All About the Author

Charles Dickens was born on the seventh day of February in 1812. He is considered to be the most popular author during the Victorian Era of writing. Even today he is considered widely popular for creating some of the most iconic and memorable characters. His writing style was unique for his time period and it ultimately gave way to the modernization of literature. Dickens' novels are enjoyable and they make the reader seem like they are walking beside the protagonist the entire time. Charles Dickens always kept his readers guessing with many plot twists that provide entertainment and suspense when reading his works.
Dickens' extensive list of Works along with a more in depth analysis of his life can be found here.

The Characters

Oliver Twist -  The novel’s protagonist. Oliver is an orphan born in a workhouse, and Dickens uses his situation to criticize public policy toward the poor in 1830s England. Oliver is between nine and twelve years old when the main action of the novel occurs. Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a pious, innocent child, and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. His true identity is the central mystery of the novel..

Fagin -  A conniving career criminal. Fagin takes in homeless children and trains them to pick pockets for him. He is also a buyer of other people’s stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself, preferring to employ others to commit them—and often suffer legal retribution—in his place. Dickens’s portrait of Fagin displays the influence of anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Nancy -  A young prostitute and one of Fagin’s former child pickpockets. Nancy is also Bill Sikes’s lover. Her love for Sikes and her sense of moral decency come into conflict when Sikes abuses Oliver. Despite her criminal lifestyle, she is among the noblest characters in the novel. In effect, she gives her life for Oliver when Sikes murders her for revealing Monks’s plots..

Rose Maylie -  Agnes Fleming’s sister, raised by Mrs. Maylie after the death of Rose’s father. A beautiful, compassionate, and forgiving young woman, Rose is the novel’s model of female virtue. She establishes a loving relationship with Oliver even before it is revealed that the two are related.

Mr. Brownlow -  A well-off, erudite gentleman who serves as Oliver’s first benefactor. Mr. Brownlow owns a portrait of Agnes Fleming and was engaged to Mr. Leeford’s sister when she died. Throughout the novel, he behaves with compassion and common sense and emerges as a natural leader.

Monks -  A sickly, vicious young man, prone to violent fits and teeming with inexplicable hatred. With Fagin, he schemes to give Oliver a bad reputation.

Bill Sikes  -  A brutal professional burglar brought up in Fagin’s gang. Sikes and Nancy are lovers, and he treats both her and his dog Bull’s-eye with an odd combination of cruelty and grudging familiarity. His murder of Nancy is the most heinous of the many crimes that occur in the novel.

Mr. Bumble  -  The pompous, self-important beadle—a minor church official—for the workhouse where Oliver is born. Though Mr. Bumble preaches Christian morality, he behaves without compassion toward the paupers under his care. Dickens mercilessly satirizes his self-righteousness, greed, hypocrisy, and folly, of which his name is an obvious symbol.

Agnes Fleming -  Oliver’s mother. After falling in love with and becoming pregnant by Mr. Leeford, she chooses to die anonymously in a workhouse rather than stain her family’s reputation. A retired naval officer’s daughter, she was a beautiful, loving woman. Oliver’s face closely resembles hers.

Mr. Leeford -  Oliver and Monks’s father, who dies long before the events of the novel. He was an intelligent, high-minded man whose family forced him into an unhappy marriage with a wealthy woman. He eventually separated from his wife and had an illicit love affair with Agnes Fleming. He intended to flee the country with Agnes but died before he could do so.

Mr. Losberne -  Mrs. Maylie’s family physician. A hot-tempered but good-hearted old bachelor, Mr. Losberne is fiercely loyal to the Maylies and, eventually, to Oliver.

Mrs. Maylie -  A kind, wealthy older woman, the mother of Harry Maylie and adoptive “aunt” of Rose.

Harry Maylie -  Mrs. Maylie’s son. Harry is a dashing young man with grand political ambitions and career prospects, which he eventually gives up to marry Rose.

The Artful Dodger -  The cleverest of Fagin’s pickpockets. The Dodger’s real name is Jack Dawkins. Though no older than Oliver, the Dodger talks and dresses like a grown man. He introduces Oliver to Fagin.

Charley Bates -  One of Fagin’s pickpockets. Charley is ready to laugh at anything.

Old Sally -  An elderly pauper who serves as the nurse at Oliver’s birth. Old Sally steals Agnes’s gold locket, the only clue to Oliver’s identity.

Mrs. Corney -  The matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. Mrs. Corney is hypocritical, callous, and materialistic. After she marries Mr. Bumble, she hounds him mercilessly.

Noah Claypole -  A charity boy and Mr. Sowerberry’s apprentice. Noah is an overgrown, cowardly bully who mistreats Oliver and eventually joins Fagin’s gang.

