English Literature books summary

regains his kindly demeanor.

The Artful Dodger returns with another boy, named Charley Bates, with

rolls and hams for breakfast. Fagin asks if they worked hard that morning.

The Dodger produces two pocket-books, and Charley pulls out four

handkerchiefs. Fagin replies that they will have to teach Oliver how to

pick out the marks with a needle. Oliver does not know that he has joined a

band of pick-pockets, so he believes their sarcastic jokes about teaching

him how to make handkerchiefs and pocket-books.

Dodger and Charley practice picking Fagin's pockets. Two young women,

Bet and Nancy, drop in for drinks. Fagin gives the all of them some money

and sends them out. Fagin lets Oliver practice taking a handkerchief out of

his pocket and gives him a shilling for a job well done. He begins teaching

him to remove marks from the handkerchiefs.

For days, Fagin keeps Oliver indoors practicing the art of

pickpocketting and removing the marks from handkerchiefs. He notices that

Fagin punishes the Dodger and Charley if they return home empty-handed.

Finally, Fagin sends him out to "work."

After some time, the Dodger notices a wealthy gentleman absorbed in

reading at a bookstall. Oliver watches with horror as they sneak up behind

the man and steal his handkerchief. In a rush, he understands what Fagin's

idea of "work" means.

The gentleman turns just in time to see Oliver running away. Thinking

that Oliver is the thief, he raises a cry. The Dodger and Charley see

Oliver running past them, so they join in the cries of, "Stop thief!" A

large crowd joins the pursuit. A man punches Oliver, knocking him to the

pavement.

The gentleman arrives, giving that man a look of disgust. A police officer

arrives and grabs Oliver's collar, ignoring the boy's protests of his

innocence.

The gentleman asks him not to hurt Oliver and follows the officer as

he drags Oliver down the street. The officer locks Oliver in a jail cell to

await his appearance before Mr. Fang, the district magistrate. Mr.

Brownlow, the gentleman, protests that he does not want to press charges.

He thinks he recognizes something in Oliver's face, but cannot put his

finger on it. Oliver faints in the courtroom, and Mr. Fang sentences him to

three months of hard labour. The owner of the bookstall rushes in and tells

Mr. Fang that two other boys committed the crime. Oliver is cleared of all

charges. Pitying the poor, sickly child, Brownlow takes Oliver into a coach

with him and drives away.

Oliver lies in a delirious fever for days. When he awakes, Brownlow's

kindly housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin is watching over him. He says that he feels

as if his mother had come to sit by him. The story of Oliver's pitiful

orphanhood brings tears to her eyes. Once he is strong enough to sit in an

easy-chair, Mrs. Bedwin carries him downstairs to her room. A portrait of a

young woman catches Oliver's eye. It seems to affect him so much, that Mrs.

Bedwin fears the emotion will wear him out. She turns the chair away from

the picture.

Mr. Brownlow drops in to see how Oliver was faring. Tears come to his

eyes when Oliver tries to stand, but collapses from weakness. Oliver thanks

him for his kindness. Brownlow exclaims with astonishment that Oliver so

closely resembles the portrait of the young lady. Brownlow's exclamation

startles Oliver so much that he faints.

Chapters 13-15

Summary

Fagin erupts into a rage when the Dodger and Charley return without

Oliver. He tosses a pot of beer at Charley, but hits Bill Sikes instead.

Sikes is a rough and cruel man who makes his living by robbing houses. They

resolve to find Oliver before he snitches on their entire operation. They

persuade Nancy to go to the police station to find out what happened to

him.

Nancy dresses respectably and presents herself at the station as

Oliver's distraught "sister." She learns that the gentleman from whom the

hankerchief was stolen took Oliver home with him to the neighborhood of

Pentonville because the boy had fallen ill during the proceedings. Fagin

sends Charley, the Dodger, and Nancy to Pentonville to find Oliver. He

decides to shut down his operation and relocate. He fills his pockets with

the watches and jewelry from the hidden box after they leave.

When Oliver next enters the housekeeper's room he notices that the portrait

is gone. Mrs. Bedwin states that Brownlow removed it because it seemed to

"worry" him. Oliver asks no more questions. One day, Brownlow sends for

Oliver to meet him in his study. Thinking that Brownlow means to send him

away, Oliver begs to remain as a servant. Brownlow assures him that he

means to be his friend. He asks Oliver to tell him his history. Before

Oliver can begin, Brownlow's friend, Mr. Grimwig, arrives to visit.

