dead because living in

Fagin's style is worse. Fagin replies that Oliver is worth hundreds of

pounds to him. He returns to his house to find Monks waiting for him. Monks

asks why he sent Oliver out on such a mission rather than making the boy

into a simple pickpocket. Fagin replies that Oliver was not easily enticed

into the profession, so he needed a crime with which to frighten him.

Apparently Monks had been searching for Oliver when he spotted him on

Oliver's fateful first day out with the Artful Dodger and Charley.

Mrs. Corney returns to her room in a ustered state, and she and Mr.

Bumble drink spiked peppermint together. They flirt and kiss. Bumble

mentions that Mr. Slout, the master of the workhouse, is on his deathbed.

He hints that he could fill the vacancy and marry her. She blushes and

consents to his proposal. Bumble travels to inform Sowerberry that his

services will be needed for Old Sally. He happens upon Charlotte feeding

Noah Claypole oysters in the kitchen. When Noah tells Charlotte he wants to

kiss her, Bumble thunders in to preach against their immoral ways.

The night after the failed robbery, Oliver awakes in a delirium. He

happens upon the very same house Sikes tried to rob. Inside, Mr. Giles and

Mr. Brittles, two of the servants, regale the other servants with the

details of the night's events. They present themselves as intrepid heroes

although they had been terrified. Oliver's feeble knock at the door

frightens everyone. They gather around in breathless fear as Brittles opens

the door to find Oliver lying there. They exclaim that Oliver is one of the

thieves and drag him inside. The niece of the wealthy mistress of the

mansion calls downstairs to ask if the poor creature is badly wounded. She

sends Brittles to fetch a doctor and constable while Giles gently carries

Oliver upstairs.

Chapters 29-32

Mrs. Maylie, the mistress of the house at which Oliver had been shot,

is a kindly old-fashioned elderly woman. Her niece, Miss Rose, is an

angelic beauty of seventeen years of age. Mr. Losberne, the eccentric

bachelor surgeon, arrives in a uster, stating his wonderment at the fact

that neither woman is dead of fright at having a burglar in their house. He

attends to Oliver for a long while before asking the women if they have

actually seen the thief. Giles has enjoyed the commendations for his

bravery, so he does not want to tell them that the one he shot is such a

small boy. The ladies accompany the surgeon to see the culprit for the

first time.

Upon seeing Oliver, Miss Rose exclaims that he cannot possibly be a

burglar unless he was forced into the trade by older, evil men. She begs

her aunt not to send the child to prison. Mrs. Maylie replies that she

intends no such thing. They wait all day for Oliver to awake in order to

determine whether he is a "bad one" or not. Oliver relates his life history

to them that evening, bringing tears to the eyes of his audience. Mr.

Losberne hurries downstairs and asks if Giles and Brittles can swear before

the constable that Oliver is the same boy they saw in the house the night

before. Meanwhile, the Bow Street Officers, summoned by Brittles that

morning, arrive to assess the situation.

Du_ and Blathers, the Officers, examine the crime scene while the

surgeon and the women try to think of a way to conceal Oliver's part in the

crime. The Officers determine that two men and a boy were involved judging

from the footprints and the size of the window. Mr. Losberne tells them

that Giles merely mistook Oliver for the guilty party. He tells them that

Oliver was wounded accidentally by a spring-gun while trespassing on a

neighbor's property. Giles and Brittles state that they cannot swear that

he is the boy they saw that night. The Officers depart and the matter is

settled without incident.

Over a period of weeks, Oliver slowly begins to recover. He begs for some

way to repay his benefactors kindness. They tell him he can do so after he

recovers his health. He laments not being able to tell Brownlow and Mrs.

Bedwin what has happened to him. Mr. Losberne takes Oliver to London to see

them. To Oliver's bitter disappointment, he and Losberne discover that

Brownlow, Mrs. Bedwin, and Mr. Grimwig have moved to the West Indies. Mrs.

Maylie and Miss Rose take him to the country where his health improves

vastly, as do his reading and writing. He and the ladies become greatly

attached to each other over the three months they spend there.

Chapters 33-37

Without warning, Miss Rose falls ill with a serious fever. Mrs. Maylie

sends Oliver to take a letter requesting Losberne's assistance to an inn

where it can be dispatched immediately. Oliver runs the whole four miles to

the inn. On his return journey, he stumbles against a tall man wrapped in a

cloak. The man curses Oliver, asks what he is doing there, and then falls

violently to the ground, "writhing and foaming." Oliver secures help for

man before he returns home and forgets the incident entirely. Miss Rose

worsens rapidly.

