Chapter 2: London, Fagin, and Mr Brownlow
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Chapter 2: London, Fagin, and Mr Brownlow
Read Chapter 2 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 walks the seventy miles to London and arrives exhausted. A boy called the Artful Dodger feeds him and takes him to Fagin, an old man who houses a gang of boys and sends them out to steal. Oliver, who does not understand what the boys do for a living, watches them practise and thinks it is a game. Out on the street he sees them rob an old gentleman, Mr Brownlow, and it is Oliver who is caught and accused. A bookseller who saw the theft speaks up for him. Mr Brownlow, struck by something in the boy's face, takes him home - where a portrait on the wall resembles Oliver more than anyone can explain.
Who appears
Oliver Twist
the Artful Dodger
Fagin
Charley Bates
Mr Brownlow
the bookseller
Words from this chapter
pickpocket - a thief who steals from people's pockets in a crowd
gang - a group who work together, usually at something unlawful
magistrate - an official who decides small criminal cases
innocent - not guilty of what you are accused of
Key lines, and who says them
"You look starving. Where are you going?"
- Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger, to Oliver Twist, the street of a small village on the road to London
Oliver has walked seven days on almost nothing. The Dodger buys him a meal, which is how Fagin gets hold of him.
"I know a man in London who will give you work and a bed for nothing."
- Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger, to Oliver Twist, the street of a small village on the road to London
The offer sounds like kindness. The man is Fagin, and the work is stealing.
"Sit down and have something to eat."
- Fagin, to Oliver Twist, the dark back room of the old house in London
Food and a bed are how Fagin recruits boys, and why Oliver trusts him at first.
"What did you see?"
- Fagin, to Oliver Twist, the dark back room of the old house in London
Oliver has woken and watched Fagin counting gold watches and jewellery. Fagin picks up a knife before he is satisfied the boy saw nothing.
"I hope you've been at work this morning, boys." *
- Fagin, to the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates, the back room of Fagin's house
"Work" means picking pockets. Oliver does not understand the joke and admires the notebooks and handkerchiefs they bring back.
"The boy is so very young!"
- Charley Bates, to Fagin, the back room of Fagin's house
The gang laugh because Oliver believes the stolen handkerchiefs were honestly come by.
"That gentleman will do."
- the Artful Dodger, to Charley Bates, the street outside the bookshop
They pick their victim while Oliver watches, and this is the moment he understands that his new friends are thieves.
"Stop, thief!"
- Mr Brownlow, to the crowd in the street, the street outside the bookshop
The two boys run and Oliver runs too, so the whole street chases the wrong boy.
"It wasn't that boy! It was two other boys. He was with them, but he didn't take anything." *
- the owner of the bookshop, to the magistrate, the magistrate's room at the police station
He arrives after Oliver has already been sentenced to prison and fainted. His evidence is the only reason Oliver goes free.
"But what is this? Look there." *
- Mr Brownlow, to Oliver Twist, the sitting room of Mr Brownlow's house
He is pointing at the painting of a young woman on the wall. Her eyes, head and mouth are almost the same as Oliver's, which is the first clue to who the boy is.
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
Separate what Oliver understands from what the reader understands - the gap between them is the chapter.
What it leaves you with
Being in the wrong place is not the same as being guilty.