Grimwig, a crusty old curmudgeon, hints that Oliver might be a boy of

bad habits and idle ways. Brownlow bears his friend's eccentric

irascibility with good humor. Mrs. Bedwin brings in a parcel of books

delivered by the bookstall keeper's boy. Brownlow tells her to stop the boy

because he wishes to send his payment and some returns back with him.

However, the boy has disappeared from sight. Grimwig suggests that he send

Oliver, but hints that he might steal the payment and the books. Wishing to

prove Grimwig wrong, Brownlow sends Oliver on the errand. It grows dark and

Oliver does not return.

Oliver takes a wrong turn on the way to the bookstall. Suddenly Nancy

jumps out of nowhere. She tells everyone on the street that Oliver is her

runaway brother. She announces that he joined a band of thieves and that

she is taking him back home to their parents. Everyone ignores Olive's

protests. Bill Sikes runs out of a beer shop and they drag him through the

dark, narrow backstreets.

Nancy and Sikes take Oliver to a dilapidated house in a squalid

neighborhood. Fagin, the Dodger, and Charley laugh hysterically at his

clothing.

He tries to escape, calling for help. Sikes threatens to set his

vicious dog, Bulls-Eye, on him. Nancy leaps to Oliver's defense, saying

that they have ruined all his good prospects. She has worked for Fagin

since she was a small child, and she knows that cold, dank streets and a

life of bad repute lay in wait for Oliver. Fagin tries to beat Oliver for

his escape attempt, and Nancy fles at Fagin in a rage. Sikes catches her by

the wrists, and she faints. They strip Oliver of his clothing, Brownlow's

money, and the books. Fagin returns his old clothing to him and sends him

to bed. Oliver had given the clothing to Mrs. Bedwin to sell to a Jew; the

Jew then delivered the clothing to Fagin, thus giving him his first clue to

Oliver's whereabouts.

Chapters 16-22

Summary

Mr. Brownlow publishes an advertisement offering a reward of five

guineas for information about Oliver's whereabouts or his past. Mr. Bumble

notices it in the paper while traveling to London. He quickly goes to

Brownlow's home. Mr. Bumble states that, since birth, Oliver had displayed

nothing but "treachery, ingratitude, and malice." Brownlow decides Oliver

is nothing but an impostor, but Mrs. Bedwin refuses to believe it.

Fagin leaves Oliver locked up in the house for days. From morning

until midnight, Oliver has no human company. Dodger and Charley ask him why

he does not just give himself over to Fagin since the money comes quickly

and easily. Fagin gradually allows Oliver to spend more time in the other

boys' company. Sometimes, Fagin himself regales his crew with funny stories

of robberies he committed in his youth. Oliver often laughs at the stories

despite himself. Fagin's plan has been to isolate Oliver until he comes to

desire any human contact, even Fagin's. He begins to win Oliver over to his

lifestyle.

Sikes plans to rob a house, but he needs a small boy for the job.

Fagin offers Oliver for the work. Sikes warns that he will kill Oliver if

he betrays any signs of hesitation during the robbery. Fagin assures him

that he has won Oliver over in spirit, but he wants Oliver to take part in

a serious crime in order to firmly seal the boy in his power. Sikes

arranges to have Nancy deliver Oliver to the scene. Fagin watches Nancy for

any signs of hesitation.

She once railed against trapping Oliver into a life of crime, but she

seems to betray no further misgivings about doing her part to include

Oliver in the robbery.

Fagin informs Oliver that he will be taken to Sikes' residence that

night. He gives Oliver a book to read. Oliver waits, shivering in horror at

the book's bloody tales of famous criminals and murderers. Nancy arrives to

take him away. Oliver considers calling for help on the streets. Reading

his thoughts on his face, Nancy warns him that he could get both of them

into deep trouble. They arrive at Sikes' residence, and Sikes shows Oliver

a pistol. He warns Oliver that if he causes any trouble, he will kill him.

At five in the morning, they prepare to leave for the job.

Sikes takes Oliver on a long journey to the town of Shepperton. They

arrive after dark. Sikes leads him to a decayed, ruinous house where his

partners-in- crime, Toby Crackit and Barney, are waiting. At half past one,

Sikes and Crackit set out with Oliver. They arrive at the targeted house

and climb over the wall surrounding it. Oliver begs Sikes to let him go.