Charlotte -  The Sowerberrys’ maid. Charlotte becomes romantically involved with Noah Claypole and follows him about slavishly.

Toby Crackit -  One of Fagin and Sikes’s associates, crass and not too bright. Toby participates in the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie’s home.

Mrs. Bedwin -  Mr. Brownlow’s kindhearted housekeeper. Mrs. Bedwin is unwilling to believe Mr. Bumble’s negative report of Oliver’s character.

Bull’s-eye -  Bill Sikes’s dog. As vicious as his master, Bull’s-eye functions as Sikes’s alter ego.

Monks’s mother -  An heiress who lived a decadent life and alienated her husband, Mr. Leeford. Monks’s mother destroyed Mr. Leeford’s will, which left part of his property to Oliver. Much of Monks’s nastiness is presumably inherited from her.

Mr. Sowerberry  -  The undertaker to whom Oliver is apprenticed. Though Mr. Sowerberry makes a grotesque living arranging cut-rate burials for paupers, he is a decent man who is kind to Oliver.

Mrs. Sowerberry -  Sowerberry’s wife. Mrs. Sowerberry is a mean, judgmental woman who henpecks her husband.

Mr. Grimwig -  Brownlow’s pessimistic, curmudgeonly friend. Mr. Grimwig is essentially good-hearted, and his pessimism is mostly just a provocative character quirk.

Mr. Giles -  Mrs. Maylie’s loyal, though somewhat pompous, butler.

Mr. Brittles -  A sort of handyman for Mrs. Maylie’s estate. It is implied that Mr. Brittles is slightly mentally handicapped.

Mrs. Mann -  The superintendent of the juvenile workhouse where Oliver is raised. Mrs. Mann physically abuses and half-starves the children in her care.

Mr. Gamfield -  A brutal chimney sweep. Oliver almost becomes Mr. Gamfield’s apprentice.

Bet -  One of Fagin’s former child pickpockets, now a prostitute.

Mr. Fang -  The harsh, irrational, power-hungry magistrate who presides over Oliver’s trial for pickpocketing.

Barney -  One of Fagin’s criminal associates. Like Fagin, Barney is Jewish.

Duff and Blathers -  Two bumbling police officers who investigate the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie’s home.

Tom Chitling -  A rather dim member of Fagin’s gang. Tom has served time in jail for doing Fagin’s bidding.

Themes and Motifs!

Good vs. Evil: In the novel, Twist is faced with many encounters where he must choose to do the right thing. In these cases he chooses correctly. He is also surrounded by these influences everywhere he goes. Fagin and his accomplices symbolize evil in opposition to Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies.

City Life vs. Countryside: In Oliver Twist the city is viewed as the corrupt and dark area of society. The city represents the many evils that Twist encounters on his journey. While in the city of London, Twist is thrown into unhealthy situations which he doesn't want to be in. However Twist removes himself from each and everyone of them proving the purity of his soul. The countryside is an escape from the lies and deceit of the city. The countryside offers a blissful ignorance to the evils of the city. Once Oliver is taken in by the Maylies, he discovers the wonders of the country and falls in love with it.

Overview

Well basically, Oliver is born in an English workhouse in the early 1800's. His mother, who's name is unknown to us, dies shortly after giving birth to Oliver. Twist then spends the next nine years of his life in an adult work factory where he is bullied and mistreated. The head of the factory, Mr. Beadle, offers five pounds to anyone who will take Oliver Twist from the factory. Oliver then becomes an apprentice to the town undertaker, but when another boy makes snide comments about Oliver's mother, he flees to London. On the outskirts of London Twist encounters a boy his age that offers him food and shelter. The boy takes Oliver to a man named Fagin that turns out to be an accomplished criminal. Fagin teaches the children how to pickpocket people and then sends them out to obtain riches. Frightened to death after seeing a pickpocket of a man's handkerchief, Oliver proceeds to flee again but is caught by the victim of the crime. A Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver Twist back to his home and realizes a resemblance between Twist and a portrait in his house. After prospering in this house Oliver is recaptured by more of Fagin's accomplices. Fagin sends Twist on another mission with a man named Sikes. While robbing a house Oliver is shot by a servant of the house and Sikes flees. Mrs. Maylie and her adopted niece Rose grow fond of Oliver and take him in where he spends his summer living it up in the countryside. Fagin hires a new criminal named Monks who tries to capture Oliver but the Maylies reunite him with Mr. Brownlow first. Monks ends up being the half brother of Oliver and their father was a wealthy man that left behind a hefty family inheritance. Monks is forced to give up Twist's half of the inheritance and Fagin is hung for the crimes that he committed. Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies then move to the countryside with their adopted son Oliver.