Asked by k.

Literary Text: from Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
Read the excerpt from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Then, answer the following question(s).


What does the narrator mean in saying, “there was considerable difficulty in inducing Oliver to take upon himself the office of respiration”?
A. Oliver was crying loudly.
B. Oliver was missing his grandmother and his aunts.
C. Oliver was not breathing at first.
D. Oliver did not want to be in a workhouse.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
C. Oliver was not breathing at first.

The narrator uses a formal, ironic phrase: "take upon himself the office of respiration" means to begin breathing — the newborn Oliver initially did not breathe.