Mr. Bumble

“

What have paupers to do with soul or spirit? It's quite enough we let 'em have live bodies. If you had kept the boy on gruel, ma'am, this would never have happened!

”

Mr. Bumble
Vital statistics
Gender	Male
Ethnicity	White British
Age	Around 40s
Position	Parish Beadle
Family	Mrs. Corney (spouse)
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	James A. Marcus(1922) Lionel Belmore(1933) Francis L. Sullivan(1948) Willoughby Goddard(1962) Harry Secombe(1968) Ronald Long(1972) Timothy West(1982) Godfrey James(1985) Anthony Finigan(1997) David Ros(1999) Jeremy Swift(2005) Richard Ridings(2015-2016)

Mr. Bumble, fictional character in the novel Oliver Twist (1837–39) by Charles Dickens. Mr. Bumble is the cruel, pompous and ignorant beadle of the workhouse where the orphaned Oliver is raised. Bumbledom, named after him, characterizes the meddlesome self-importance of the petty bureaucrat. He also is an unlikely source of comic relief, in his mangling of the English language, as well as in his incompetence, and in the cowardice he displays in the face of anyone who stands up to him, even Oliver.

Dealing with Oliver Twist

At the beginning of the book, Mr. Bumble is the beadle of the unnamed town where Oliver Twist is born at the workhouse that he lords over. As his mother dies without naming him or leaving any clue as to her identity (we learn later she had a gold locket and ring stolen by the nurse Old Sally), Mr. Bumble invents Oliver's name for him, having his own naming system for foundlings abandoned to the workhouse. Afterwards, he transfers the infant Oliver to a baby farm, or juvenile workhouse, then takes him back to the main workhouse when the boy turns 9 years old. Mr. Bumble is depicted throughout the book to be a cruel

Painting of Mr. Bumble and Oliver Twist

and arrogant man, who often speaks highly about his position in lording over the "ungrateful" poor, displaying his ignorance in his constant abuse of the English language. Mr. Bumble is also often seen threatening and bullying Oliver, particularly after the hapless orphan's request for more gruel. He does rarely show a softer side, as when Oliver almost breaks down in tears when he first brings him to the Sowerberries, but it only lasts for a moment. Like most bullies, Mr. Bumble is a coward, as first indicated when Oliver stands up to him for the first time; he has no idea how to respond at first. After Oliver runs away from the Sowerberries, Mr. Bumble is not heard from again in the story for a time. Then when Oliver is kidnapped by Fagin's gang, Mr. Bumble reappears coming to London to testify against a complaint by dissatisfied parishioners against his parish. While there, he finds a newspaper advertisement from Mr. Brownlow asking information about Oliver Twist's whereabouts with the offer of 5 guineas in remuneration. At a glance, Mr. Bumble goes to Mr. Brownlow's home and gives him a biased and false account about Oliver's past, successfully making him believe that the boy is a liar and a thief. 

Marriage

After some time, Mr. Bumble is promoted to master of the workhouse as he marries the workhouse matron, Mrs. Corney, a tyrannical woman who completely dominates and humiliates him. After one particularly violent confrontation between the unhappy couple, Mr. Bumble walks over to a pub where he meets Monks, who questions him about Oliver. Smelling money, Mr. Bumble informs Monks that he knows someone who can give Monks more information for a price, who turns out to be his wife who has been with Old Sally at the time of her recent death. Later Monks meets secretly with the Bumbles, and after Mrs. Bumble has told Monks all she knows, the three arrange to have the locket and ring which had once belonged to Oliver's mother tossed into a nearby river. Monks relates this to Fagin afterwards as they plot to destroy Oliver, unaware that Nancy is eavesdropping on their conversation. She goes ahead to inform Oliver's benefactors of what she has learned, an act which costs her her life. As a result of the Bumbles' involvement in Monks' plot being exposed, they lose their jobs and become paupers in the same workhouse where they once inflicted such damage and unhappiness. When last heard of, Mr. Bumble was said to be so depressed to even feel gratitude for being separated from his wife (as men and women in the workhouse were not allowed to fraternize, even couples).

Quotes

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Gallery