# Mr. Bumble — Oliver Twist character guide > Mr. Bumble in Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Bumble, the beadle **First appearance:** 0000-i-treats-of-the-place-where-oliver-twist-was-born-and-of-the-circumstances-attending-his-birth ## Snapshot The parish beadle who wields his cane and his self-importance over the workhouse poor, mistaking cruelty for Christian discipline and paperwork for justice. ## Who they are As the parish's appointed enforcer, Bumble presides over Oliver's earliest miseries, from starvation rations to the apprenticeship that sends the boy to the undertaker's. He speaks of Oliver's mother with smug contempt and prescribes starvation as a cure for a child's spirit, revealing a man whose pomposity is matched only by his callousness. His petty tyranny sets the moral baseline against which every later kindness in the novel is measured. ## Relationships ### [Mrs. Maylie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters/mrs_maylie) _rivalry_ Mr. Bumble, as a pompous beadle, clashes with the benevolent Mrs. Maylie over Oliver's welfare. ### [Oliver Twist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters/oliver_twist) _rivalry_ Mr. Bumble is a cruel, self-important official who persecutes Oliver in the workhouse. ### [Mrs. Maylie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters/mrs_maylie) _rivalry_ Mr. Bumble, as a pompous beadle, clashes with the benevolent Mrs. Maylie over Oliver's welfare. ### [Oliver Twist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters/oliver_twist) _rivalry_ Mr. Bumble is a cruel, self-important official who persecutes Oliver in the workhouse. ### [Mrs. Maylie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters/mrs_maylie) _rivalry_ Mr. Bumble, as a pompous beadle, clashes with the benevolent Mrs. Maylie over Oliver's welfare. ### [Oliver Twist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters/oliver_twist) _rivalry_ Mr. Bumble is a cruel, self-important official who persecutes Oliver in the workhouse. ## In the story ### [II: Treats of Oliver Twist’s Growth, Education, and Board](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/ii-treats-of-oliver-twist-s-growth-education-and-board) The beadle who brings Oliver before the board and reports Oliver's request for more gruel. ### [Relates How Oliver Twist Was Very Near Getting a Place Which Would Not Have Been a Sinecure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/iii-relates-how-oliver-twist-was-very-near-getting-a-place-which-would-not-have-been-a-sinecure) Supervises Oliver's daily cold ablutions and floggings; shakes his head gloomily about Oliver's future. ### [IV: Oliver, Being Offered Another Place, Makes His First Entry Into Public Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/iv-oliver-being-offered-another-place-makes-his-first-entry-into-public-life) Mr. Bumble escorts Oliver to Mr. Sowerberry, displaying a stern demeanor but briefly showing astonishment at Oliver's emotional outburst. ### [Oliver, Being Goaded by the Taunts of Noah, Rouses Into Action, and Rather Astonishes Him](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/vi-oliver-being-goaded-by-the-taunts-of-noah-rouses-into-action-and-rather-astonishes-him) Mr. Bumble is summoned by Noah to deal with Oliver's outburst. ### [VII: Oliver Continues Refractory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/vii-oliver-continues-refractory) Bumble is alarmed by Noah's report and goes to the Sowerberrys' shop with his cane, intending to flog Oliver. ### [Oliver’s Destiny Continuing Unpropitious, Brings a Great Man to London to Injure His Reputation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/xvii-oliver-s-destiny-continuing-unpropitious-brings-a-great-man-to-london-to-injure-his-reputation) Travels to London to give a false account of Oliver's character to Mr. Brownlow. ### [Which Contains the Substance of a Pleasant Conversation Between Mr. Bumble and a Lady; and Shows That Even a Beadle May Be Susceptible on Some Points](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/xxiii-which-contains-the-substance-of-a-pleasant-conversation-between-mr-bumble-and-a-lady-and-shows-that-even-a-beadle-may-be-susceptible-on-some-points) Visits Mrs. Corney, discusses poor relief, and flirts with her over tea. ### [Chapter XXVII: Atones for the Unpoliteness of a Former Chapter; Which Deserted a Lady, Most Unceremoniously](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/xxvii-atones-for-the-unpoliteness-of-a-former-chapter-which-deserted-a-lady-most-unceremoniously) Displays possessive and opportunistic behavior toward Mrs. Corney, snooping through her belongings and deciding to marry her; later asserts authority over Noah and Charlotte. ### [XXXVII: In Which the Reader May Perceive a Contrast, Not Uncommon in Matrimonial Cases](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/xxxvii-in-which-the-reader-may-perceive-a-contrast-not-uncommon-in-matrimonial-cases) Now married to Mrs. Corney and master of the workhouse, he feels degraded and henpecked, lamenting his loss of authority and dignity. ### [XXXVIII: Containing an Account of What Passed Between Mr. and Mrs. Bumble, and Mr. Monks, at Their Nocturnal Interview](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/chapters/xxxviii-containing-an-account-of-what-passed-between-mr-and-mrs-bumble-and-mr-monks-at-their-nocturnal-interview) Accompanies his wife to a secret meeting with Monks, showing fear and loss of dignity. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters/mr_bumble - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/oliver_twist_se/characters