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Oliver Twist, written in 1837-38, tells the story of an orphan boy, whose adventures provide a description, of the lower depths of London. Oliver Twist is of unknown parentage. He is born in a workhouse and brought up under cruel conditions. The tyrant at whose hands he especially suffers is Bumble, the parish beadle. After serving an unhappy apprenticeship to an undertaker, he runs away to London, where he falls into the hands of a gang of thieves. The head of the gang is old Fagin, and the other chief members are the burglar. Bill Sikes,. his mistress Nancy, and the Artful Dodger, a young pickpocket. Every effort is made to convert Oliver into a thief. He is rescued by the benevolent, rich Mr. Brownlow, but the thieves kidnap him, make him pin them once again and participate in their foul dealings. A bad person named Monks, hand in glove with the thieves, has somehow a special interest in keeping Oliver in the gang. Then Oliver is made to accompany Bill Sikes on a burgling expedition, in the course of which he receive a gun-shot wound, and comes into the hands of Mrs. Maylie and her protegee Rose, by whom he is kindly treated. After a time, Nancy reveals to Rose that Monks knows Olivers parentage, and wishes all proof of it destroyed; also that there is some relationship between Oliver and Rose herself. They make some inquiry about the matter. But Fagin discovers Nancy’s action and tells Sikes. who, in a fit of rage, murders her. A hue and cry is raised. Sikes, trying to escape, accidentally hangs himself and the rest of the gang are arrested and Fagin executed. Monks is now compelled to confess what remains unknown. Rose is the sister of Olivers unfortunate mother. Oliver is adopted by Mr. Brownlow. Monks dies in prison. Bumble, the cruel persecutor of Oliver, ends his career in the workhouse over which he formerly ruled. In the preface to the novel, Dickens proclaims himself a realist, and he does appear as such in Oliver Twist . He makes his readers aware of