Oliver Twist

By

Charles Dickens

OLIVER TWIST: OVERVIEW

Oliver is born in a workhouse in the first half of the nineteenth century. His mother dies during his birth, and he is sent to an orphanage,where he is poorly treated, regularly beaten and poorly fed. In a famous episode, he walks up to the the stern authoritarian, Mr. Bumble, and asks for a second helping of gruel. For this impertinence, he is put out of the workhouse. He then runs away from the family who take him in. He wants to find his fortune in London. Instead, he falls in with a boy called Jack Dawkins, who is part of a child gang of thieves--run by a man called Fagin.

Oliver is brought into the gang and trained as a pickpocket. When he goes out on his first job, he runs away and is nearly sent to prison. However, the kindness of the person he tries to rob saves him from the terrors of the city gaol (jail) and instead he is taken into the man's home.

He believes he has escaped Fagan and his gang, but Bill Sikes and Nancy, two members of the gang, force him back. Oliver is once more sent out on another job--this time assisting Sikes on a burglary

The job goes wrong and Oliver is shot and left behind. Once more he is taken in,this time by the Maylies, the family he was sent to rob, where his life changes dramatically for the better.

But Fagin's gang comes after him again. Nancy, who is worried about Oliver, tells the Maylies what is happening. When the gang finds out about Nancy's treachery, they murder her.

Meanwhile, the Maylies reunite Oliver with the gentleman who helped him out earlier and who-- with the kind of coincidental plot turn typical of many Victorian novels-- turns out to be Oliver's uncle. Fagin is arrested and hanged for his crimes; and Oliver settles down to a normal life, reunited with his family.

Oliver Twist was also influential in bringing to light the cruel treatment of paupers and orphans in Dickens' time.

The novel is not only a brilliant work of art but an important social document.

About Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

I loved this story! Endearingly loved it! Reading this story has been one of the highlights in my reading life!You can also watch movies on Oliver twist.Available on you tube.

With Love

Dipali