VII: Oliver Continues Refractory explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Innocence and Corruption

  Oliver's innocence is contrasted with the corrupt and abusive behavior of Noah, Bumble, and the Sowerberrys, who twist the truth to justify cruelty.

• Social Injustice and Poverty

  Oliver's suffering as a poor orphan, beaten and starved, highlights the systemic injustice faced by the lower classes, while the authorities side with his abusers.

Characters to notice

• Oliver Twist

  After enduring abuse, Oliver runs away from the undertaker's, stopping to say goodbye to his dying friend Dick.

• Noah Claypole

  Noah falsely reports to Mr. Bumble that Oliver tried to murder him, exaggerating his injuries to incite punishment.

• Mr. Bumble

  Bumble is alarmed by Noah's report and goes to the Sowerberrys' shop with his cane, intending to flog Oliver.

• Dick

  Oliver's dying friend from the workhouse; he blesses Oliver and says goodbye, knowing he will soon die.

• Mrs. Sowerberry

  She mistreats Oliver and, along with Charlotte, gives a dramatic account of his supposed ferocity.

Key passages

• “He had listened to their taunts with a look of contempt; he had borne the lash without a cry: for he felt that pride swelling in his heart which would have kept down a shriek to the last, though they had roasted him alive.”

  Oliver endured the insults and the whip silently, his inner pride preventing him from crying out even under extreme pain.

  Shows Oliver's resilience and dignity despite brutal treatment.

• “The blessing was from a young child's lips, but it was the first that Oliver had ever heard invoked upon his head; and through the struggles and sufferings, and troubles and changes, of his after life, he never once forgot it.”

  Dick's blessing was the first kind words Oliver had ever received, and it stayed with him forever.

  Highlights the emotional significance of Dick's farewell and its lasting impact on Oliver.