Oliver Twist, Chapter 52 summary
Chapter 52 of 53 · 13 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 52, Fagin receives a death sentence and spends his remaining hours in terror, while crowds eagerly await his execution. Mr. Brownlow brings Oliver to question him about Monks’s papers; Fagin reveals their hiding place but mistakes Oliver for a possible means of escape and resists their departure.
What happens
- The jury finds Fagin guilty, the crowd celebrates, and the judge sentences him to death.
- Alone in his cell, Fagin recalls other condemned men and becomes increasingly terrified of hanging.
- He rejects religious visitors, and his distress becomes so extreme that two attendants watch him together.
- Mr. Brownlow and Oliver enter Newgate while workers prepare the scaffold.
- Fagin tells Oliver where Monks’s papers are hidden, but ignores his plea to kneel and pray.
- Attendants separate Fagin from Oliver; the visitors emerge at dawn to find a lively crowd around the scaffold.
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Oliver Twist, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Start freeNothing to pay today. USD 0.14 a day in the first year, then USD 0.27 a day.
In this chapter
What to notice
Oliver responds to Fagin’s terror with pity and prayer. His response contrasts with the crowd’s eagerness to see Fagin die.
Quick check
Where does Fagin say Monks’s papers are hidden?
Free for 3 months
Get the full summary of Oliver Twist, free
- 200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
- Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan
Start freeNothing to pay today. USD 0.14 a day in the first year, then USD 0.27 a day.
200,000+ classics to read, hear and hold
15-minute summaries today, eBooks and audiobooks as each book opens, and printed books, large print included, at cost.
Try 3 months free
