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 criminal gangs like Fagin's, who use small boys to commit crimes such as pickpocketing and burglaries. The Artful Dodger sees young Oliver wandering helplessly through the streets of London and immediately sees his potential as a thief. He takes him home with him to the den of iniquity where he and the rest of Fagin's gang of thieves hide out from the law.
Fagin teaches Oliver the rudiments of pick-pocketing 101. Once he's learned how to take Fagin's handkerchief without his noticing, he's ready to begin work. Unfortunately, Oliver gets into a bit of a pickle one day when he's out pickpocketing. He's arrested and hauled up before the magistrate. Fagin and Bill Sikes are worried...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
that Oliver will rat them out to save his own skin. But thanks to Nancy's clever ruse—pretending to be his sister—Oliver is soon back in the bosom of his new criminal family. He can now be taken by Bill Sikes on his burglary expeditions as he's small enough to climb into narrow crawl spaces to enter the houses they rob. On one such caper, Oliver gets shot, and comes very close to losing his life.
The criminal underworld is a microcosm of a society that routinely abuses and exploits children. Here, children are regarded as little more than miniature adults, and their needs, both material and spiritual, are totally neglected. It says a lot about this society that, despite his exploitative treatment by Fagin and Bill Sikes, Oliver has much better food and lodgings with them than he ever did back at the workhouse, run by the so-called respectable members of society.