Sikes curses and prepares to shoot him, but Crackit knocks the pistol away,

saying that gunfire will draw attention.

Crackit clasps his hand over Oliver's mouth while Sikes pries open a

tiny window. Sikes instructs Oliver to take a lantern and open the street

door to let them inside, reminding him that he is within shooting range all

the while. Oliver plans to dash for the stairs and warn the family. Sikes

lowers him through the window. However, the residents of the house awake

and one shoots Oliver. Sikes pulls him back through the window. He and

Crackit flee with Oliver.

Chapters 23-28

At the workhouse, Mr. Bumble visits Mrs. Corney, the matron of the

establishment, to deliver some wine for the infirmary. She invites him tea.

They flirt while he slowly moves his chair closer to hers, and he plants a

kiss on her lips. An old pauper woman interrupts them to report that Old

Sally is close to death. She wishes to tell Mrs. Corney something before

she dies.

Irritated at the interruption, Mrs. Corney leaves Bumble alone in her

room. Mrs. Corney enters Old Sally's room. The dying woman awakes and asks

that her two elderly bedside companions be sent away. Once alone, she

confesses that she once robbed a woman in her care. The woman had been

found on the road close to childbirth. She had a gold locket that she gave

to Old Sally for safe keeping. She said that if her child lived, the locket

might lead to some people who would care for it. The child's name was

Oliver.

Sally shudders and dies, and Mrs. Corney steps out of the room. She

tells the nurses who attended Sally that she had nothing to say, after all.

Crackit arrives at Fagin's. Fagin has learned from the newspapers that the

robbery has failed. Crackit informs Fagin that Oliver was shot during the

attempted break-in. He reports that the entire population in the area

surrounding the targeted house then chased after them. He and Sikes fled,

leaving Oliver lying in a ditch.

Fagin rushes out to a bar to look for a man named Monks. Not finding

him, he hurries to Sikes' residence, where Nancy is in a drunken stupor.

She says that Sikes is hiding. He relates the news of Oliver's misfortune,

and Nancy cries that she wishes that Oliver is dead because living in

Fagin's style is worse. Fagin replies that Oliver is worth hundreds of

pounds to him. He returns to his house to find Monks waiting for him. Monks

asks why he sent Oliver out on such a mission rather than making the boy

into a simple pickpocket. Fagin replies that Oliver was not easily enticed

into the profession, so he needed a crime with which to frighten him.

Apparently Monks had been searching for Oliver when he spotted him on

Oliver's fateful first day out with the Artful Dodger and Charley.

Mrs. Corney returns to her room in a ustered state, and she and Mr.

Bumble drink spiked peppermint together. They flirt and kiss. Bumble

mentions that Mr. Slout, the master of the workhouse, is on his deathbed.

He hints that he could fill the vacancy and marry her. She blushes and

consents to his proposal. Bumble travels to inform Sowerberry that his

services will be needed for Old Sally. He happens upon Charlotte feeding

Noah Claypole oysters in the kitchen. When Noah tells Charlotte he wants to

kiss her, Bumble thunders in to preach against their immoral ways.

The night after the failed robbery, Oliver awakes in a delirium. He

happens upon the very same house Sikes tried to rob. Inside, Mr. Giles and

Mr. Brittles, two of the servants, regale the other servants with the

details of the night's events. They present themselves as intrepid heroes

although they had been terrified. Oliver's feeble knock at the door

frightens everyone. They gather around in breathless fear as Brittles opens

the door to find Oliver lying there. They exclaim that Oliver is one of the

thieves and drag him inside. The niece of the wealthy mistress of the

mansion calls downstairs to ask if the poor creature is badly wounded. She

sends Brittles to fetch a doctor and constable while Giles gently carries

Oliver upstairs.

Chapters 29-32

Mrs. Maylie, the mistress of the house at which Oliver had been shot,

is a kindly old-fashioned elderly woman. Her niece, Miss Rose, is an

angelic beauty of seventeen years of age. Mr. Losberne, the eccentric

bachelor surgeon, arrives in a uster, stating his wonderment at the fact

that neither woman is dead of fright at having a burglar in their house. He

attends to Oliver for a long while before asking the women if they have

actually seen the thief. Giles has enjoyed the commendations for his

bravery, so he does not want to tell them that the one he shot is such a

small boy. The ladies accompany the surgeon to see the culprit for the

first time.

