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Quiz about The novel Oliver Twist
Quiz about The novel Oliver Twist

The novel "Oliver Twist" Trivia Quiz


There have been many quizzes about the musical "Oliver!" and the film adaptations. But how much do you know about the original Charles Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist"?

A multiple-choice quiz by elmo7. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
elmo7
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
382,414
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
430
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. The character Oliver Twist was born in the parish workhouse, where his mother died shortly after his birth. The man in charge of the workhouse was a cruel and greedy character, and was the man responsible for giving Oliver his name. Who was this cold and cruel man? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. When Oliver first left the workhouse where he was born and brought up, the Board of that institution sent him on his way, so it wouldn't have the expense (a pittance, naturally) of supporting him. Thus he was made an apprentice, but to which man? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. When Oliver ran away to London, he was in a most distressed state upon his arrival there. He was almost starved, he had no money at all, and no place to stay. Who was the first person who befriended him? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The Artful Dodger, aka Jack Dawkins, worked for a criminal called Fagin, a most infamous old fellow. Oliver was brought to Fagin's house, and at first he believed he had landed among friends. But soon Fagin expected Oliver, like all the other boys, to commit crimes to earn his keep. What was Fagin's eventual fate in the novel? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. This character was the "benevolent angel" who came to Oliver's rescue more than once, and whose story was inextricably entangled with the story of Oliver's wicked half-brother. S/he adopted Oliver in the course of the story. Who was this character? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. There was a minor character in the novel, who was one of the thieves-in-training at Fagin's house. This character was virtually always accompanied by the Artful Dodger, and the boy's name was Charlie Bates. Dickens often referred to him by a certain rather strange title. What is Charlie's frequently mentioned title? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Oliver was warned in the nick of time and managed to escape his tormentor, the violent Bill Sikes. Thus he was reunited with Rose Maylie and together they found Mr. Brownlow. Which character warned Oliver to get away, before Sikes caught up with him? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, was awarded a suitable fate at the end of 'Oliver Twist". So, what was Mr. Bumble's situation at the end of the novel? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1812. He died in 1870, at the relatively young age of fifty-eight. "Oliver Twist" was published, like most of his novels, by monthly numbers over a twenty-month period. In what year did the first number of "Oliver Twist" appear before the general public? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Dickens gave readings from some scenes of his works to the general public in Britain and in America, during some of the last years of his life. Which scene from "Oliver Twist" did Dickens read from on numerous occasions? Hint





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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The character Oliver Twist was born in the parish workhouse, where his mother died shortly after his birth. The man in charge of the workhouse was a cruel and greedy character, and was the man responsible for giving Oliver his name. Who was this cold and cruel man?

Answer: Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle

The man who had the most opportunity to be cruel to Oliver was, in fact, Mr. Bumble, a selfish and grasping man who held the dubious honour of being the parish beadle.

The only beadles still in England have ceremonial functions but no actual power. They exist in places such as universities and the City of London. In Dickens' time, the beadle was a salaried minor parish official who had various duties, including, in this case, the supervision of the orphans in the workhouse. He often made sure they were kept down, ragged, half-starved and fearful. When a child was nine or ten years old, he or she "outgrew" the right to parish relief, and was apprenticed out to do some menial drudgery.
2. When Oliver first left the workhouse where he was born and brought up, the Board of that institution sent him on his way, so it wouldn't have the expense (a pittance, naturally) of supporting him. Thus he was made an apprentice, but to which man?

Answer: Mr. Sowerberry, the undertaker

Oliver was indeed apprenticed to Mr. Sowerberry, who liked him well enough and promoted him to the rank of a junior mute. However, this didn't last, for two reasons. First, although Sowerberry liked him, he (Oliver) was greatly disliked for various reasons, by Mrs. Sowerberry, the Sowerberry servant Charlotte, and the charity boy employed there, one Noah Claypole. Secondly, Oliver got in a fight with Claypole, who made very insulting remarks about Oliver's dead mother Agnes.
3. When Oliver ran away to London, he was in a most distressed state upon his arrival there. He was almost starved, he had no money at all, and no place to stay. Who was the first person who befriended him?

Answer: Jack Dawkins, The Artful Dodger

When Oliver and the Dodger met up, Oliver was half-starved (almost fully so) as he had walked all the way to London without any food, and the trip had taken him seven days. It wasn't surprising that when the Artful Dodger offered the poor boy some food, and the promise of a night's lodging with a friend, the offer was immediately accepted.
4. The Artful Dodger, aka Jack Dawkins, worked for a criminal called Fagin, a most infamous old fellow. Oliver was brought to Fagin's house, and at first he believed he had landed among friends. But soon Fagin expected Oliver, like all the other boys, to commit crimes to earn his keep. What was Fagin's eventual fate in the novel?

