Dickens's second novel is a scalding indictment of child labor and the English Poor Laws, centering on the travails of an innocent child Orphaned at birth and abandoned to the hardships of the workhouse, Oliver Twist lives a grueling life of poverty. Desperate to escape his heartless tormenters, he runs away to start a better life in London but, once there, he is befriended by a young pickpocket known as the Artful Dodger, who introduces him to Fagin and his gang of thieves. A chance encounter gives Oliver the opportunity to escape the criminal underworld, but Fagin won't let him get away so easily--and just when everything seems hopeless, events take a most unexpected turn.
