Oliver's return to the clutches of Fagin before he even has a chance to recount his life's history to Mr. Brownlow is brought about by a series of accidents. First, Mr. Grimwig bursts in before Oliver manages to utter a word. Then, "as fate would have it," the bookseller's delivery boy comes unexpectedly and leaves before Mr. Brownlow can transact his business with the boy. On his way to the bookstall, Oliver accidentally turns down a side street and falls into the hands of Fagin's agents. Probability is not severely strained by this series of coincidences. Since a net was being set for the unwary boy by accomplished evildoers, it was inevitable that he should soon be trapped.
Brownlow's friend, Mr. Grimwig, is another minor character labeled with an idiosyncrasy. Grimwig is on a higher social and intellectual plane than Bumble, so his oral quirk is evidently a deliberate invention, in contrast to Bumble's pretensions and blunders. In sketching Grimwig, Dickens uses the authorial privilege of confiding directly to the reader what he knows about the character's personality. This assumption of an omniscient viewpoint that can examine a character's innermost thoughts and feelings is an economical way of revealing a minor figure.
The most convincing character delineation is one that gradually evolves with the story. Rather than by Dickens's unsupported assertion, the reader is more likely to be persuaded by a portrayal that is presented through what a character does, what he says, and what other characters say about him. We cannot help being impressed by Sikes's speaking favorably about Nancy on several occasions, for he is such a callous brute that we expect him never to speak well of anyone. Evidence that Nancy feels compassion for unfortunates is found in her being moved to tender pity for the convicts spending their last night in condemned cells while she and Sikes are engaged in the grim business of kidnapping. This sympathy is confirmed by her spirited and brave defense of Oliver against harm from Fagin.
