Oliver Twist

• Book 1, Chapter 1
• a faint voice imperfectly articulated the words 'Let me see the child, and die.' (p4)
• 'She was brought here last night,' replied the old woman, 'by the overseer's order. She was found lying in the street; -- she had walked some distance, for her shoes were worn to pieces; but where she came from, or where she was going to, nobody knows.' (p5)
• Book 1, Chapter 2
• The elderly female was a woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for children, and she had a very accurate perception of what was good for herself. So she appropriated the greater part of the weekly stipend for her own use, and consigned the rising parochial generation to even a shorter allowance than was originally provided for them (p6)
• 'How comes he to have any name at all, then?' The beadle drew himself up with great pride, and said 'I inwented it.' (p10)
• So they established the rule, that all poor people should have the alternative (for they would compel nobody, not they,) of being starved by a gradual process in the house, or by a quick one out of it. (p13)
• A council was held; lots were cast who should walk up to the master after supper that evening, and ask for more; and it fell to Oliver Twist. (p14)
• 'That boy will be hung,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat; 'I know that boy will be hung.' (p15)
• Oliver was ordered into instant confinement; and a bill was next morning pasted on the outside of the gate, offering five pounds to anybody who would take Oliver Twist off the hands of the parish (p15)
• Book 1, Chapter 3
• Oliver fell on his knees, and, clasping his hands together, prayed that they would order him back to the dark room, -- that they would starve him -- beat him -- kill him if they pleased -- rather than send him away, with that dreadful man. (p25)
• Book 1, Chapter 4
• 'The prices allowed by the board are very small, Mr Bumble.' 'So are the coffins,' replied the beadle, with precisely as near as approach to a laugh as a great official ought to indulge in. (p28)
• 'Well,' said the undertaker's wife, when Oliver had finished his supper, which she had regarded in silent horror, and with fearful auguries of his future appetite, 'have you done?' (p33)
• Book 1, Chapter 5
• 'There's an expression of melancholy in his face, my dear,' resumed Mr Sowerberry, 'which is very interesting. He would make a delightful mute, my dear.' (p38)
• Book 1, Chapter 6
• Crimson with fury, Oliver started up, overthrew chair and table, seized Noah by the throat, shook him in the violence of his rage til his teeth chattered in his head, and, collecting his whole force into one heavy blow, felled him to the ground. (p47)
• Book 1, Chapter 7
• 'Meat, ma'am, meat,' replied Bumble, with stern emphasis. 'You've overfed him ma'am. (p53)
• He had listened to their taunts with a look of dogged contempt; he had borne the lash without a cry, for he felt that pride swelling in his heart which would have kept down a shriek to the last, if they had roasted him alive. (p55)
• 'You mustn't say you saw me, Dick,' said Oliver; 'I am running away. They beat and ill-use me, Dick; and I am going to seek my fortune some long way off, I don't know where. How pale you are!' (p56)
• Book 1, Chapter 8
• Mr Dawkins's appearance did not say a vast deal in favour of the comforts which his patron's interest obtained for those whom he took under his protection; but as he had a somewhat flighty and dissolute mode of conversing, and furthermore avowed that among his intimate friends he was better known by the sobriquet of 'The artful Dodger,' Oliver concluded that, being of a dissipated and careless turn, the moral precepts of his benefactor had hitherto been thrown away on him. (p62)
• The Jew grinned; and, making a low obeisance to Oliver, took him by the hand, and hoped he should have the honour of his intimate acquaintance. (p64)
• Book 1, Chapter 9
• 'You'd like to be able to make pocket-handkerchiefs as easy as Charley Bates, wouldn't you, my dear?' said the Jew. 'Very much indeed, if you'll teach me, sir,' replied Oliver. (p70)
• Being remarkably free and agreeable in their manners, Oliver thought them very nice girls indeed, as there is no doubt they were. (p71)
• Book 1, Chapter 10
