OLIVER ASKS FOR MORE

Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse. His mother, a young woman, lay ill in bed. A doctor and an old woman
stood by her side. She lifted her head from the pillow.

"Let me see the child and die". She said

"Oh, you mustn't talk about dying yet," said the doctor.

"No dear," said the old woman. "You are too young to die".

i) What is a workhouse?

ii) Why was Oliver Twist born in workhouse?

iii) What is known about Oliver's mother?

iv) What did Oliver's mother do taking the child in her arms?

v) What did the doctor discover about Oliver's mother?

Ans.

i) A workhouse is the house of the poor people who have no money and nowhere to go. Life in a workhouse is
torturous in the sense that children living there are almost forced to starve. The food offered to them hardly
satisfies their hunger and it is considered audacious for them to request more. Children are brutally terrorised
and punished in the workhouse which seems be a hell on earth.

ii) Oliver's mother was brought in the workhouse as she was found lying in the street. She was thus, delivered in
the workhouse and Oliver was born there.

iii) Oliver's mother was a young, "good-looking girl," who was found lying in the street and brought into the
workhouse. The old woman attending her, lets know the fact that perhaps the young woman was worn out from
a long walk. Nobody knows where she comes from and what her name is. The woman however gives birth to a
male child in the workhouse and dies before she could barely kiss the infant.

iv) Oliver's mother pleads with the doctor to let her see the child before she dies. She stretches out her hand
"towards the child" and the doctor puts the child in her arms. The young woman thrusts her white lips upon the
child's face and dies within moment.

v) After she dies, the doctor raises the woman's left hand. Observing minutely he concludes that she was
unmarried since there was no ring on her finger.
No one was able to discover who the baby's father was, or what his mother's name was. Mr. Bumble, an
important officer in the town, invented a name for the baby. He chose the name Oliver Twist.

i) What did the old woman do to Oliver after the doctor heads homewards?

ii) What do you know about Oliver's parentage?

iii) Who was Mr. Bumble? What do you know about him?

iv) How names are given to the infants of the workhouse?

v) What were the names given to the child who came before and after Oliver Twist?

Ans.

i) After the doctor leaves for home, the old woman sits down on the chair in front of the fireplace and starts
dressing the new born Oliver. In workhouse however, new born babies are dressed in old clothes. Oliver too is
dressed in very old clothes by the old woman.

ii) Nothing is known about Oliver's parents. Only we see his mother dying immediately after she gives birth to
Oliver. Where she comes from is not known to anyone and her name remains unknown too. As for Oliver's
father, there is no information about him.

iii) Mr. Bumble is an ‘important officer in the town". He is cruel, tyrannical and full of hatred for Oliver . Mr.
Bumble shows up when Oliver demands for more soup. Stunned with the child’s audacity, he imprisons Oliver
in a ‘cold, dark room for a whole week.’ Every morning he would beat the child when taken out to wash. In the
hall however Mr. Bumble beats Oliver up before all the children. This establishes the inhumanity of Mr.
Bumble who even put a notice ‘on the workhouse gate’ to let know all around that five pound will be offered to
‘anybody who would take Oliver Twist’. Mr. Bumble is thus, a ruthless picture of a human without humanity.

iv) Infants in the workhouse are named alphabetically. Mr. Bumble explains that the one who came before
Oliver was named Swubble. Next, It is Oliver Twist and the one who will come after Oliver will be named
Unwin. The alphabetical order is thus maintained with S, T and U respectively.

v) The child who came just before Oliver was named Swubble. The one who will come after Oliver is decided
to be named Unwin, says Mr. Bumble.
One day Oliver and his friends decided that one boy would walk up to the master after supper and ask for more
soup. Oliver was chosen.

In the evening, the boys sat down at the tables. The master stood by the pot, and the soup was served. It
disappeared quickly. The boys whispered and made signs to Oliver. He stood up from the table and went to the
master, with his bowl and spoon in his hands.

i) How did Oliver look like at the age of nine? Why?

ii) What food is given to the children in the workhouse?

iii) Why the bowls never needed washing?

iv) What was decided among the children?

v) What did Oliver do at last?

Ans.

i) At the age of nine, Oliver looked pale and thin as if acutely suffering from malnutrition. In fact, all the
children in the workhouse are in same condition like Oliver, since they are all deprived of warm clothes and
sufficient food.

ii) Children in the workhouse are given only three meals of thin soup every day. On Sundays however, they are
given small piece of bread. Asking for more soup or bread is considered an offense and is rewarded with severe
punishment.

iii) In the workhouse, children are offered soup which barely satiates their hunger. Hence, they continue
scooping out with their spoon, drops of soup clung to their bowls. The bowls however glitter with no stain and
thus, require no washing..

iv) Since the soup served to the children is hardly enough to satisfy their hunger, they thus, decide to ask for
more. Oliver however was appointed to ask for more soup from the master.

v) In the evening, when the boys were given soup, Oliver suddenly leaps up from the table, walks straight up to
the master with bowl and spoon in his hands and demands for more soup. He almost begs to the master for
"more soup" which hardly melts the heart of the unkind man.
The master hit Oliver with his spoon, then seized him and cried for help. Mr. Bumble rushed into the room and
the master told him what Oliver had said.

"He asked for more?" Mr Bumble cried. "I cannot believe it."

i) How does Dickens create a contrasting image of the master with Oliver?

ii) What did the master do when Oliver asked for more?

iii) What did Mr. Bumble do hearing that Oliver asked for more?

iv) Why was Mr. Bumble angry with Oliver?

v) What impression of Mr. Bumble do you form based on his conduct?

Ans.

i) A contrasting image of the master with Oliver is created by Dickens to establish the gulf between the
privilege and the under privilege class of the nineteenth century London society. The master however is
described as "fat" and "healthy man". On the contrary, Oliver is "pale" and "thin" which indicate that like other
children in the workhouse he also suffers from acute malnutrition.

ii) The master is at once surprised with the audacity of Oliver who dares to ask more soup. He hits Oliver with
his spoon and then cries for help. The master's desperate cry for help goads Mr. Bumble to rush into the room
and further bully the unfortunate Oliver.

iii) Mr. Bumble shows up at once the master calls for help. Stunned with the child's audacity to ask for more
soup, Mr. Bumble immediately locks Oliver in a ‘cold, dark room for a whole week.’ Even he puts a notice on
the gate of the workhouse to let know all that five pound will be offered to ‘anybody who would take Oliver
Twist’. Moreover, every morning when Oliver is taken out for wash, Mr. Bumble beat him with a stick. In the
hall however where the boys are given soup, Mr. Bumble further beats him up before all.

iv) Mr. Bumble an ill-tempered man, consider it as an offense to ask for more food. Hence, when Oliver
demands for more soup he becomes angry and tortures the boy inhumanly. Mr. Bumble's anger suggests how
the master class brutally treats the underprivileged class by denying even the minimum needs of life.

v) Mr. Bumble is an ‘important officer in the town". He is horribly cruel, tyrannical and full of hatred for
Oliver. He imprisons Oliver in a cold and dark room immediately after he learns that the boy asked for more
soup from the master. Every morning when the boy is taken out for wash, Mr. Bumble beats him cruelly with
his stick. Moreover, in the hall too Mr. Bumble beats Oliver up before all the children. This establishes the
inhumanity of Mr. Bumble who even put a notice ‘on the workhouse gate’ to let know all around that five
pound will be offered to ‘anybody who would take Oliver Twist’. Mr. Bumble is thus, a ruthless picture of a
human without humanity.