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A short summary of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of Oliver Twist.
- Chapters 1–8
A summary of Chapters 1–8 in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist....
- Themes
The Failure of Charity. Much of the first part of Oliver...
- Character List
Oliver is between nine and twelve years old when the main...
- Oliver Twist Characters
Dickens’s Victorian middle-class readers were likely to hold...
- Quick Quiz
Test your knowledge on all of Oliver Twist. Perfect prep for...
- Oliver Twist: Study Guide
Overview. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, first published...
- Chapters 1–8
- Overview
- Plot summary
- Context and reception
Oliver Twist, novel by Charles Dickens, published serially under the pseudonym “Boz” from 1837 to 1839 in Bentley’s Miscellany and in a three-volume book in 1838. The novel was the first of the author’s works to realistically depict the impoverished London underworld and to illustrate his belief that poverty leads to crime.
The novel follows the journey of the titular character, Oliver Twist. Oliver, an orphan since birth, spends much of his childhood at a “child farm” (orphanage) with too many children and too little food. The farm is located roughly 70 miles outside London. One night, after being served his portion of gruel, Oliver asks for a second helping. This is unacceptable, and Oliver is sent to work as an apprentice to an undertaker. Eventually, after suffering repeated mistreatment, Oliver runs away and heads for London. He soon finds himself in the presence of the Artful Dodger, who tells him to stay at the house of an “old gentleman” (named Fagin) with a number of other boys. Oliver learns that these boys are trained pickpockets. On an outing, Oliver witnesses the boys take a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow, an elderly man, which prompts Oliver to run away in fear and confusion. The elderly man mistakes Oliver’s behaviour for guilt and has him arrested. However, after learning more about Oliver, Mr. Brownlow realizes his mistake and offers to take care of him at his home.
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Oliver assumes that he is now rid of Fagin and the pickpockets, but his knowledge of their crimes causes them to seek Oliver out. Nancy, a prostitute and mistress of one of Fagin’s men, Bill Sikes, is sent to take Oliver from Mr. Brownlow back to Fagin. She does so successfully, and Oliver is sent on a burglary mission with another member of the group to the countryside around London. On this errand, Oliver is shot in the arm and then is taken in by the family (the Maylies) that he attempted to rob. While he is there, Fagin and a man named Monks plot to get him back. Rose Maylie, while on a trip to London with her family, meets with Mr. Brownlow to talk with Nancy, who has slipped away from Sikes to explain the plans made by Monks and Fagin to get Oliver back. She describes Monks and tells them when he might most easily be apprehended. Unfortunately for Nancy, news of her betrayal reaches Sikes, and he beats her to death. Sikes accidentally hangs himself soon after. The Maylies reunite Oliver with Mr. Brownlow, who forces Monks to explain himself. The reader and Oliver are then informed that Monks is Oliver’s half-brother and that Oliver is entitled to a large fortune. He receives his share of the money, Fagin is hung, and the Maylies, Oliver, and Mr. Brownlow move to the countryside where they spend the rest of their days together.
Charles Dickens was well versed in the poverty of London, as he himself was a child worker after his father was sent to debtors’ prison. His appreciation of the hardships endured by impoverished citizens stayed with him for the rest of his life and was evident in his journalistic writings and novels. Dickens began writing Oliver Twist after the adoption of the Poor Law of 1834, which halted government payments to the able-bodied poor unless they entered workhouses. Thus, Oliver Twist became a vehicle for social criticism aimed directly at the problem of poverty in 19th-century London.
Oliver Twist was very popular when it was first published, partially because of its scandalous subject matter. It depicted crime and murder without holding back—causing it, in Victorian London, to be classed as a “Newgate novel” (named after Newgate Prison in London). While critics often condemned such novels as immoral, the public usually enjoyed them. Because the novel was also published serially, the anticipation of waiting for the next installment (and its many cliffhangers) also likely contributed to its popularity. To this day, Oliver Twist is enjoyed by many for its historical social commentary and exciting plotline. It has been adapted for film several times, including in 1948 (directed by David Lean) and 2005 (directed by Roman Polanski).
In Oliver Twist, Dickens mixes grim realism with merciless satire to describe the effects of industrialism on 19th-century England and to criticise the harsh new Poor Laws. Oliver, an innocent child, is trapped in a world where his only options seem to be the workhouse, a life of crime symbolised by Fagin's gang, a prison, or an early grave.
- Serialised 1837–1839; book form 1838
- Serial novel
Oliver Twist Summary. Next. Chapter 1. Literary devices: Genre. Mood. Setting. Style. Tone. View all. Oliver Twist begins in a workhouse in 1830s England, in an unnamed village, where a young woman, revealed to be Oliver's mother, gives birth to her son and promptly dies.
Book Summary. Oliver Twist's mother dies after the birth of her child in a workhouse. The infant's father is unknown, and the orphan is placed in a private juvenile home. After nine years of mistreatment, the boy is returned to the workhouse for even more abuse. After representing his fellow sufferers in an attempt to get more food, Oliver is ...
Buy Study Guide. Oliver Twist Summary. Oliver Twist is the story of a young orphan, Oliver, and his attempts to stay good in a society that refuses to help. Oliver is born in a workhouse, to a mother not known to anyone in the town.
