Oliver Twist

Mr. Brownlow brings Oliver to a home near Pentonville. There, Oliver is taken care of for many days while he struggles under fever and sickness. After many days, Oliver finally wakes to see an old lady, one Mrs. Bedwin, caring for him. She is brought to tears by Oliver’s gentle and grateful demeanor and wonders how Oliver’s mother would feel seeing him so ill. Oliver wonders if his mother does see him because he can feel her there. Oliver dreams of his mother but believes that she would not visit him, “because heaven is a long way off; and they are too happy there, to come down to the bedside of a poor boy” (124). A doctor enters the room to check on Oliver and is similarly kind to him. Mrs. Bedwin continues to sit by Oliver’s bedside.

After a few days, Oliver recovers from his illness. Mrs. Bedwin makes Oliver broth that he thinks is enough for “three hundred and fifty paupers, at the lowest computation” (127). Oliver has been staring at a portrait on the wall of a beautiful woman. He is besotted with the portrait and Mrs. Bedwin turns it around so as not to let it bother him. Mr. Brownlow enters the room and tears up at the sight of the recovered boy. Brownlow learns Oliver’s real name and points out a resemblance between the young boy and the woman in the portrait. Oliver faints.

Charley Bates thinks that letting Oliver take the fall for their crime is hilarious but the Dodger worries that Fagin will punish them for it. 

Charley Bates and the Dodger tell Fagin about the incident with Oliver. Fagin is furious and begins shaking the Dodger, who slips easily out of it due to his large coat. The Dodger grabs a “toasting fork” and attempts to swipe at Fagin with it, though he misses. Fagin takes a swing at the Dodger but misses, and Charley Bates throws a pot that hits someone who just entered the room: Bill Sikes. Sikes yells at a white dog. Sikes physically and verbally abuses the dog, Bulls-eye. Sikes’s distaste for Fagin is apparent and he says that he would not blame the boys for murdering Fagin because of how poorly the latter treats them. After a few drinks, Fagin confesses to Bill that he fears that Oliver will tell someone about them and get them in trouble. This momentarily pleases Sikes, for he thinks that Fagin will be captured. Fagin says, however, that should he be captured, Bill Sikes would be in even worse trouble.

Bill and Fagin agree to find out what happened to Oliver and to get him back. They task Nancy with finding out about Oliver. Despite Nancy’s protests, Bill and Fagin both threaten and ultimately persuade her into helping them. Nancy dons a more respectable dress and bonnet and goes in search of her “poor, dear, sweet, innocent little brother” (143). Nancy cries on cue and Fagin and Sikes are pleased with her performance. Nancy goes to the station and meets the kindly officer who made up Oliver’s answers for him. Her act convinces him and he tells her that Oliver left with Mr. Brownlow. The officer even tells her where Mr. Brownlow lives. Nancy returns to Bill and Fagin with the news. Fagin has all the boys and Nancy out looking for Oliver. 

Oliver has recovered from his fainting spell and Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin attempt to rouse him with exciting conversation. The next day, Oliver attempts to look for the painting and finds it gone. It is revealed that Mr. Brownlow has taken the painting down lest it bother Oliver once more. Mrs. Bedwin promises Oliver that if he gets better sooner, the sooner Mr. Brownlow will return the painting to its proper place. Oliver continues to be taken care of by Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin. Mrs. Bedwin teaches Oliver how to play cribbage and they play it together. To Oliver, “it seemed like Heaven itself” (150). Mr. Brownlow purchases new clothes for Oliver and Oliver sells his old clothes, allowing a servant who has been kind to him to keep the money.

A week or so later, Mr. Brownlow speaks with Oliver in his study and Oliver is spellbound by all the books the old man has. Mr. Brownlow wonders if Oliver will write a book one day but Oliver thinks that he’d much rather be a bookseller. Mr. Brownlow begins to tell Oliver about the many disappointments and betrayals that he has suffered at the hands of people he has helped and loved in the past. Oliver tells Mr. Brownlow that he will never betray him in the same way and sobs at the older man’s sad tale. Mr. Grimwig arrives; he is a contrarian and a sullen friend of Mr. Brownlow. Grimwig begins contradicting everything Brownlow says. Mr. Grimwig is fond of swearing and claiming that he’d “eat [his] own head” if he is proved wrong (159). Once Oliver leaves, Mr. Grimwig and Mr. Brownlow argue about Oliver’s character. Mr. Brownlow believes Oliver to be true while Mr. Grimwig disagrees.

The two men decide to put their theories to the test by sending Oliver to the bookseller with £5 and some of Mr. Brownlow’s books to return. Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Grimwig sit with a watch between them, waiting to see if Oliver returns or if the young boy runs away with the money, as Mr. Grimwig believes he will. Both men sit and watch the clock but Oliver does not return. 

Bill Sikes is at a filthy bar at Little Saffron Hill taking his anger and irritation out on his pet dog. Bill attempts to attack the dog with a poker and a pocketknife and the animal does its best to protect itself. Fagin walks in and the dog takes the opportunity to leave the room. Sikes is furious at Fagin for interrupting and wishes that Fagin had been the dog so that Sikes could hurt him. Sikes threatens Fagin, telling him that if he ever gets caught, he’ll make sure that he gets Fagin in trouble with the law as well. Fagin then proceeds to give Sikes a portion of the stolen money, wrapped up in a handkerchief. While Fagin insists that the amount of money given is more than agreed upon, Sikes disagrees.

Sikes rings a bell and calls for Barney, who is also Jewish. Barney refills their drinks and tells them that no one else is in the bar apart from Nancy. The men invite Nancy in with them and ask her about what she has discovered about Oliver. As Nancy answers Sikes’s questions, Fagin interrupts her on purpose in an attempt to keep some information secret from Bill. Picking up on Fagin’s reticence, Nancy changes the conversation and leaves a few minutes later with Sikes. Meanwhile, Oliver makes his way to the bookstore and takes a path through an alley. There, he is accosted by Nancy, who begins crying out and making a scene, pretending that he is her disobedient brother who ran away from home. Nancy’s performance convinces passersby and no one believes Oliver as he cries out for someone to help him. The passersby begin hitting Oliver and soon, Sikes grabs him and begins dragging him back to Fagin’s. Though Oliver continues to cry out for help, “there was nobody to care for them, had they been ever so plain” (173). As Oliver is dragged to Fagin, Mrs. Bedwin, Mr. Brownlow, and Mr. Grimwig continue to wait for Oliver to return.