Carlos Abundis III

Mr. Hill

Honors English III, Period II

10 January 2022

AMDG

Bumble The Beadle: Parochial Hypocrite

In many great works of literature, there have been many characters who have played the

part of the comical villain. Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel Oliver Twist is no exception. The book

follows a young orphan boy named Oliver as he makes his way through life in Victorian

England. Because he was born out of wedlock and both of his parents had died, Oliver is treated

like he is nothing. Society assumed that because Oliver was born in a wrong way, that he will

grow up and do wrong things and become a criminal. This forces Oliver to lead a life of

destitution and poverty. It also forces him to grow up in an orphanage, where we meet a beadle

by the name of Bumble, who is in charge of the workhouse where Oliver is born, and a minor

church authority. Bumble appears in the novel to represent what was wrong with the world of

Oliver Twist and in fact the world of Dickens himself. Bumble embodies the main themes of

Oliver Twist by representing everything Charles Dickens despised about society and the world in

his own life.

In the novel, there are many people of authority that the titular character interacts with.

Such figures include the magistrate Fang, Mrs. Mann, and of course Bumble. Each one of these

figures of charge and control fail to do their jobs as they were intended. The anonymous “man in

the white waistcoat” is the one that says “That boy will be hung“ in reference to Oliver and his

status in the world. For in the eyes of those in power, those who are impoverished and poor are
lost causes, and not worth their time and effort to aid. Dickens takes these characters as

opportunities to grab readers and show them the corruption and ineffectiveness of those in

power. Dickens goes on to show that those in power do nothing with their power to help people.

In fact, all they do is keep the poor poor and the rich rich. These elements allowed Dickens to

create a character such as Bumble, who while being in a place of power and authority, does not

use it for the betterment of the impoverished and unfortunate. As a beadle, Bumble is in charge

of managing the poor, and yet he does not try to lift the impoverished out of their destitution.

Dickens even says that “ Mr. Bumble was a fat man” showing his opulence and removed state

from the impoverished individuals that are placed in his care. Additionally, when Bumble visits

the baby farm at the beginning of the novel to transfer Oliver to the workhouse, he is not

concerned with the filthy and inadequate conditions of farm, instead he is only concerned about

himself and his other ‘parochial’ needs:

“Do you think this respectful or proper conduct, Mrs. Mann,”

inquired Mr. Bumble, grasping his cane, “to keep the parish

officers a waiting at your garden-gate, when they come here upon

parochial business with the parochial orphans? Are you aweer,

Mrs. Mann, that you are, as I may say, a parochial delegate, and a

stipendiary?”

(Dickens 8)

Bumble continues to act in this way for the duration of the novel, displaying his selfish character

and incompetence, reflective of all the people in authority in Oliver Twist.

Dickens also spends a great deal of time during the novel criticizing the Christians of

Victorian England and the error of their ways. He is able to do this through the actions of
Bumble the beadle. A beadle was a minor church official who runs a parish and assists with

matters concerning the poor. Dickens uses Bumble’s occupation to point out how the Christians,

while they preach the Bible speaking of helping the poor, in reality leave the poor to fend for

themselves and die on the streets. In Chapter 4, Bumble recalls his experience of receiving a pin

that labeled him as a fugue resembling the Good Samaritan. However, Bumble then goes on to

refuse to help a poor salesman, who was seeking shelter and food, and that salesman died in the

cold.

'Yes, I think it rather pretty,' said the beadle, glancing

proudly downwards at the large brass buttons which embellished

his coat. 'The die is the same as the porochial seal--the Good

Samaritan healing the sick and bruised man. The board presented

it to me on Newyear's morning, Mr. Sowerberry. I put it on, I

remember, for the first time, to attend the inquest on that reduced

tradesman, who died in a doorway at midnight.'

'I recollect,' said the undertaker. 'The jury brought it in,

"Died from exposure to the cold, and want of the common

necessaries of life," didn't they?'

Mr. Bumble nodded.

(Dickens 23)

Not only is Dickens making Bumble a villainous character, but he is using the character of

Bumble to illustrate that all Christians of the time were like Bumble: Selfish, greedy, and

hypocrites.
 Another major theme of Oliver Twist is marriage. During the Victorian era many

marriages were primarily financial arrangements, especially for those from the working and

middle class. Furthermore, they were not based on love or romantic attraction or anything of that

nature. Dickens himself was in a loveless marriage in his life, and found satisfaction in a

relationship based on romance. Dickens clearly believed that marriage should be based on love

and romance and that the act of marriage should not have ulterior motives. As a result, Oliver

Twist has clear influences of Dickens’s opinions on marriage and romance. In all the marriages

of the novel, there is always a power imbalance between the two individuals, and none of the

marriages are based on love. Bumble’s nuptial endeavors are no different, as he courts and weds

a woman, Mrs. Corney, for financial and positional gain. Bumble's proposal is sparked by Mrs.

Corney's monetary riches when Bumble visits her in Chapter 23. He confirms that her dishware

is made of silver and that her outfit is of "great design and composition" (Dickens 153) as she

departs the room. He examines the condition of her belongings and discovers that her small

locked box contains cash. Bumble decides to marry Mrs. Corney solely for the apprehension of

material goods and not for any romantic or love-related reasons. The societal normatives in both

actual Victorian England and in the world of the novel that Dickens despised and wished to point

out are represented in Bumble’s journey through marriage and his motives for doing so, for they

are not based on love or romance but instead motivated by material incentives.

Charles Dickens is not the kind of author who taps you on the shoulder to show readers

that something is wrong in the world. Charles Dickens is the kind of author who sees something

wrong in the world, and beats readers over the head to let them know exactly what was wrong.

The main way that Dickens would do this was by taking the characters in his works, and making

them perform the actions that resembled injustices in real life. Bumble the beadle was a key
instrument in his practice in the novel Oliver Twist. Bumble exemplifies the inequalities,

prejudices, and villainy that existed in not just the world of Oliver Twist, but the world of

Dickens himself. Bumble represented the abuse of power by those in authority, the hypocrisy of

the Christian community, and monetary and material things being proponents of marriage.

Throughout the novel, Dickens wrote Bumble’s actions and words in a way that made him the

epitome of all that was wrong with English society. Bumble was not just evil, but he in fact

criticized others for being not “parochial” while he himself was not “parochial” several times. It

is for these reasons that Bumble represents everything Charles Dickens disliked in society and

the world in his own life, encapsulating the fundamental themes of Oliver Twist.