The Pickwick Papers · Character

Bob Sawyer

A loud, broke, and cheerfully disreputable medical student whose sandwich-and-brandy antics on a coach roof scandalize Pickwick and delight everyone else.

supporting

Also known as Mr. Bob Sawyer, Bob Sawyer, Bob, Sawyer, Mr. Sawyer

First appearance: ii

As a supporting figure in The Pickwick Papers, Bob Sawyer is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Medical student and friend of Allen, joins the breakfast and skating, collides with Winkle.

In the storyHow the Pickwickians made and cultivated the acquaintance of a couple of nice young men belonging to one of the liberal professions; how they disported themselves on the ice; and how their visit came to a conclusion.Open this moment free

See Bob Sawyer in How the Pickwickians made and cultivated the acquaintance of a couple of nice young men belonging to one of the liberal professions; how they disported themselves on the ice; and how their visit came to a conclusion.Book page

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Bob Sawyer is the novel's great engine of impropriety: a swaggering, impecunious surgeon-in-training who treats life as an ongoing joke at propriety's expense. His friendship with Ben Allen, his hopeless pursuit of Arabella, and his willingness to drink, howl, and wave a red flag from a chaise make him a comic foil to Pickwick's earnest dignity. He brings the medical-student underworld of London and Bristol into the book, and his schemes keep the middle chapters fizzing.

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The fuller portrait of Bob Sawyer sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Bob Sawyer in ii

Character Web

29 connections

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

Relationship types

Friendship
Other

Character groups

Pickwickians and associates
Ipswich and Bath characters
Servants and landladies
Protagonist

+24 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

This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it delivers the emotional and psychological peak of Sam Weller’…

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Relationships

Samuel Pickwick
friendship · positive
Bob Sawyer is a boisterous medical student and friend of Pickwick, known for his chaotic… How this plays out →
Benjamin Allen
friendship · positive
Samuel Pickwick
friendship · positive
Bob Sawyer is a boisterous medical student and friend of Pickwick, known for his chaotic… How this plays out →
Samuel Pickwick
friendship · positive
Bob Sawyer is a boisterous medical student and friend of Pickwick, known for his chaotic… How this plays out →
Benjamin Allen
friendship · positive
Benjamin Allen
friendship · positive

Samuel Pickwick
Bob Sawyer is a boisterous medical student and friend of Pickwick, known for his chaotic parties.
Benjamin Allen
Benjamin Allen is Bob Sawyer's close friend and fellow medical student, often sharing lodgings and escapades.
Samuel Pickwick
Bob Sawyer is a boisterous medical student and friend of Pickwick, known for his chaotic parties.
Samuel Pickwick
Bob Sawyer is a boisterous medical student and friend of Pickwick, known for his chaotic parties.
Benjamin Allen
Benjamin Allen is Bob Sawyer's close friend and fellow medical student, often sharing lodgings and escapades.
Benjamin Allen
Benjamin Allen is Bob Sawyer's close friend and fellow medical student, often sharing lodgings and escapades.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Bob Sawyer in ii

In the story

Bob Sawyer appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

How the Pickwickians made and cultivated the acquaintance of a couple of nice young men belonging to one of the liberal professions; how they disported themselves on the ice; and how their visit came to a conclusion.
Medical student and friend of Allen, joins the breakfast and skating, collides with Winkle.
A Bachelor's Party at Mr. Bob Sawyer's
Hosts the bachelor's party but is anxious about Mrs. Raddle's demands for payment.
How Mr. Winkle, when he stepped out of the frying-pan, walked gently and comfortably into the fire
Meets Winkle in Bristol, shows him his medical practice and its dubious advertising schemes.
Relates how Mr. Pickwick, with the assistance of Samuel Weller, essayed to soften the heart of Mr. Benjamin Allen, and to mollify the wrath of Mr. Robert Sawyer
Initially furious about losing Arabella, but after a drink he toasts the Winkles' happiness.
Chapter L
Acts boisterously during the journey and at Mr. Winkle Sr.'s house, performing practical jokes and making inappropriate advances toward the servant girl, much to Mr. Pickwick's dismay.
In which Mr. Pickwick encounters an old acquaintance—to which fortunate circumstance the reader is mainly indebted for matter of thrilling interest herein set down, concerning two great public men of might and power.
Bob Sawyer is present during the journey and the fight, feeling 'floored' by the weather and excitement, and later provokes the editors.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Bob Sawyer unlock in the free preview.

See Bob Sawyer in ii