Chapter 1: The Workhouse and the Undertaker
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Chapter 1: The Workhouse and the Undertaker
Read Chapter 1 of Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens, in your own copy. What follows is a summary to check yourself against, not a replacement for the chapter.
Oliver is born in a workhouse to a mother nobody can name, and she dies before she can name him herself. He is sent to a house of orphans run by Mrs Mann, who keeps for herself much of the money meant to feed them. At nine he is moved to the workhouse proper. The boys there are so hungry that they draw lots, and Oliver loses - which is how he comes to stand up and ask for more. The officials treat the request as a crime, and he is handed to Mr Sowerberry the undertaker as an apprentice. Noah Claypole, who works there too, insults Oliver's dead mother once too often, and Oliver runs.
Who appears
Oliver Twist
the nurse
Mrs Mann
Mr Bumble
Mr Sowerberry
Noah Claypole
Words from this chapter
workhouse - a place where the very poor were housed and made to work
orphan - a child whose parents have both died
apprentice - somebody working for an employer in order to learn a trade
destitute - so poor as to have nothing at all
Key lines, and who says them
"Does anybody know the mother's name?"
- the doctor, to the old nurse, the small dark room in the workhouse where Oliver is born
He needs a name for the record, and nobody in the building has one. Oliver begins life with no family anyone can trace.
"Let me look at my baby."
- Oliver's mother, to the old nurse, the small dark room in the workhouse where Oliver is born
It is the only thing she asks for. She kisses him, and dies a moment later without ever giving her name.
"Nobody here will ever know who she was."
- the old nurse, to the doctor, the small dark room in the workhouse where Oliver is born
The mother dies unnamed, which is why no relative can claim Oliver and why the question of who he is runs through the whole novel.
"He is nine now, so he is old enough to come and work for us."
- Mr Bumble, to Mrs Mann, the house where the orphans are kept
Mrs Mann has been paid to feed the orphans and has kept much of the money, so Oliver is small and weak when he is moved on to the workhouse.
"Please, sir, I want some more." *
- Oliver Twist, to the master who serves the food, the big cold dining hall of the workhouse
The boys were starving on one bowl of thin soup and drew lots over who would ask. Oliver lost. No boy had ever asked before.
"If our generosity is not good enough for him, he can leave."
- the managers of the workhouse, to the master, the workhouse
They lock Oliver up and offer five pounds to anyone who will take him away, which is how Mr Sowerberry comes to hear of him.
"I have nobody in the world."
- Oliver Twist, to Mr Bumble, the street on the way to Mr Sowerberry's house
Mr Bumble cannot understand why the boy is crying at his good luck. It is the loneliness, not the work, that Oliver minds.
"You take your orders from me, workhouse boy."
- Noah Claypole, to Oliver Twist, the undertaker's shop
Noah is an apprentice himself but wants someone below him, and he kicks Oliver to make the point.
"They say your mother died because she was worth nothing."
- Noah Claypole, to Oliver Twist, the undertaker's shop
Insulting his mother is the one thing Oliver will not take quietly. He strikes Noah, and the fight is why he runs away.
"You've given him too much meat, Mrs Sowerberry. You've been too kind to him. Leave him in this room without food for a few days, then feed him only soup." *
- Mr Bumble, to Mrs Sowerberry, outside the cellar where Oliver is locked in
Mr Bumble blames good food for the boy's spirit. That night Oliver finds the cellar door unlocked and leaves.
About these lines
Lines marked * are printed word for word: they are the ones your reader sets for study, and you cannot answer "who said this sentence?" about a sentence that has been reworded. Every other line is given in plain English as the substance of what was said, because the reader's own prose belongs to its publisher. Find each one in your own copy, then answer: who said it, to whom, where and why.
Reading skill
Work out the setting - the country and the period - from the details rather than from a statement.
What it leaves you with
A child asking for food is not the one who has done something wrong.