Describe the personality of the Artful Dodger.

The Artful Dodger (or, by his true name, Jack Dawkins) is a character from the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. For generations of readers, he has become a beloved character despite being a disloyal thief and, in a way, the true villain of the book, as it is the Artful Dodger who persuades young Oliver to join Fagin's gang of child criminals.
As the leader of that operation of pickpockets, the Artful Dodger is portrayed somewhat as a man in a child's body. We read that he "was of a rather saturnine disposition, and seldom gave way to merriment when it interfered with business." In order to command the respect of the other young thieves—and of his insidious boss, Fagin—he tries very hard to come across as confident, mature, and grown up, even dressing in men's clothing (which end up looking quite comical on him). The impression he makes is well described in this sentence: "He was, altogether, as roistering and swaggering a young gentleman as ever stood four feet six, or something less."
However, despite his show of maturity, Jack Dawkins is in reality just a boy, and a rather cocky, audacious one at that. Our last glimpse of the Artful Dodger is when he is being kicked out of the country (presumably to Australia) for having been caught with a stolen silver snuff box. In the courtroom he cries out with indignation: "I am an Englishman; where are my privileges?" and generally makes as inconvenient a commotion as he can. Yet we read that, once out in the yard, he is now grinning with “great glee and self-approval," supremely pleased with his dramatic performance.
As the best of Fagin's gang of pickpockets, the Artful Dodger is very intelligent and quite cunning, and we know he is not a heartless boy. One example is his relationship with Oliver. Though their friendship ends badly, he is for a time very close to Oliver, and the Artful Dodger tries to teach the boy how to be a good thief (though with poor results). He also respects Fagin a great deal and shows implicit trust in him, giving Fagin everything he manages to steal.