Losberne arrives and examines her. He states there is little hope for her

recovery. However, Miss Rose draws back from the brink of death. Giles and

Harry Maylie, Mrs. Maylie's son, arrive to see Miss Rose. Harry is angry

that his mother has not written him sooner. Mrs. Maylie replies that Miss

Rose needs long-lasting love, not the whims of a youthful suitor.

She states that an ambitious man can marry a woman "on whose name

there is a stain" fully believing he loves her, but that when the "cold and

sordid people" approach his family, he may regret his decision and thus

cause his wife pain. Harry declares that his love for Miss Rose is solid

and lasting. While Rose recovers, Oliver and Harry collect flowers for her

room. One day Oliver falls asleep reading by a window. He has a nightmare

that Fagin and a man are pointing at him and whispering. Fagin says, "It is

he, sure enough!" Oliver awakes to see Fagin and the man from the inn-yard

peering through the window at him. They disappear rapidly as Oliver calls

for help.

Harry and Giles rush to Oliver's aid. Upon hearing about Fagin and the

man, they search the fields around the house, but they find no trace of

them. They circulate a description of Fagin around the surrounding

neighborhoods, but find no clues to his whereabouts. Harry declares his

love to Rose. Although she returns his love, she says she cannot marry him

owing to the circumstances of her birth. His station is much higher than

hers, and she does not want to weight down his ambitions. Harry states that

he will return to press his suit once more, but that, if she holds to her

resolution, he will not mention it again.

Before he and Losberne depart, Harry asks that Oliver secretly write

him a letter every two weeks. He asks that Oliver tell him everything he

and the ladies do and say to one another. Crying with grief and sorrow,

Rose watches the coach with Harry and Losberne inside until it is out of

sight.

Mr. Bumble has married Mrs. Corney and become the master of the

workhouse. He regrets giving up his position as beadle, and he regrets

giving up his situation as a single man even more. After a morning of

humiliating bickering with his wife, he stops in a bar for a drink. A man

in a dark cape is sitting there, and he recognizes Mr. Bumble as the former

beadle. He bribes Mr. Bumble for information leading to Old Sally, the

woman who nursed Oliver's mother the night she gave birth. Mr. Bumble

informs him that Old Sally is dead, but he mentions that he knows a woman

who attended the old woman's deathbed ramblings. The man asks that Mr.

Bumble bring this woman to see him at his address the following evening. He

gives his name as Monks.

Chapters 38-41

One night, during a storm, Mr. Bumble and his wife travel to a sordid

section of town near a swollen river to meet Mr. Monks in a much decayed

building.

While Mr. Bumble shivers in fear, Mrs. Bumble coolly bargains with

Monks for the price of her information . They settle on a price of twenty-

five gold pounds. Mrs. Bumble relates the information of Old Sally's

robbery of Oliver's mother. Mrs. Bumble had discovered a ragged, dirty

pawnbroker's receipt in Sally's clutching, dead hands, and had redeemed the

receipt for the gold locket. She hands the locket to Monks. Inside, he

finds a wedding ring and two locks of hair. The name "Agnes" is engraved on

the ring along with a blank for the surname. A date that is less than a

year before Oliver's birth follows it. Monks ties the locket to a lead

weight and drops it into the swirling river.

Bill Sikes is ill with a terrible fever. Nancy nurses him anxiously

despite his abuse and surly attitude. Fagin and his crew drop in to deliver

some wine and food. Sikes demands that Fagin give him some money. Nancy and

Fagin travel to Fagin's haunt where Fagin is about to delve into his store

of cash when Monks arrives and asks to speak to Fagin alone. Fagin takes

his visitor to a secluded room, but Nancy follows them and eavesdrops.

After Monks departs, Fagin gives Nancy the money. Nancy, perturbed by

what she has heard, dashes into the streets in the opposite direction of

Sikes' residence. Thinking better of it, she returns to deliver the money

to Sikes.

Sikes does not notice her changed, nervous attitude until a few days

pass. Sensing something in the air, he demands that Nancy sit with him.

After he sinks into sleep, Nancy hastens to a hotel in a wealthy section of

town. She begs the servants to allow her to speak to Miss Maylie, who is

staying there.

They conduct her upstairs. Nancy confesses that she was the one who

kidnapped Oliver on his errand for Mr. Brownlow. She relates that she

overheard Monks tell Fagin that he is Oliver's older brother. Monks wants

Oliver's identity to remain unknown forever so that he has unchallenged

claim to his share of their inheritance. He would kill Oliver if he could

do so without endangering himself. He has also promised to pay a sum to

Fagin should Oliver ever be recovered. Miss Rose begs Nancy to accept her

help in leaving her life of crime behind. Nancy replies that she cannot

because she is drawn back to Sikes despite his abusive ways. She refuses to

accept any money. Before leaving, Nancy informs Miss Rose that she can be

found on London Bridge between eleven and twelve every Sunday night in case

Miss Rose should need her testimony again.

