Oliver Twist

Mr. Bumble, the beadle, names the poor, wretched children of the workhouse in alphabetical order. As 'T' is the next available letter in the alphabet when Oliver is born, Bumble comes up with the...

The primary reason that Oliver asks for more gruel (which is similar to oatmeal) is because he is hungry. The board members of the workhouse where Oliver lives meet and decide that "the poor people...

Oliver Twist is definitely a character to be admired. He has strong morals and a strong loyalty to anyone that befriends him. Nevertheless, in recent times, his character has come under criticism...

In Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens introduces a young pickpocket named Jack Dawkins who most people refer to him as "the Artful Dodger" The nickname describes his skill at his trade: his mind is...

In Oliver Twist, Fagin and the boys play a pickpocket game. Fagin walks about with items in his pockets, and the object of the game was for the boys to take things out of his pocket without him...

Like in many of his works, Dickens presents a variety of characters in Oliver Twist and depicts their actions in great detail, whether these actions be moral or immoral; it's from these...

As the other educators have made clear, Oliver Twist is a novel and poverty is one of its major themes. Specifically, Dickens deals with the terrible effects of poverty on an individual's life and...

Polanski made several adaptations to streamline the novel to fit a film format. One major change was omitting the role of the evil Monks Leeford, Oliver's older half-brother. Monks's father had a...

Oliver Twist is a novel written by Charles Dickens. In order to help you answer this question, it is first of all important to point out that Oliver was an orphan who grew up in a workhouse. A...

Mrs. Mann is an old woman who works as superintendent of a branch workhouse, separate from the main establishment. She has been charged with taking care of Oliver Twist and around thirty other...

This is quite an interesting question. Dickens's works do tend to adhere to moral codes of the time, so it would have been considered a happy ending for most that Bill Sikes, the criminal, dies at...

In an effort to protect Oliver, Nancy gives up the name of one of Fagin's gang. When Fagin finds out, he is furious. He wants Nancy to be silenced and punished, and so when he tells Bill Sikes...

First, Dickens uses a third-person narrator, one who stands above the action and records for us what is going on. He describes himself as Oliver's biographer, and his voice is so strong—at least...

To answer this question, take a look at chapter two. In this chapter, Oliver is sent from the main workhouse to a "branch workhouse" where he, and thirty other children, are placed under the care...

Oliver Twist arrives in the world with the deck of life stacked against him. He is born attended by an uncaring doctor and his drunken nurse assistant. Oliver's mother dies soon after he is born....

Oliver Twist is the story of a young boy named Oliver whose mother died shortly after his death and who has been raised as an orphan. Oliver is sent to a work house on his 8th birthday and...

The most interesting part of the story is when Sikes murders Nancy. The most interesting part of any book might be in the eye of the beholder. There are certainly many interesting parts of the...

In chapter 19, Bill Sikes explains that he wants a boy to help with the burglary of "that crib at Chertsey," and he says that the boy "mustn't be a big 'un." The implication is that Bill Sikes...

I think that you could also look at the use of disguise and misrepresentation in the novel. The most obvious is Oliver, the "twist" who is mistaken for rags when he actually comes from riches. The...

If you have read any of Dickens's other works or researched this author, you may, then, be familiar with a prevailing social concern of his: the dehumanizing effects of crime. Certainly these...

In chapter 22, "The Burglary," of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, Bill Sikes, Toby Crackit, and Oliver Twist are making their way in the oppressive darkness and heavy fog to the house at Chertsey,...

Dickens characterizes Oliver's father as having fallen in love with Agnes, Oliver's mother. In true Dickensian fashion, this love is interrupted by the pursuit of economic wealth. A relative died...

When the young Oliver is left to be raised in the workhouse, he shocks his keepers by asking for more food. This is not because of any innate cheekiness but because he drew the short straw among...

An example of personification is "Oliver and Nature fought out the point between them" (Ch. 1). Personification is when you describe something inanimate or not human as if it were a person or had...

In writing Oliver Twist Dickens was trying to draw his readers's attention to the plight of the most unfortunate members of society. In particular, he was keen to expose the cruelty of the...

At the beginning of Chapter 8, Oliver Twist runs away from Mr Bumble's and decides that he will head to London. In his mind, this city offers an exciting opportunity. As he says: London!--that...

This is a very wide open question. Oliver Twist contains dozens of literary devices, but I can get you started with a couple of them. One literary device that Dickens used in this story is...

"The old story...no wedding ring" means that a young woman has fallen in love with a married man or a man who either refuses to or cannot marry her because of their different social standings or...

All loose ends are tied up at the end of Oliver Twist, with every character receiving his or her just desserts. Mr. Brownlow learns from Monks that Monks and Oliver are half-siblings, which causes...

Oliver, the boy chosen by lot to ask for more food, is locked in a dark room in solitary confinement for a week. The members of the board of the orphanage register "horror" that Oliver made such a...

The bungled robbery attempt at Chertsey is described in chapter 22 of Oliver Twist, and the story resumes in chapter 25. Until they arrive at the house that Sikes plans to rob, Oliver does not know...

Mr. Brownlow, a good friend of Mr. Grimwig, calls him "a worthy creature at bottom." Mr. Grimwig is, however, quite eccentric. He dresses oddly, worries about slipping on orange peels thrown on the...

Oliver Twist enters the seedy underbelly of London life after running away from his new job as an apprentice undertaker. As a young waif without a home, family, or money, he's easy prey for...

The circumstances in which Oliver Twist came into the world were extremely difficult for him and his mother both. He was born in a workhouse, and, at the time of his birth, the surgeon was unsure...

Noah Claypole is the charity boy who also works as an apprentice for Mr. Sowerberry. From the start, Noah had been cruel and abusive to Oliver, giving orders, insulting him, calling "Work'us." He...

What makes Mr. Bumble miserable is his marriage. This parochial beadle might like to lord it over the half-starved waifs in his "care" at the workhouse, but at home, it's his wife who's firmly in...

Fagin and his group want Oliver Twist to join them because he's small and desperate; this will encourage him to be a better thief and make him suited for jobs that require a small person. Oliver...

Queen Victoria became Queen of England in 1837. Although Oliver Twist was first published in 1838, just one year into Queen Victoria's reign, the book would likely have been inspired by and written...

Mr. Brownlow in this famous Victorian novel acts as the guardian angel of Oliver, helping him and acting to save him from the fate that Fagan and others have prepared for him. We first meet him...

In chapter 9, the Artful Dodger and Charlie Bates return from “work,” and Charlie has stolen some handkerchiefs, or “wipes,“ as he calls them. Fagin examines them and says that Oliver will have to...

After leaving the village, Oliver is exposed to criminals and a life of crime but he remains honest and good. Oliver is sent from the workhouse after asking for more gruel. He is given to an...

One of the kindest characters in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist is Mrs. Bedwin. Oliver meets Mrs. Bedwin when he is taken in by Mr. Brownlow. Mrs. Bedwin works as Mr. Brownlow's housekeeper. She is...

The protagonists of Great Expectations (Pip) and Oliver Twist (Oliver) have several similarities. The most obvious is that both are orphans. Chapter one of Great Expectations explains that "I...

Chapter 23 of Oliver Twist consists of a conversation between Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney, which takes an increasingly sentimental turn. While it may be putting the matter too strongly to say that...

Oliver is born in the workhouse, and his mother dies soon after his birth. The state is unable to find his father. Therefore, Oliver, as an orphan, becomes a ward of the state. This leads to his...

It is hard to boil down all of the conflict in Oliver Twist to one main thread, even though all conflict in the novel essentially centers around young Oliver's fate. Though Oliver is mostly a...