Oliver Twist · Chapter
Oliver’s Destiny Continuing Unpropitious, Brings a Great Man to London to Injure His Reputation explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Bumble travels to London on parish business and, after visiting Mrs. Mann and the paupers, goes to Mr. Brownlow's house. There he falsely portrays Oliver as a vicious foundling of low birth, using parish papers to support his lies. Mr. Brownlow, though sorrowful, believes the account and declares Oliver an imposter, while Mrs. Bedwin protests his innocence.
Themes in this chapter
Social Injustice and Poverty
The chapter highlights the mistreatment of paupers, such as Dick's wasted condition and the casual discussion of moving sick paupers cheaply rather than burying them.
Class and Hypocrisy
Mr. Bumble's self-importance and his false, self-serving account of Oliver's character expose the hypocrisy of parish authorities who claim moral superiority.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Bumble
Travels to London to give a false account of Oliver's character to Mr. Brownlow.
- Mrs. Mann
Receives Mr. Bumble at the farm and discusses the paupers, including little Dick.
- Dick
A pale, thin pauper child who expresses a wish to be left alone to die.
- Mr. Brownlow
Listens to Mr. Bumble's false story and reluctantly believes Oliver is an imposter.
- Mr. Grimwig
Present with Mr. Brownlow, he sarcastically comments on the beadle and Oliver's character.
- Mrs. Bedwin
The housekeeper who protests Oliver's innocence and is distressed by the news.
Key passages
“It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodramas, to present the tragic and the comic scenes, in as regular alternation, as the layers of red and white in a side of streaky bacon.”
In melodramas, tragic and comic scenes alternate like the layers of fat and lean in bacon.
The narrator uses this analogy to justify the sudden shift from Oliver's story back to the workhouse.
“The transitions in real life from well-spread boards to deathbeds, and from mourning-weeds to holiday garments, are not a whit less startling; only, there, we are busy actors, instead of passive lookers-on, which makes a vast difference.”
Real life has equally abrupt shifts from feasts to funerals, but we experience them as participants, not spectators.
The narrator argues that sudden changes in the story mirror real life's unpredictability.
“I should like to leave a dear love to poor Oliver Twist; and to let him know how often I have sat by myself and cried to think of his wandering about in the dark nights with nobody to help him.”
Dick wants to send his love to Oliver and tell him how much he has cried thinking of Oliver alone in the dark.
Dick's message shows his compassion and foreshadows Oliver's uncertain fate.