di Lavinia Loparco

1. Charles Dickens

2. • Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the
second novel by Charles Dickens
This autor was born in
Portsmouth, on the
south coast of
England, in 1812.

3. London was the setting of most of his
novels: he knew and described it in
realistic details.

4. The first
edition
was
titled:
Oliver
Twist; or,
The
Parish
Boy's
Progress.
The book was originally published in Bentley's Miscellany as a
serial. But in 1839 it was published in three volumes by Richard
Bentley.

5. The story deals with an orphan, Oliver Twist, whose life was
troubled since his birth.

6. The day of Oliver's ninth birthday,
Mr. Bumble, removes Oliver from the baby
farm and puts him in a workhouse .
Life in the workhouse was terrible . . .
…a lot of children died of hunger in fact they received only
a small portion of gruel for lunch . . .

7. A day, the desperately hungry boys decide to play a game; the loser can ask for another portion of gruel.
We can imagine that it was the turn of the lucky Oliver Twist. . . . . . . . . .

8. OLIVER TWIST FOR 5 POUNDS

9. Mr. Sowerberry takes
Oliver into his service.

10. In this period Oliver suffers torments in the hands
of Noah Claypole
One day, Noah insults Oliver's biological mother. Oliver gets angry and
attacks and beats a boy. Then Mrs Sowerberry forces her husband to thrash
Oliver!

11. The little orphan decides to escape
and after seven days. . .

12. Oliver arrives in London

13. Here Oliver meets Jack Dawkins known as
Dodger, who offers him help . . .
Dodger talks about an old gentleman
who can give him board
and lodging for nothing !

14. Naively Oliver follows Mr. Dawkins in old gentleman’s residence. . .
. . . In this way Oliver
becomes part of a gang
of young criminals led by an
infamous Jewish known as
Fagin, the old “gentleman”
of whom Dodger spoke

15. Later Oliver goes out with Dodger and Charley
Bates, another thief, and he understands what is
the real job of Dodger and the other children .

17. As we can image finally Oliver becomes a bit luckier
in fact
for about a month Oliver is cared by Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin with inexplicable love.

18. But at the same time Fagin decides that Oliver must go back . So he charges Bill Sikes, a brutal
robber, to abduct little orphan with Nancy, Bill Sikes’s lover.

19. Oliver’s bliss is interrupted in fact he is quickly brought
back to Fagin’s lair.

20. Nancy . . .
It’s important to underline that Nancy is
sympathetic towards Oliver.

21. Fagin forces Oliver to participate in a burglary.

22. The plan fails.
Luckily for him, Oliver is hurt.
After being abandoned by Sikes, the wounded Oliver ends up under the care of the
people he was supposed to rob : Miss Rose and her guardian Mrs. Maylie

23. But in this story there are a lot of
mysteries.

24. In fact Dickens talks about a
man, whose name is Monks, who
is determined to kill Oliver

25. Nancy talks with Oliver’s benefactor
Unfortunately Bill Sikes discovers her secret

26. At the end of the book we discover. . .
MONKS
BILL
SIKES
FAGIN
ROSE
OLIVER

27. His real name is Edward Leeford , and he is
Oliver’s paternal half-brother. In fact Monks
was born from a loveless marriage and Oliver’s
mother, whose name is Agnese, was their father’s
true love. Monks has spent many years
searching for his father's child not to be a friend
of him, but to destroy him. Then Brownlow asks
Oliver to give half of his inheritance to Monks
because he wants to give him a second chance; of
course Oliver agrees with the old gentleman and
gives Monks his money. Monks then moves to
America, where he spends all his money, reverts
to crime, and finally dies in prison
MONKS

28. FAGIN
AND
BILL SIKES
Fagin is arrested and
condemned and Bill Sikes is
assassinated by an angry
crowd.

29. There is a happier note
Rose Maylie turns out to be a
sister of Agnes; so she is Oliver's
aunt. Oliver lives happily with Mr.
Brownlow.