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Bill Sikes Character Analysis
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Bill Sikes Character Analysis
Read the original passage below, then answer the questions using evidence from it. The passage is a newly written summary of events in Oliver Twist, not a quotation from Dickens.
A dangerous man
Bill Sikes was a feared criminal in Victorian London. He was strong, quick to anger and used threats to make people obey him. Even his dog, Bull’s-eye, seemed wary of his master’s sudden moods. Sikes belonged to Fagin’s criminal circle, but he was not a clever planner: he relied on force and intimidation.
Nancy knew the danger of Sikes’s temper. Although she had grown up among criminals, she felt sympathy for Oliver, the child whom the gang had drawn into its schemes. When Nancy secretly helped Oliver, she risked Sikes’s anger. She tried to protect the boy, but Sikes saw her actions as betrayal and wanted to control her.
One night, Sikes confronted Nancy. His words and actions showed that he valued obedience more than her safety. He struck her, and she died. Dickens presents this violence as horrifying, not heroic. Sikes’s cruelty destroys the person who had shown courage and compassion. Afterwards, guilt and fear begin to haunt him. He tries to escape, but his choices have made him both hated and isolated.
1.Which phrase from the first paragraph best shows that Sikes controls people through fear?
- “he relied on force and intimidation”
- “Nancy knew the danger”
- “he belonged to Fagin’s criminal circle”
- “his dog, Bull’s-eye”
2.What does the detail that Bull’s-eye “seemed wary” of Sikes suggest about Sikes?
3.Why does Nancy risk helping Oliver, despite knowing that Sikes may become angry?
4.True or false? The passage presents Sikes’s violence as brave or admirable. Explain your choice using one detail.
5.Complete the sentence with a word from the passage: Sikes sees Nancy’s help for Oliver as .
6.How is Sikes’s method of dealing with problems different from being a “clever planner”? Use evidence from the first paragraph.
7.Find one contrast between Nancy and Sikes in the passage. Explain what the contrast reveals about their characters.
8.The passage says guilt and fear “begin to haunt” Sikes after Nancy’s death. What does “haunt” suggest about his feelings?
9.Does Sikes become more isolated as a result of his choices? Give one piece of evidence and explain how it supports your view.
10.Write a short character judgement about Bill Sikes. Include two adjectives and support each with a detail from the passage.
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