Oliver Twist: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Oliver decides to walk to London, which is about seventy miles away. He is five miles outside the town, but he hides during the morning hours in case someone might be sent to find him and bring him back. He has only a "crust of bread," a penny, and a change of clothes, and he walks another four miles, wondering whether he will make it to the big city at all.

On the first day Oliver walks twenty miles and sleeps under a pile of hay; the next morning, he exchanges the penny for another loaf of bread. In the towns he passes through, Oliver attempts to get a ride in others' coaches, but they do not admit him, and he often sees billboards stating that beggars will be arrested and prosecuted (as it was illegal to beg, and to travel as a pauper; the poor were supposed to report only to their local workhouses for relief).

Oliver continues walking for days. He encounters a roadworker and his wife, who give him bread and cheese—enough to keep him alive. Oliver is thankful for their kindness and continues on. On the seventh day, in the town of Barnet, Oliver comes upon a young boy who asks him what's the matter. The boy is dressed in the manner of a young gentleman, though he is very small, and he speaks to Oliver in a slang Oliver does not understand. But he says he will help Oliver to get food. Oliver agrees readily, as he is nearly starved.

The strange boy purchases ham and bread from a shopkeeper, and takes Oliver to a pub, where Oliver eats ravenously. The boy asks Oliver whether he is heading to London, and if he needs shelter; Oliver says yes to both. The boy introduces himself as Jack Dawkins, and says that he lives with a "kind old gentleman" who will be able to provide Oliver shelter. Dawkins says his nickname is the Artful Dodger.

Oliver distrusts some aspects of the Dodger's bearing—he senses that the Dodger might be using him for some kind of trick—but resolves to go with him into London, to see about the "old gentleman," and from there to decide on the best course of action. The pair make their way, in the evening, into London, a distance of several more miles, and go through a series of increasingly impoverished neighborhoods, until they reach an apartment building, where the Dodger provides a password to another young boy and asks if Fagin is home. The other young boy says yes, and Oliver and the Dodger enter the building.

Oliver walks into the dirty, grimy apartment, and is introduced by the Dodger to Fagin, a Jewish man described (with great prejudice) by the narrator as being small, shriveled, and evil-looking. There are "four or five" other boys in the room, and they appear to work for Fagin. The boys cook sausages for Oliver, who eats them hungrily, and Fagin mixes Oliver a hot gin and water to help him sleep, which Oliver does almost immediately, as he is exhausted from his journey.