"The simple fact was, that Oliver, instead of possessing too little feeling, possessed rather too much, and was in a fair way of being reduced to a state of brutal stupidity and sullenness for life, by the ill usage he had received." ― Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist Oliver Twist (1839) by Charles Dickens tells the story of Oliver, an orphan, who after running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, finds himself entangled with a den of thieves watched over by their cunning leader Fagin. The novel depicts the impoverished London underworld and comments upon the cruel society with an impinging sense of threat and mystery.