Oliver Runs Away to London

After being locked in the cellar and later beaten by Mr. Sowerberry, Oliver is left alone in the dark workshop. Overwhelmed by misery and a sense of injustice, he decides to run away. He packs his few belongings and, at the first light of dawn, slips out of the house and into the open street. He walks towards London, the great city where he believes he can disappear and find a better life. Before leaving, he stops to say goodbye to his friend Dick, a sickly boy from the workhouse who gives him his blessing. This event sets the entire main plot of the novel in motion.