Fagin

Uncommon card · No. 82691

Fagin () is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist. In the story, Fagin is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates among them) whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for shelter. A distinguishing trait is his constant and insincere use of the phrase "my dear" when addressing others. At the time of the novel, he is said by another character, Monks, to have already made criminals out of "scores" of children. Nancy, who is the lover of Bill Sikes (the novel's lead villain), is confirmed to be Fagin's former pupil. Originally depicted by Dickens as explicitly Jewish, Fagin is described in the novel’s preface as a "crafty old Jew" and a fence though Dickens downplayed the character’s Jewish background in later editions. Fagin is a confessed miser who, despite the wealth that he has acquired, does very little to improve the squalid lives of the children...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Joseph Clayton Clarke (1857-1937), Public domain