Oliver rushes in to tell Miss Rose that he saw Mr. Brownlow going into

a house. He and Mr. Giles have ascertained that Brownlow lives there, so

Miss Rose immediately takes Oliver to see his old benefactor. She meets Mr.

Brownlow in his parlor while Mr. Grimwig is visiting. Miss Rose tells him

that Oliver has wanted to see him and thank him for his kind help two years

past. Once they are alone, she relates Nancy's strange story.

Oliver is brought in to see Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin. After their happy

reunion, Brownlow and Miss Rose relay Nancy's information to Mrs. Maylie

and Losberne. Brownlow asks if he can include Grimwig in the matter.

Losberne agrees on the condition that they include Harry. They agree to

keep everything a secret from Oliver and decide to contact Nancy the

following Sunday on London Bridge.

Chapters 42-48

Noah Claypole and Charlotte flee to London after robbing Mr.

Sowerberry. They take a room in an inn, where they meet Fagin and Barney.

Fagin invites Noah to join in the thieving trade. He gives him the

assignment of robbing children who are running errands for their mothers.

After meeting Fagin at his home, Noah learns that Fagin's best pick-pocket,

the Artful Dodger, has been arrested for stealing a handkerchief. Noah's

first job is to go to the police station to watch the Dodger's appearance

before the magistrate. The Dodger, joking and bantering all the while, is

convicted of the crime. Noah hurries back to tell Fagin the news.

Fagin and Sikes are talking when Nancy tries to leave at eleven on

Sunday to go to London Bridge. Out of pure obstinacy, Sikes refuses to let

her go. He drags her into another room and restrains her struggles for an

hour. When he departs, Fagin asks that Nancy light his way downstairs with

a candle. He whispers to her that he will help her leave the brute Sikes if

she wants.

Fagin imagines that Nancy had wanted to meet a new lover that night.

He hopes to bring her new love into the fold with her help, but he also

hopes to persuade Nancy to poison Sikes to death. In such a way, he can re-

establish his control over her and bring her back into the business. He

plans to watch her in order to discover the identity of her new love

because he hopes to blackmail Nancy into re-joining his crew with this

information.

Fagin tells Noah he will pay him a pound to follow Nancy around and find

out where she goes and to whom she speaks. He waits until the following

Sunday to take Noah to Sikes' residence. At eleven, Nancy leaves the room

she shares with Sikes because he is out on a job that night. Noah follows

her down the street at a discreet distance.

Nancy meets Mr. Brownlow and Miss Rose and draws them into a dark,

secluded spot. Noah listens to Nancy beg them to ensure that none of her

associates get into trouble because of her choice to help Oliver. They

agree, and Nancy tells them when they will most likely see Monks visiting

Fagin.

They hope to catch Monks and force the truth of Oliver's history from

him. Nancy's description of Monks startles them. Miss Rose realizes that

Monks is the same man who, with Fagin, had startled Oliver awake by

watching him through the window at the country cottage. Brownlow begs Nancy

to accept their help, but she refuses, saying that she is chained to her

life. They leave Nancy alone and speed away. After Nancy makes her way

home, Noah runs as fast as he can to Fagin's house.

When Sikes delivers some stolen goods to Fagin that night, Fagin and

Noah relate the details of Nancy's trip to London bridge. In a rage, Sikes

rushes home and beats Nancy to death while she begs for mercy. In the

morning, he flees London, thinking that everyone looks at him suspiciously.

He stops at an inn to eat and drink. Seeing a blood-stain on Sikes's hat,

but not recognizing it for what it is, a salesman grabs it to demonstrate

the quality of his stain-remover. Sikes grabs it and flees the inn. He

overhears some men talking about a murdered woman in London at the post-

office. He wanders the road, hallucinating that Nancy's ghost is following

him. Sikes finally decides to return to London and hide. However, he knows

that his dog, Bulls-Eye, will give him away because everyone knows it

follows him everywhere. He tries to drown the animal, but it escapes.

Chapters 49-53

Meanwhile, Mr. Brownlow has captured Monks, whose real name is Edward

Leeford. Brownlow was a good friend of his father, Mr. Leeford, who was a

young man when his family forced him to marry a woman ten years older than

he. The couple eventually separated, and Monks and his mother went to

Paris. Leeford fell in love with a military man's daughter who became

pregnant with Oliver. The relative who had benefited most from Leeford's

forced marriage repented and left him a fortune. Leeford left a portrait of

his beloved in Brownlow's care while he went to take possession of his

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