Oliver Becomes Better Acquainted with the Characters of His New Associates; and Purchases Experience at a High Price. Being a Short, but Very Important Chapter, in This History explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Innocence and Corruption

  Oliver's innocence is starkly contrasted with the criminal world of Fagin and the boys. He is horrified by the pickpocketing, yet is swept up and accused, illustrating how innocence is corrupted by circumstance.

• Crime and Punishment

  The chapter explores the swift and brutal response to crime in London: Oliver is chased, beaten, and arrested despite being innocent, while the real thieves escape.

• Social Injustice and Poverty

  Oliver, a poor orphan, is immediately assumed guilty and treated harshly by the crowd and police, while the respectable gentleman shows some compassion, highlighting class-based injustice.

Characters to notice

• Oliver Twist

  Oliver is eager to go out and work, but is horrified when he witnesses the Dodger pickpocket an old gentleman. He runs in fear and is caught and accused of the crime.

• Fagin

  Fagin keeps Oliver in his room picking marks out of handkerchiefs and playing the game. He eventually allows Oliver to go out with the Dodger and Charley Bates.

• The Artful Dodger

  The Dodger leads Oliver to a bookstall and pickpockets an old gentleman, handing the handkerchief to Charley Bates. He then joins the chase shouting 'Stop thief!' to divert suspicion.

• Charley Bates

  Charley Bates accompanies the Dodger and Oliver, pilfering from stalls and later receiving the stolen handkerchief. He joins the pursuit of Oliver to avoid detection.

• Mr. Brownlow

  Mr. Brownlow is the respectable old gentleman reading at the bookstall whose handkerchief is stolen. He pursues Oliver and shows compassion when Oliver is caught.

Key passages

• “For many days, Oliver remained in the Jew’s room, picking the marks out of the pocket-handkerchief, (of which a great number were brought home,) and sometimes taking part in the game already described: which the two boys and the Jew played, regularly, every morning.”

  Oliver spent several days in Fagin's room, removing the monograms from stolen handkerchiefs and occasionally joining the pickpocket training game that Fagin, the Dodger, and Charley Bates played each morning.

  This shows Oliver's gradual immersion into Fagin's criminal world, though he remains unaware of the true nature of the activities.

• “What was Oliver’s horror and alarm as he stood a few paces off, looking on with his eyelids as wide open as they would possibly go, to see the Dodger plunge his hand into the old gentleman’s pocket, and draw from thence a handkerchief!”

  Oliver was shocked and terrified when he saw the Dodger reach into the old gentleman's pocket and steal a handkerchief.

  This moment marks Oliver's first direct encounter with the reality of the gang's criminal activities.

• “Stop thief! Stop thief! There is a magic in the sound. The tradesman leaves his counter, and the car-man his wagon; the butcher throws down his tray; the baker his basket; the milkman his pail; the errand-boy his parcels; the schoolboy his marbles; the paviour his pickaxe; the child his battledore.”

  The cry 'Stop thief!' had a powerful effect, causing everyone—shopkeepers, cart drivers, butchers, bakers, milkmen, errand boys, schoolboys, laborers, and even children—to abandon their tasks and join the chase.

  This passage illustrates the communal and almost instinctive response to crime in Victorian London, turning the streets into a chaotic pursuit.