Bill Sykes
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Bill Sikes is a fictional character in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
He is one of Dickens's most menacing characters and a very strong force in the novel when it comes to having control over somebody or harming others. He is portrayed as a rough and barbaric man. He is a career criminal associated with Fagin, and an eventual murderer. He is very violent and aggressive, prone to sudden bursts of extreme behaviour. He owns a bull terrier[citation needed] named Bull's Eye, whom he beats until the dog needs stitches.
Dickens describes his first appearance:
The man who growled out these words, was a stoutly-built fellow of about five-and-thirty, in a black velveteen coat, very soiled drab breeches, lace-up half boots, and grey cotton stockings which inclosed a bulky pair of legs, with large swelling calves;--the kind of legs, which in such costume, always look in an unfinished and incomplete state without a set of fetters to garnish them. He had a brown hat on his head, and a dirty belcher handkerchief round his neck: with the long frayed ends of which he smeared the beer from his face as he spoke. He disclosed, when he had done so, a broad heavy countenance with a beard of three days' growth, and two scowling eyes; one of which displayed various parti-coloured symptoms of having been recently damaged by a blow.
His prostitute[citation needed] girlfriend Nancy tolerates his violent and lawless behaviour, perhaps because she, being a thief since the age of six, needs stability in her life. When Sikes murders Nancy, thinking she has betrayed him, a mob hounds him through the streets of London until he accidentally hangs himself while trying to escape. The murder is especially gruesome, and is one of the most frightening scenes Dickens ever wrote.
Sikes does have some positive features: for instance, at the robbery in the countryside, Sikes could have left Oliver, but he picks him up and runs with him as far as he can. Also, after he kills Nancy, Sikes feels some remorse. Sikes lives in Bethnal Green and later moves to the squalid rookery area of London then called Jacob's Island, east of present-day Shad Thames.
Bill Sikes is also depicted in the Disney rendition of the story, the film Oliver & Company. In the film, Sykes is a cruel crime boss who owns two dobermans, Rosco and Desoto, and loaned money to Fagin. As the plot works out, Sykes expects Fagin to pay him within three days of his first appearance, and Fagin will pay with his life if he doesn't make due. Sykes' greed leads him to kidnapping when he abducts Jenny, the daughter of a wealthy New York family and owner of the kitten Oliver. Sykes' schemes are thwarted when Jenny is rescued by Oliver, Fagin, Dodger, and several other canine characters. Pursuing them insanely, he drives his limousine after them on a subway track, and is killed when a subway train rams into his car and reduces it to scrap, sending the rest into the river. Rosco and Desoto are likewise killed by electrocution when they fall onto the tracks behind the limo. In the 1968 film, he dies when a man shoots him with a pistol. Bill Sykes sometimes has his name spelled Bill Sikes, it is unclear which spelling is correct according to Mr. Dickens but 'Sykes' has gained more popularity.
[edit] Depiction on screen
Bill Sikes was played by Oliver Reed in the 1968 film version of Oliver!. In Disney's 1988 film Oliver and Company, Sikes is voiced by Robert Loggia. In the 1999 British television mini-series, he is played by Andy Serkis. In the 2005 film he is played by Jamie Foreman.
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| Characters: | Fagin | Bill Sikes | The Artful Dodger | Nancy Sikes | Rose Maylie |
| Film adaptions: | Oliver Twist (1948) | Oliver! | Oliver & Company | Oliver Twist (1997) | Twist | Boy called Twist | Oliver Twist (2005) |
| Other adaptions: | Oliver! | Fagin the Jew | Oliver Twist (TV miniseries) |
