Oliver Learns the Pickpocket's Game

After breakfast, Fagin and the boys play a curious game in which Fagin pretends to be a gentleman walking down the street, and the Dodger and Charley Bates practice picking his pockets without his knowledge. Oliver, finding the game amusing, laughs heartily. Fagin then teaches Oliver how to remove a handkerchief from his own pocket without being felt. Oliver, still innocent of the game's true purpose, learns the basic mechanics of pickpocketing. This training is a crucial step in Fagin's plan to corrupt Oliver and turn him into a thief.