Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens (1838)
“An orphan boy who asks for more gruel gets pulled into London's criminal underworld -- and somehow stays good while every institution designed to protect him fails.”
Short Summary
Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse to a mother who dies in childbirth, endures starvation and cruelty under the Poor Law system before running away to London. There he falls into the clutches of Fagin, an elderly fence who trains a gang of child pickpockets. Oliver is repeatedly rescued and recaptured, passing between the criminal underworld and the respectable world of Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies. Nancy, a prostitute in Fagin's circle, risks and ultimately loses her life to save Oliver. When his true parentage is revealed -- he is the illegitimate son of a gentleman and the half-brother of the villain Monks -- Oliver is adopted by Brownlow and restored to the middle-class life that was stolen from him at birth. Fagin is hanged. The system that starved Oliver continues unchanged.
Detailed Summary
Oliver Twist is born in a parish workhouse to an unnamed woman who dies moments after giving birth. The infant is given a name by the parish beadle, Mr. Bumble, who assigns surnames alphabetically -- Oliver happens to fall under T. He is sent to a baby farm run by Mrs. Mann, where children are syste...