• They no sooner heard the cry, and saw Oliver running, than, guessing exactly how the matter stood, they issued forth with great promptitude, and shouting, 'Stop thief!' too, joined in the pursuit like good citizens. (p76)
• Book 1, Chapter 11
• 'A nice person to prefer a charge against a poor boy!' said Fang, with a comical effort to look humane. (p85)
• Book 1, Chapter 12
• There was its living copy, -- the eyes, the head, the mouth; every feature was the same. (p93)
• Book 1, Chapter 13
• By dint of alternate threats, promises, and bribes, the engaging female in question was ultimately prevailed upon to undertake the commission. (p101)
• 'He has not preached so far,' said the Jew as he pursued his occupation. 'If he means to blab us among his new friends, we may stop his windpipe yet.' (p104)
• Book 1, Chapter 14
• Don't send me back to the wretched place I came from. Have mercy upon a poor boy, sir; do!' (p108)
• It is worthy of remark, as illustrating the importance we attach to our own judgments, and the pride with which we put forth our most rash and hasty conclusions, that, although Mr Grimwig was not a bad-hearted man, and would have been unfeignedly sorry to see his respected friend duped and deceived, he really did most earnestly and strongly hope at that moment that Oliver Twist might not come back. (p115)
• Book 1, Chapter 15
• 'Oh ma'am,' replied the young woman, 'he ran away near a month ago from his parents, who are hard-working and respectable people, and joined a set of thieves and bad characters, and almost broke his mother's heart.' (p122)
• Book 1, Chapter 16
• 'You're right, Oliver, you're right; they will think you have stolen 'em. Ha! ha!' chuckled the Jew, rubbing his hands; 'it couldn't have happened better if we had chosen our time!' (p129)
• The Jew inflicted a smart blow on Oliver's shoulders with the club, and was raising it for a second, when the girl, rushing forward, wrested it from his hand, and flung it into the fire with a force that brought some of the glowing coals whirling out into the room. (p131)
• Book 1, Chapter 17
• 'WHEREAS a young boy, named Oliver Twist, absconded, or was enticed, on Thursday evening last, from his home at Pentonville, and has not since been heard of; the above reward will be paid to any person who will give such information as may lead to the discovery of the said Oliver Twist, or tend to throw any light upon his previous history, in which the advertiser is for many reasons warmly interested.' (p140)
• Mr Bumble put down his hat, unbuttoned his coat, folded his arms, inclined his head in a retrospective manner, and, after a few moments' reflection, commenced his story. (p142)
• 'He was a dear, grateful, gentle child, sir,' retorted Mrs Bedwin indignantly. (p143)
• Book 1, Chapter 18
• 'Go!' exclaimed the Dodger. 'Why, where's your spirit? Don't you take any pride out of yourself? Would you go and be dependent on your friends, eh?' (p149)
• Book 1, Chapter 19
• 'It'll be no sham frightening, mind you. If there is anything queer about him when we once get into the work, -- in for a penny, in for a pound, -- you won't see him alive again, Fagin. Think of that before you send him. Mark my words!' said the robber, shaking a heavy crowbar which he had drawn from under the bedstead. (p159)
• Book 1, Chapter 20
• 'God forgive me!' she cried after awhile, 'I never thought of all this.' (p165)
• She pointed hastily to some livid bruises upon her neck and arms, and continued with great rapidity. (p166)
• 'As near as I know, there isn't anybody as would be asking very partickler arter you, if you was disposed of; so I needn't take this devil-and-all of trouble to explain matters if it warn't for your own good. D'ye hear?' (p168)
• Book 1, Chapter 21
• Sikes, with Oliver's hand still in his, softly approached the low porch, and raised the latch. The door yielded to his pressure, and they passed in together. (p175)
• Book 1, Chapter 22
• And now, for the first time, Oliver, well-nigh mad with grief and terror, saw that housebreaking and robbery, if not murder, were the objects of the expedition. (p180)
• In the short time he had to collect his senses, the boy had firmly resolved that, whether he died in the attempt or not, he would make one effort to dart up stairs from the hall and alarm the family. (p183)
