AN EASY and SIMPLE SUMMARY of OLIVER TWIST

 

FIRST PART

Sequence of events: 

• Oliver is born, his mother dies 

• Oliver in the orphanage

 • Oliver taken to workhouse 

• The workhouse boys draw lots to see who will ask for more grue

•Oliver asks for more, and is punished 

• Oliver becomes apprenticed to an undertaker 

• Oliver fights with Noah, and is again punished 

• Oliver runs away to London

SECOND PART

Sequence of events: 

• Oliver meets Dodger 

• Dodger takes Oliver to Fagin’s lair

 • Oliver observes Fagin looking at his treasure 

• Oliver is unwittingly taught how to pick pockets

 • Oliver is caught following the robbery of an old man

THIRD PART

Sequence of events:

 • Oliver before the magistrate, Brownlow pleads for leniency

 • Oliver faints in a fever 

• Bookseller’s evidence leads to Oliver’s release 

• Oliver nursed back to health at Mr Brownlow’s house 

• Bill Sikes and Nancy find out where Oliver has been taken 

• Bill and Nancy kidnap Oliver

FOURTH PART

Sequence of events: 

• Mr Bumble reads of the reward for information about Oliver Twist 

• Mr Bumble visits Mr Brownlow 

• Fagin and Sikes agree to take Oliver to burgle a house

 • Sikes and Oliver travel to the house 

• The break-in wakes up the house occupants

 • Oliver is shot, badly injured, and abandoned in a ditch by Sikes

 • At the workhouse, Old Sally tells Mrs Corney about the gold she stole from Oliver’s mother many years ago

FIFTH PART

Sequence of events: 

• Fagin visits Nancy, looking for Bill Sikes 

• Fagin, followed by Nancy, meets with Monks 

• Monks and Fagin discuss their plan to turn Oliver into a criminal – Nancy eavesdrops 

• Oliver regains consciousness and staggers to the house 

• Rose and Mrs Maylie take pity on Oliver, and take him in 

• At their bidding, the Doctor convinces the local policeman to leave Oliver where he is

SIXTH PART

Sequence of events: 

• Oliver recovers at the Maylies 

• Rose falls ill, Mrs Maylie sends for her son Harry 

• Oliver encounters Monks at the inn 

• Rose recovers, Harry arrives 

• Fagin and Monks observe Oliver in the cottage

 • Rose entreats Harry to forget her

 • Mr Bumble, now married to Mrs Corney, encounters Mr Monks in the pub 

• Mr Monks learns that Mrs Corney may have information about Oliver

SEVENTH PART

Sequence of events: 

• Bumble and Mrs Corney meet with Monks 

•Monks hurls the ring and locket into the river 

• Nancy nursing Bill, Bill demands money from Fagin 

• Monks meets Fagin and tells the story of the ring and locket – Nancy eavesdrops 

• Nancy drugs Bill, and goes to find Rose Maylie

• Nancy tells Rose about Monks and his connection to Oliver

 EIGHTH PART

Sequence of events: 

• Oliver sees Brownlow; he and Rose go to meet him 

• Oliver’s friends resolve to catch Monks – to do so they need to meet with Nancy 

• Fagin learns that Dodger has been transported to Australia 

• Fagin tasks Noah to follow Nancy 

• The following week, Nancy meets Rose and Brownlow at the bridge. Noah has followed her and will overhear their conversation.

NINTH PART

Sequence of events: 

• Noah eavesdrops on conversation between Nancy, Rose and Brownlow 

• Nancy gives information on how to fi nd Monks, but refuses to betray Fagin 

• Noah informs Fagin about the conversation 

• Sikes arrives at Fagin’s and is told about Nancy’s supposed betrayal

 • Sikes returns home and murders Nancy 

• Sikes, on the run, is haunted by visions of Nancy

 • Monks is apprehended and brought to Brownlow 

• Brownlow tells Monks that he knows about his true identity, inheritance, and brother

TENTH PART

Sequence of events: 

• Brownlow informs Monks how he knows the truth of his relationship to Oliver 

• Monks agrees to tell the truth 

• Sikes, pursued by a mob, accidentally hangs himself 

• Oliver learns the truth about his brother and inheritance and that Rose is his aunt 

• Oliver visits Fagin in prison

 • Oliver is adopted as Brownlow’s son