In the workhouse of an unidentified place, on an unspecified date, a child is born. As the infant struggles for survival, the pretty young mother’s life is ebbing. An old pauper has assisted the attending surgeon, supported by the contents of a green bottle. She explains to the doctor that the young woman was unknown and had been brought in the night before, after being found lying in the street.
At the sound of her child’s voice, the mother murmurs faintly, “Let me see the child and die.” Both wishes are granted. As he leaves, the surgeon looks at the girl’s left hand and comments: “The old story: no wedding-ring.”
The newly arrived inmate is clothed in old garments that have seen much service. Thus he is immediately “badged and ticketed . . . a parish child—the orphan of a workhouse—the humble, half-starved drudge—to be cuffed and buffeted through the world—despised by all, and pitied by none.”
Young Oliver is kept in the workhouse for eight or ten months, but the accommodations there not being suited to the care of infants, he is transferred to a private asylum. This haven for juveniles is run by Mrs. Mann, an entrepreneur who prospers by starving the children and pocketing most of the allowance dispensed for their sustenance. The youngsters perish with regularity, but investigation always sustains the report that death was due to natural causes or “accident.”
Under this gentle system of charity, Oliver Twist spends his first nine years. His birthday is celebrated with a beating and confinement in the coal cellar with two other malefactors for “atrociously presuming to be hungry.”
While Oliver is thus disposed of, Mr. Bumble, a minor church official, suddenly appears at the garden gate. Mrs. Mann keeps him waiting until the prisoners are released. After Bumble is admitted, he demonstrates his sense of importance by rebuking Mrs. Mann before they then join in a demonstration of mutual hypocrisy as he partakes of her gin.
The self-important Bumble has come on business. His efforts to discover the identity of Oliver’s father or the origin of his mother have failed. The authorities have ruled that the orphan is to be returned to his birthplace—the workhouse. In the meantime, Oliver has been removed from the coal bin and has been made presentable. He is now brought forth and delivered to Mr. Bumble, who escorts him to his new home.
That very evening, the board in control of workhouse affairs is meeting, and Oliver is promptly summoned to face that august body. After being admonished to persevere in gratitude for the blessings given him so far, the boy is told that he is to be further favored by being taught a trade—picking oakum, (a tar-soaked fiber used as a caulking in ships) starting the next morning.
Following this scene the author discloses that the authorities have just devised a new regime for the workhouse. The paupers are restricted to a pitifully small portion of food, and other callous measures are put into practice. The policy succeeds in reducing the workhouse population, although many depart for the graveyard.
After several months of the most meager meals, the boys are desperate with hunger. They hold a council meeting to select one of their number to request more to eat. The lot falls to Oliver to make the audacious experiment. That evening after the skimpy ration of thin gruel has been consumed, Oliver approaches the fat workhouse master and asks for more. The master is overwhelmed with astonishment. In a state of agitation, Bumble rushes to inform the board, which is in session. The members are horrified; a gentleman in a white waistcoat is satisfied beyond all doubt that the culprit will end up on the gallows.
Oliver is instantly sentenced to confinement. The next morning, a notice is posted on the gate offering five pounds to anyone who will accept Oliver Twist as an apprentice.
