Oliver Twist

Oliver is marched by the mob and the officer to a magistrate. There, Brownlow begins feeling sorry for Oliver and no longer wishes to press any charges. The officer insists that the magistrate must judge Oliver’s innocence, however, and the young boy is thrown into a dirty cell. Brownlow begins wondering if Oliver is innocent after all and wonders why the young boy looks so familiar. Mr. Brownlow tries to match Oliver’s face to everyone he knows–both dead and alive–but can think of none. Mr. Fang, the magistrate, is a rude and surly old man. Mr. Fang refuses to let Mr. Brownlow speak throughout the trial. Even when Mr. Fang directly asks Mr. Brownlow a question, the magistrate refuses to let him speak.

After Mr. Brownlow is finally allowed to relay the facts about the case, he realizes that Oliver is pale and unable to speak from illness. The magistrate demands to know Oliver’s name but the boy is too ill to reply. The officer who caught him makes up a name to prevent him from being punished even more severely. The officer lies to the magistrate, saying that Oliver’s name is Tom White and giving Mr.