Student Question
Who was Giles in Oliver Twist?
Quick answer:
Giles is the butler and steward at Mrs. Maylie's house, providing him with a higher status than the other servants. He is portrayed as a comic character who is both fearful of burglars and enjoys sharing exaggerated tales of heroism. Giles is depicted as self-important, relishing the praise for capturing a thief, though he delays revealing that the supposed criminal is actually the child Oliver Twist.
At Mrs. Maylie's house, where Oliver Twist is left with a broken arm by his gang of thieves, Mr. Giles has the double function of being the butler and the steward, a position that gives him higher status than the other servants. He is a comic figure, frightened by the idea that burglars might be breaking into the house but also a friendly, good-hearted man. He likes to hang out with the other servants while at the same time lording it over them and isn't above scaring them with the story of the aborted robbery. We learn that he dresses carefully for his job and
looked like one who laboured under a very agreeable sense of his own merits and importance.
In other words, Mr. Giles thinks well of himself.
He has been credited with great heroism in apprehending a threatening thief, and as he has enjoyed the praise and limelight, he puts off as long as possible revealing to his employers that the frightening scoundrel is Oliver Twist, nothing more than a delicate child.
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