Oliver Twist or the Parish Boys Progress is author Charles Dickenss second novel and was first published as a serial 1837-39. The story centres on orphan Oliver Twist born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping Twist travels to London where he meets The Artful Dodger a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. Oliver Twist is notable for its unromantic portrayal by Dickens of criminals and their sordid lives as well as for