Answer: Hanged

The character of Fagin was a sinister and evil portrait of a man who is both an infamous criminal, and a miser. Dickens drew him as a Jew, thus showing he (the author) was not exempt from some of the prejudices of many Victorian (Christian) people. Fagin was identified as a Jew dozens and dozens of times.

In a later Dickens novel, "Our Mutual Friend", there was another Jewish character who was also an old man, known as Mr. Riah. This character was a good person, and Dickens seems to have created him in response to protests from Mrs. Eliza Davis about the Fagin cariacature. However, Mr. Riah never became well-known, whereas Fagin is very famous.
5. This character was the "benevolent angel" who came to Oliver's rescue more than once, and whose story was inextricably entangled with the story of Oliver's wicked half-brother. S/he adopted Oliver in the course of the story. Who was this character?

Answer: Mr. Brownlow

Mr. Brownlow first rescued Oliver from the prospect of jail. Brownlow never lost faith in Oliver, even when circumstances looked bad for him. The two characters' fates became entwined as a result of many of the Dickensian coincidences occurring in the plot of the novel.
6. There was a minor character in the novel, who was one of the thieves-in-training at Fagin's house. This character was virtually always accompanied by the Artful Dodger, and the boy's name was Charlie Bates. Dickens often referred to him by a certain rather strange title. What is Charlie's frequently mentioned title?

Answer: Master Bates

In Victorian times, a boy was addressed formally as Master, with Mister used for an adult male. Fagin's use of this respectful-sounding term suggests he was teasing the lad.
7. Oliver was warned in the nick of time and managed to escape his tormentor, the violent Bill Sikes. Thus he was reunited with Rose Maylie and together they found Mr. Brownlow. Which character warned Oliver to get away, before Sikes caught up with him?

Answer: The prostitute named Nancy (no surname given)

Nancy was Bill Sikes' lover. It is difficult for the reader to accept that she was always loyal to Sikes and protected him from discovery, since she was so badly abused by him. When Sikes discovered she had put Oliver out of reach, his repayment for her love was to brutally murder her with a bludgeon.

Dickens had a lot of trouble with the character of Nancy, not least of which was the fact he wished to create a prostitute without actually saying so, due to the conventions in polite society in the Victorian era. Dickens was also constrained by his tendency to draw his women characters as angelically good, or else "gone to the bad" altogether. Of course Nancy was both.
8. Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, was awarded a suitable fate at the end of 'Oliver Twist". So, what was Mr. Bumble's situation at the end of the novel?

Answer: Pauper in the same workhouse Oliver had to live in

Mr. Bumble in fact married Mrs. Corney, a dreadful woman who, like him, existed on the money she could squeeze out from the "system", by denying provisions to the paupers. Bumble married her for her money, but lived to quickly regret his bargain as she was so unpleasant a character. Mrs. Bumble had a part in the plot; it was revealed that she stole at secondhand from Oliver's dead mother, and sold her secret to the evil Monks, Oliver's half-brother whom he didn't know existed. Both the Bumbles ended their days by having to become paupers in the workhouse where they were once so cruel to others.
9. Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1812. He died in 1870, at the relatively young age of fifty-eight. "Oliver Twist" was published, like most of his novels, by monthly numbers over a twenty-month period. In what year did the first number of "Oliver Twist" appear before the general public?

Answer: 1837

"Oliver Twist" was Charles Dickens' second novel, coming just after he wrote "Pickwick Papers". These were his very earliest works; he began "Oliver Twist" when he was thirty-five. Thus it is not really surprising, for example, that the plot line and structure are so tangled and convoluted. Dickens had not had much experience in working out the details and coincidences for which he became known for, in his later works.
10. Dickens gave readings from some scenes of his works to the general public in Britain and in America, during some of the last years of his life. Which scene from "Oliver Twist" did Dickens read from on numerous occasions?

Answer: The murder of Nancy, by Bill Sikes

Dickens died prematurely at fifty-eight; he had experienced serious health problems for the previous three or four years. His doctor eventually forbade him to enact such sensational scenes from some of his novels, as these readings placed a great strain upon him, both physically and emotionally. Dickens completely disregarding the doctor's warnings.

It was as if he only really came alive during his readings, when he could and did act out scenes of passion and violence. He collapsed, and died within a day, in the room in which he wrote, in his own home on June 9, 1870.
Source: Author elmo7

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