• 'Give me a shawl here. They've hit him. Quick! Damnation, how the boy bleeds!' (p183)
• Book 2, Chapter 1
• 'The beadle drank his tea to the last drop, finished a piece of toast,whisked the crumbs off his knees, wiped his lips, and deliberately kissed the matron. (p191)
• Book 2, Chapter 2
• 'Gold!' echoed the matron, bending eagerly over the woman as she fell back. (p196)
• 'Stone dead!' said one of the old women, hurrying in as soon as the door opened. 'And nothing to tell, after all, rejoined the matron, walking carelessly away. (p197)
• Book 2, Chapter 3
• We parted company, and left the youngster lying in a ditch. Alive or dead, that's all I know of him.' (p203)
• Book 2, Chapter 4
• 'What is it!' pursued Fagin, mad with rage. 'This! When the boy's worth hundred of pounds to me, am I to lose what chance threw me in the way of getting safely, through the whims of a drunken gang that I could whistle away the loves of -- and me bound, too, to a born devil that only wants the will, and has the power to, to--' (p210)
• 'No, no, my dear!' renewed the Jew, 'and I don't quarrel with it now; because, if it had never happened, you might never have clapped eyes upon the boy to notice him, and so led to the discovery that it was him you were looking for. Well; I got him back for you by means of the girl, and then she begins to favour him.' (p214)
• Book 2, Chapter 5
• She sunk into Mr Bumble's arms; and that gentleman, in his agitation, imprinted a passionate kiss upon her chaste nose. (p219)
• 'I didn't mean to do it!' said Noah blubbering. 'She's always a-kissing of me, whether I like it or not.' (p223)
• Book 2, Chapter 6
• 'Here he is!' bawled Giles, calling in a great state of excitement up the staircase; 'here's one of the thieves ma'am! Here's a thief, miss -- wounded, miss! I shot him, miss, and Brittles held the light.' (p233)
• Book 2, Chapter 7
• Aunt, dear aunt, for mercy's sake think of this before you let them drag this sick child to a prison, which in any case must be the grave of all his chances of amendment. Oh! as you love me, and know that I have never felt the want of parents in your goodness and affection, but that I might have done so, and might have been equally helpless and unprotected with this poor child, have pity upon him before it is too late.' (p239)
• Book 2, Chapter 8
• 'All I know is,' said Mr Losberne at last, sitting down with a kind of desperate calmness, 'that we must try and carry it off with a bold face, that's all! The object is a good one, and that must be the excuse. (p248)
• Book 2, Chapter 9
• She presently returned, and said that Mr Brownlow had sold off his goods, and gone to the West Indies six weeks before.
• Book 2, Chapter 10
• 'What of Rose?' cried the old lady. 'Tell me at once. I can bear it; anything but suspense. Oh, tell me! in the name of Heaven!' (p272)
• Book 2, Chapter 11
• There -- there -- at the window -- close before him -- so close,that he could have almost touched him before he started back -- with his eyes peering into the room, and meeting his -- there stood the Jew -- and beside him, white with rage, or fear, or both, were the scowling features of the very man who accosted him at the inn yard! (p283)
• Book 2, Chapter 12
• 'There is no pursuit more worthy of me -- more worthy of the highest nature that exists -- than the struggle to win such a heart as yours,' said the young man, taking her hand. (p288)
• 'Once, and only once more, -- say within a year, but it may be much sooner, -- let me speak to you again on this subject for the last time.' (p290)
• Book 2, Chapter 13
• Oliver, quite elated and honoured by a sense of his importance, faithfully promised to be secret and explicit in his communications, and Mr Maylie took leave of him with many warm assurances of his regard and protection. (p293)
• Book 2, Chapter 14
• 'Two months -- not more than two months ago I was not only my own master, but everybody else's, so far as the parochial workhouse was concerned, and now! --' (p299)
• He well remembered the night of old Sally's death, which the occurrences of that day had given him good reason to recollect as the occasion on which he had proposed to Mrs Corney, and although that lady had never confided to him the disclosure of which she had been the solitary witness, he had heard enough to know that it related to something that had occurred in the old woman's attendance as workhouse nurse, upon the mother of Oliver Twist. (p304)
