The criminal leader in Oliver Twist is Fagin. He is a receiver of stolen goods and the manipulative organizer of a gang of child thieves in Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel.
Fagin recruits and trains boys in London, including the Artful Dodger and Oliver Twist, teaching them to pick pockets. Dickens portrays him as a corrupting influence who exploits vulnerable children rather than as a conventional mastermind with a legitimate organization.
A common mix-up is Bill Sikes, another criminal in the novel. Sikes is a violent adult thief and burglar, while Fagin directs the younger pickpockets and profits from their crimes. Monks is Oliver’s secret half-brother and enemy, and Mr. Bumble is the parish beadle who helps place Oliver in the workhouse.
The character’s name became associated with a Jewish stereotype, and Dickens later softened some of the novel’s Jewish caricature after receiving criticism from Jewish readers.