Oliver Twist · Chapter
The Burglary explained
Oliver is forced by Sikes and Crackit to participate in a burglary at a house in Chertsey.
What happens
Oliver is forced by Sikes and Crackit to participate in a burglary at a house in Chertsey. Despite his terror and pleas for mercy, he is compelled to enter through a small window to unlock the door. When he attempts to alert the household, he is shot and wounded, then dragged away. The chapter ends with the group resting at a safe house before preparing for the crime.
Themes in this chapter
Innocence and Corruption
Oliver's innocence is violently corrupted as he is forced into burglary, his pleas for mercy ignored by hardened criminals.
Crime and Punishment
The chapter depicts the planning and execution of a burglary, with Oliver caught in the criminal underworld.
Compassion and Redemption
Oliver's desperate appeal for mercy highlights his inherent goodness, contrasting with the lack of compassion from Sikes and Crackit.
Characters to notice
- Oliver Twist
Forced to participate in a burglary, terrified and pleading for mercy, shot and wounded.
- Bill Sikes
Leads the burglary, threatens Oliver with a pistol, drags him through the window after he is shot.
- Toby Crackit
Accompanies Sikes, helps hoist Oliver over the wall and through the window, later forces Oliver to drink.
- Barney
Provides pistols and other tools for the burglary, stays behind at the safe house.
- Fagin
Implied as the one who sent Oliver on this errand, cursed by Sikes.
Key passages
“Oh! for God's sake let me go! let me run away and die in the fields. I will never come near London; never, never! Oh! pray have mercy on me, and do not make me steal.”
Oliver begs Sikes to release him, saying he would rather die in the fields than be forced to steal.
Oliver's desperate plea shows his moral resistance to crime.
“In the short time he had had to collect his senses, the boy had firmly resolved that, whether he died in the attempt or not, he would make one effort to dart upstairs from the hall, and alarm the family.”
Despite his fear, Oliver decides to risk his life by trying to warn the household.
Oliver's courage and moral integrity shine through even under duress.