OLIVER’S EARLY LIFE

 

 

in the first half of the nineteenth century, there existed in most English towns a grim building known as the workhouse. This was where the parish authorities sent the aged, the homeless and the poor who could not work and had nowhere else to go.

 

It was in the workhouse that Olvier Twist was born. Oliver’s mother, a beautiful young woman, had been found lying in the street the night before. No one knew who she was, and she died within minutes of giving birth. Oliver Twist was given his unusual name by Mr Bumble, the parish official in charge of the workhouse.

 

At the age of ten months, Oliver was sent out to a branch-workhouse, to be brought up by the elderly Mrs Mann. She looked after twenty or thirty poor orphans, for a small weekly fee paid by the parish. Mrs Mann used most of this money for herself, and very little to feed and clothe the children. Consequently, Oliver, like all this comrades, grew into a small, pale, thin child.

When Oliver was nine, Mr Bumble came to bring him back to the workhouse so that he could be taught a trade with other boys his age.

 

As miserable as Oliver had been whilst at Mrs Mann’s, he was even more unhappy at the workhouse. He missed the friends he had grown up with, and he was hungrier than he had ever been.

 

One evening, Oliver thought he would go mad with hunger. He had finished his allotted bowl of gruel and still felt a raging emtiness inside him. Desperately, with his bowl and spoon in hand, he approached the master of the workhouse.

 

“Please, sir,” said Oliver. “I want some more.”

The master was stupified. No one had ever dared to ask for more. “What” he roared.

“Please, sir.” Oliver repeated quietly. “I want some more.”

Enraged, the master stuck Oliver on the head, and locked him up in a dank and dismal cell. He remained there for weeks.

 

Rescue from this wretched existence came in the form of Mr Sowerberry, an undertaker who took Oliver as an apprentice.

At the Sowerberrys’, Oliver was fed table scraps and had to sleep among the coffins. Still, he didn’t complain. But one day he got into a fight with Mr Sowerberry’s surly assistant.

Mr Sowerberry was so angry that he threatenen to send Oliver back to the workhouse.

Oliver was terrified. He couldn’t bear the thought of returning to the workhouse. So he decided to run away.