Upon seeing Oliver, Miss Rose exclaims that he cannot possibly be a

burglar unless he was forced into the trade by older, evil men. She begs

her aunt not to send the child to prison. Mrs. Maylie replies that she

intends no such thing. They wait all day for Oliver to awake in order to

determine whether he is a "bad one" or not. Oliver relates his life history

to them that evening, bringing tears to the eyes of his audience. Mr.

Losberne hurries downstairs and asks if Giles and Brittles can swear before

the constable that Oliver is the same boy they saw in the house the night

before. Meanwhile, the Bow Street Officers, summoned by Brittles that

morning, arrive to assess the situation.

Du_ and Blathers, the Officers, examine the crime scene while the

surgeon and the women try to think of a way to conceal Oliver's part in the

crime. The Officers determine that two men and a boy were involved judging

from the footprints and the size of the window. Mr. Losberne tells them

that Giles merely mistook Oliver for the guilty party. He tells them that

Oliver was wounded accidentally by a spring-gun while trespassing on a

neighbor's property. Giles and Brittles state that they cannot swear that

he is the boy they saw that night. The Officers depart and the matter is

settled without incident.

Over a period of weeks, Oliver slowly begins to recover. He begs for some

way to repay his benefactors kindness. They tell him he can do so after he

recovers his health. He laments not being able to tell Brownlow and Mrs.

Bedwin what has happened to him. Mr. Losberne takes Oliver to London to see

them. To Oliver's bitter disappointment, he and Losberne discover that

Brownlow, Mrs. Bedwin, and Mr. Grimwig have moved to the West Indies. Mrs.

Maylie and Miss Rose take him to the country where his health improves

vastly, as do his reading and writing. He and the ladies become greatly

attached to each other over the three months they spend there.

Chapters 33-37

Without warning, Miss Rose falls ill with a serious fever. Mrs. Maylie

sends Oliver to take a letter requesting Losberne's assistance to an inn

where it can be dispatched immediately. Oliver runs the whole four miles to

the inn. On his return journey, he stumbles against a tall man wrapped in a

cloak. The man curses Oliver, asks what he is doing there, and then falls

violently to the ground, "writhing and foaming." Oliver secures help for

man before he returns home and forgets the incident entirely. Miss Rose

worsens rapidly.

Losberne arrives and examines her. He states there is little hope for her

recovery. However, Miss Rose draws back from the brink of death. Giles and

Harry Maylie, Mrs. Maylie's son, arrive to see Miss Rose. Harry is angry

that his mother has not written him sooner. Mrs. Maylie replies that Miss

Rose needs long-lasting love, not the whims of a youthful suitor.

She states that an ambitious man can marry a woman "on whose name

there is a stain" fully believing he loves her, but that when the "cold and

sordid people" approach his family, he may regret his decision and thus

cause his wife pain. Harry declares that his love for Miss Rose is solid

and lasting. While Rose recovers, Oliver and Harry collect flowers for her

room. One day Oliver falls asleep reading by a window. He has a nightmare

that Fagin and a man are pointing at him and whispering. Fagin says, "It is

he, sure enough!" Oliver awakes to see Fagin and the man from the inn-yard

peering through the window at him. They disappear rapidly as Oliver calls

for help.

Harry and Giles rush to Oliver's aid. Upon hearing about Fagin and the

man, they search the fields around the house, but they find no trace of

them. They circulate a description of Fagin around the surrounding

neighborhoods, but find no clues to his whereabouts. Harry declares his

love to Rose. Although she returns his love, she says she cannot marry him

owing to the circumstances of her birth. His station is much higher than

hers, and she does not want to weight down his ambitions. Harry states that

he will return to press his suit once more, but that, if she holds to her

resolution, he will not mention it again.

Before he and Losberne depart, Harry asks that Oliver secretly write

him a letter every two weeks. He asks that Oliver tell him everything he

and the ladies do and say to one another. Crying with grief and sorrow,

Rose watches the coach with Harry and Losberne inside until it is out of

sight.

Mr. Bumble has married Mrs. Corney and become the master of the

workhouse. He regrets giving up his position as beadle, and he regrets

giving up his situation as a single man even more. After a morning of

humiliating bickering with his wife, he stops in a bar for a drink. A man

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