The Story

We meet Oliver as a baby born in a workhouse, a grim place for the poor. His life starts hard and gets tougher. After daring to ask for more food, he's sent away and eventually runs off to London. There, he’s swept up by the Artful Dodger, a clever young pickpocket, and brought to Fagin, who runs a gang of child thieves. Oliver’s gentle nature makes him a terrible criminal, and his attempts to escape this life plunge him into real danger, especially from the brutal burglar Bill Sikes and his companion Nancy.

The plot thickens when a kind gentleman, Mr. Brownlow, takes Oliver in after wrongly suspecting him of theft. Just as Oliver finds safety, Fagin’s gang drags him back. The story becomes a tense tug-of-war between the forces of corruption and those of compassion, all while secrets about Oliver’s true family begin to surface.

Why You Should Read It

Look, Dickens makes you feel the cold of the workhouse and the fog of London’s alleys. But what gets me is the characters. Oliver’s goodness feels real, not sappy. The villains are terrifying—Fagin is manipulative and sinister, Bill Sikes is pure brutality. Yet, the most heartbreaking character might be Nancy, trapped in a terrible life but showing incredible courage.

Beyond the plot, the book holds up a mirror to the huge gap between the rich and the poor in Dickens’s time. It’s a social critique wrapped in a gripping story. You get angry at the injustice, but you also get moments of real warmth and humor, often from the Dodger’s cheeky charm.

Final Verdict

This is for anyone who loves a story with a big heart and memorable characters. It’s perfect if you like historical settings with a sharp edge, or tales about the fight for a second chance. Yes, it’s a 19th-century novel, so the language takes a page or two to settle into, but the story moves. If you’ve ever rooted for an underdog, you’ll root for Oliver Twist.