Oliver Twist????

Question

Who is Monks in Oliver Twist?
When does he come in, in the story?
What roll does he play?

Answer 1

The mysterious Monks, revealed to be Oliver's half brother, teams up with Fagin in an attempt to recapture Oliver and lead him into a life of crime thereby negating the unknowing Oliver's claim to his rightful inheritance which would then go to Monks.

Sike's woman, Nancy, having compassion for Oliver, overhears Fagin and Monk's plan and tells Rose Maylie in the hope of thwarting the plan. Rose recruits Mr. Brownlow, Dr. Losberne, and others.

Bumble the beadle has married the matron of the workhouse, Mrs. Corney. The former Mrs. Corney, attending the death of Old Sally, has taken the locket and ring that Sally had taken from Oliver's mother on her deathbed. Monks buys this locket and ring from the Bumbles hoping that in destroying it that Oliver's true identity will remain hidden.

Mr. Brownlow and Rose Maylie meet Nancy on London Bridge and she tells them where to find Monks. Fagin has had Nancy followed and, enraged, tells Sikes that Nancy has betrayed them. Sikes brutally murders Nancy and flees to the country.

Monks is taken by Mr. Brownlow. Fagin is captured and sentenced to be hung. Sikes, with a mob on his tail, accidentally hangs himself trying to escape. The Bumbles are relieved of their position at the workhouse, become paupers, and are now inmates at the same workhouse they once managed.

Oliver is revealed to be the illegitimate son of Edwin Leeford and Agnes Fleming. Leeford has fathered the evil Edward (Monks) through a failed former marriage. After seducing Agnes, Edwin dies, leaving a will which states that the unborn child will inherit his estate if "in his minority he should never have stained his name with any public act of dishonor, meanness, cowardice, or wrong" in the event of which all would go to Edward (Monks), hence Monk's attempt to corrupt Oliver via Fagin.

Monks is given half of Oliver's inheritance by Mr. Brownlow, who had been a friend of Edwin Leeford, in the hope that he will start a new life. Monks flees to America where he quickly squanders his portion and dies in prison. Rose Maylie is revealed to be the sister of Agnes Fleming who is adopted by the Maylies after her parents die, therefore Rose is Oliver's aunt."


"Monks is a dark, sinister figure who lurks menacingly in the background during much of the novel, a disaster waiting to happen. He sometimes appears without warning or identification. He is able to exercise much control over Fagin through his power to exploit the wily old thief’s avarice. In any event, Fagin seems to fear Monks more than he does Bill Sikes. Monks typifies a kind of festering evil that works under the surface, manipulating the more obvious criminal types such as Fagin and his cohorts to do the actual dirty work and take the risks.

In Monks, we see another demonstration of the unsettling effects of an evil environment. In spite of an evidently comfortable background, he is a product of ill-will. The effect of this environment—particularly the moody, suspicious-natured influence of his mother—warps him in childhood to the point where his character is twisted for the remainder of his life. Monks forcefully illustrates that more than poverty is required to injure the human spirit; the absence of benevolence and affection are bound to have a controlling effect."

He comes into the story in an important way in Chapter 25

Answer 2

Why don't you read the book?