Fagin

Fagin, fictional character, one of the villains in Charles Dickens’s novel Oliver Twist (1837–39) and one of the most notorious anti-Semitic portraits in English literature. Fagin is an old man in London who teaches young homeless boys how to be pickpockets and then fences their stolen goods. Although a miser and exploiter, he shows a certain loyalty and solicitude toward the boys. The Artful Dodger is one of Fagin’s thieves and, for a time, so...