In early nineteenth century England, an anonymous woman dies in a workhouse, and her attendant, Mrs. Corney, steals her wedding ring. Because it then appears that the dead woman was unmarried, her infant son is given to the care of Bumble, the parish beadle, who names him Oliver Twist. On Oliver's ninth birthday, Bumble turns him over to the workhouse, where one afternoon, the hungry child asks for a second helping of gruel. Horrifed by Oliver's audacity, the workhouse superintendent decides that he will have to be given out as an apprentice, but Oliver takes matters into his own hands by running away to London. It is a long walk, and once in the big city, Oliver is glad to make the acquaintance of a friendly chap who calls himself "The Artful Dodger." Dodger promises Oliver food and lodging with a "kindly old man" and takes him to the attic dwelling of Fagin, who makes his living from the ill-gotten goods provided by the boys he has tutored in theft. Under the guise of teaching Oliver a game, Fagin trains the boy how to pick pockets, but on his first outing with Dodger and another of Fagin's boys, Charlie Bates, Oliver is apprehended. The victim is the wealthy Sidney Brownlow, who explains to the arresting officer that it was the other boys, not Oliver, who were responsible for the theft. Brownlow takes Oliver home, and while Oliver is enjoying tea with Brownlow and his niece, Rose Maylie, word reaches Fagin that Oliver has been nabbed. Fagin argues with his foul-tempered cohort, Bill Sikes, and Sikes's wife Nancy, over what to do about Oliver. Their problem is solved when Nancy finds Oliver, who has been sent by Brownlow to return some books after his friend, Grimwig, bet him that the child could not be trusted. Nancy takes Oliver back to Fagin but, touched by the boy's pleas, returns the books to Rose so that Oliver will not be thought a thief. Despite the danger to herself, Nancy agrees to meet with Brownlow and Rose again, but before she can, Oliver is shot when he is forced to help Sikes rob Brownlow's house. Oliver is not seriously wounded, and convalesces with Brownlow and Rose, who are able to meet Nancy a few weeks later. Nancy is followed by Charlie, however, and Fagin, who is jealous of Nancy's influence on Sikes, reveals her activities to Sikes. Sikes beats Nancy to death in a drunken rage, which prompts a police manhunt that ends in Sikes's death and Fagin's arrest as an accomplice to Nancy's murder. Oliver visits the now-insane Fagin in jail, and there Fagin gives him his mother's wedding ring, which was sold to him by Mrs. Corney. Oliver then shows Brownlow the ring, and by its inscription, Brownlow realizes that Oliver is the child of his beloved daughter Agnes, whom he drove away during a quarrel over her marriage. Overjoyed that Oliver is his grandson, Brownlow promises the happy boy that he will have a safe home forever.