Oliver Twist · Character

Mr. Sowerberry

The parish undertaker who apprentices Oliver as a child's mute, a henpecked tradesman whose professional eye sees profit in a boy's melancholy face.

supporting

Also known as Sowerberry

First appearance: IV: Oliver, Being Offered Another Place, Makes His First Entry Into Public Life

As a supporting figure in Oliver Twist, Mr. Sowerberry is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The undertaker who takes Oliver as an apprentice; he jokes with Bumble about coffin profits and shows little concern for Oliver's welfare.

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Mr. Sowerberry takes Oliver from the workhouse as an apprentice and promptly reduces him to a walking advertisement, dressing him in black and putting him at children's funerals because his sad expression makes a 'superb effect.' He is timid before his sharp-tongued wife, deferential to Mr. Bumble, and entirely comfortable with the idea that a child's grief can be sold by the yard. His household is Oliver's first taste of the working world outside the parish — and of how readily respectable trades turn human misery into merchandise.

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See Mr. Sowerberry in IV: Oliver, Being Offered Another Place, Makes His First Entry Into Public Life

Character Web

16 connections

A slice of how Mr. Sowerberry sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Workhouse and parish officials
Protagonist
Fagin's criminal gang

+11 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

In this passage, the dramatic climax occurs when Rose Maylie, previously depicted as cheerful and in high spir…

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In the story

Mr. Sowerberry appears across 3 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

IV: Oliver, Being Offered Another Place, Makes His First Entry Into Public Life
The undertaker who takes Oliver as an apprentice; he jokes with Bumble about coffin profits and shows little concern for Oliver's welfare.
Oliver Mingles with New Associates. Going to a Funeral for the First Time, He Forms an Unfavourable Notion of His Master’s Business
Mr. Sowerberry takes Oliver on his first funeral job, showing a pragmatic attitude toward death and poverty.
Oliver, Being Goaded by the Taunts of Noah, Rouses Into Action, and Rather Astonishes Him
Mr. Sowerberry is absent during the altercation; his wife fears his reaction to Oliver's outburst.

Chapter companion notes

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See Mr. Sowerberry in IV: Oliver, Being Offered Another Place, Makes His First Entry Into Public Life