• 'MONKS!' rejoined the man, and strode hastily away. (p305)
• Book 3, Chapter 1
• With these words he suddenly wheeled the table aside, and pulling an iron ring in the boarding, threw back a large trap-door which opened close at Mr Bumble's feet, and caused that gentleman to retire several paces backward with great precipitation. (p314)
• Book 3, Chapter 2
• It might be that her tears relieved her, or that she felt the full hopelessness of her condition; but she turned back, and hurrying with nearly as great rapidity in the contrary direction, partly to recover lost time, and partly to keep pace with the violent current of her own thoughts, soon reached the dwelling where she had left the house-breaker. (p327)
• Book 3, Chapter 3
• 'Then he goes by some other amongst us,' rejoined the girl, 'which I more than thought before. (p334)
• 'His brother!' exclaimed Rose, clasping her hands. (p335)
• Book 3, Chapter 4
• Believe me that I make this request with good reason, for I might otherwise excite hopes destined to never be realized, and only increase difficulties and disappointments already quite numerous enough. (p348)
• Book 3, Chapter 5
• Mr Claypole no sooner heard this extract from his own remarks than he fell back in his chair, and looked from the Jew to Charlotte with a countenance of ashy paleness and excessive terror. (p354)
• Book 3, Chapter 6
• 'Wot department has he got, Fagin?' inquired Master Bates, surveying Noah's lanky form with much disgust. (p365)
• The two hastened back together, to bear to Mr Fagin the animating news that the Dodger was doing full justice to his bringing-up, and establishing for himself a glorious reputation. (p369)
• Book 3, Chapter 7
• 'Let me go,' said the girl with great earnestness; then, sitting herself down on the floor before the door, she said -- 'Bill, let me go; you don't know what you're doing -- you don't, indeed. For only one hour -- do -- do!' (p373)
• But perhaps she would recoil from a plot to take the life of Sikes, and that was one of the chief ends to be attained. (p376)
• Book 3, Chapter 8
• 'A broad red mark, like a burn or scald,' cried the gentleman. (p387)
• Peeping out more than once when he reached the top, to make sure that he was unobserved, Noah Claypole darted away at his utmost speed, and made for the Jew's house as fast as his legs would carry him. (p390)
• Book 3, Chapter 9
• The murderer staggering backward to the wall, and shutting out the sight with his hand, seized a heavy club and struck her down. (p397)
• Book 3, Chapter 10
• He resolved to drown him, and walked on looking for a pond; picking up a heavy stone, and tying it to his handkerchief as he went. (p406)
• Book 3, Chapter 11
• Those proofs were destroyed by you; and now, in your own words to your accomplice, the Jew, “the only proofs of the boy's identity lie at the bottom of the river, and the old hag that received them from the mother is rotting in her coffin.” (p414)
• Book 3, Chapter 12
• Among them all, none showed such fury as the man on horseback, who, throwing himself out of the saddle, and bursting through the crowd as if he were parting water, cried beneath the window, in a voice above all others, 'Twenty guineas to the man who brings a ladder!' (p424)
• There was a sudden jerk, a terrific convulsion of the limbs, and there he hung, with the open knife clenched in his stiffening hand. (p428)
• Book 3, Chapter 13
• This is my rank and station now, and here I lay it down.' (p440)
• Book 3, Chapter 14
• As it came on very dark, he began to think of all the men he had known who had died upon the scaffold -- some of them through his means. (p445)
• 'You have some papers,' said Mr Brownlow advancing, 'which were placed in your hands for better security, by a man called Monks.' (p448)
• Book 3, Chapter 15
• Before three months had past, Rose Fleming and Harry Maylie were married in the village church, which was henceforth to be the scene of the young clergyman's labours; on the same day they entered into possession of their new and happy home. (p450)