《雾都孤儿》积极的社会意义.docx

雾都孤儿积极的社会意义雾都孤儿积极的社会意义 摘要：雾都孤儿是查尔斯狄更斯的一部伟大的批判现实主义的小说。它以维多利亚为时代背景，主要反映了刚刚通过济贫法的英国社会最底层人民的生活，揭露了社会弊端与社会问题，带有很强的讽刺意义。 本文主要分析雾都孤儿的积极的社会意义。首先通过深入分析当时维多利亚的社会背景，揭露社会现实；随后与现代社会的现状作比较，论述小说给我们现代人的启发，以 雾都孤儿这部作品具有深远的社会至对整个社会发展带来的推动作用；从而得出结论，意义。 关键词：雾都孤儿 维多利亚时代 积极的 社会意义 The Progressive Social Significance of Oliver Twist Abstract The Progressive Social Significance ofOliver Twist Abstract Oliver Twist is one of Dickenss most famous novels of critical realism. Thenovel is set in Victorian Age which mainly reflects the life of citizens at the bottom ofsociety in England where the Poor Law had just been passed. With the exposure ofsocial shortcomings and problems the novel is written in strong irony. This paper mainly looks into the progressive significance of the OliverTwist. Atthe beginning the paper deeply analyzes the social background of the Victorian Ageand uncovers the social reality. Then through the comparison with the currentsituation of modern society the paper discusses the enlightenment which we get fromthe novel and even the impetus function to the development of the whole society.Finally a conclusion is drawn that Oliver Twist has a far-reaching social significance.Key words: Oliver Twist Victorian Age Progressive Social Significance Acknowledgements I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the people who have everhelped me in this paper. First and foremost my sincere thanks and appreciations go to my tutor for herguidance support and encouragement. During the process of writing she helped me alot in every aspect of my paper. It is her profound knowledge and insight andunderstanding that help me overcome difficulties master the writing skills and formmy own ideas. Without her assistance I would not have finished this paper. In addition I would like to thank my family who always support and encourageme. Their warm love gives me the confidence and the driving force. Finally I give my thanks to my dear friends and fellow students who havekindly provided me help courage and companionship during I was preparing mypaper. They really teach me a lot and I begin to know the value of the friendship. The Progressive Social Significance of Oliver Twist Introduction “I had perhaps the best subject I have ever thought of I have thrown my wholeheart and soul into Oliver. ” “I wished to show in littleOliver the principle of goodsurviving through every adverse circumstance and triumphing at last.”. Dickens oncewrote.1 Oliver Twist was Dickens second novel which marked the beginning ofDickens literary life. In the novel Dickens specifically described the terrible life ofthe people at the bottom of society. This novel was a vivid picture of social conditionof England. And it also exposed the cruelty of parish workhouse through depicting thelittle Oliver Twists childhood in it. In the novel Dickens pointed out the suffering ofthose poor people. He called readers attention to the social status of the orphan.Especially the exposure of the cruel treatment of those orphans in London in the novelis very impressive. Oliver Twist was a very serious literary work which was full of social problems.As a social novel the novel calls the publics attention to various contemporary evilsincluding the Poor Law that stated that poor people should work in workhouses childlabor and the recruitment of children as criminals. In Oliver Twist Dickens mixes grim realism and merciless satire as a way todescribe the effects of industrialism on 19th-century England and to criticize the harshNew Poor Laws. Dickens also makes a social commentary in the novel attacking thehypocrisy and flaws of institutions including the societys government the laws andcriminal system and its methods of dealing with poor people. At the same timeDickens points out the suffering inflicted by these systems and their deep injustice. Even in the modern society such kind of unequal phenomenon can also befound. The social reality and the realistic pictures of the horrible life of the poor 1people inspire most of the readers to deeply think about the social reform which caneliminate the inequality and discrimination. And especially its social significance was very important for the citizens wholive in the modern society of 21st century. So this paper through the deep analysis ofsocial reality in Victorian Age and the modern society mainly talks about theprogressive social significance of Oliver Twist. 2 I. A General Introduction to the Author Charles DickensA. Life Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February7th 1812 at 13 Mile EndTerrace Portsmouth England. He was the second child and first son of John Dickenswho was an assistant clerk in the Navy Pay Office. But his father had spent too muchmoney in entertaining and at the same time the household expenses were rising. So in1824 he was imprisoned for debt when Dickens was very young. And his familyjoined him in the Marshal Sea Prison except Dickens who was put to work at ablacking warehouse when he was just twelve. He worked at the scanty wage of 6shillings a week. He lived in a boarding house in Camden Town and walked to workeveryday and visited his father on Sundays. Thus he had a sense of having beenabandoned by his family. And this was the unhappy time of all his life. After his fatherwas released he was further wounded by his mothers insistence that he continue towork at the factory. His unhappy experience at the Blacking Factory haunted him allhis life and he spoke of it only to his wife and to his closest friend.B. Writing Career Between 1824 and 1827 Dickens was a day pupil at a school in London. Atfifteen he found a job as an office boy at an attorneys while he studied shorthand atnight. And this qualified him to begin working as a Parliamentary reporter for anewspaper. This job was the beginning of his career of becoming a writer. During thattime he published several sketches in magazines including the two-volume edition ofSketches by Boz which were very popular. But it was not until he wrote The PickwickPapers in 1836-1837 that he achieved the true success. The Pickwick Papers waspublished in monthly installments and sold over forty thousand copies for each issue. 3 From 1838 to1841 appeared Oliver Twist Nicholas Nickleby The Old CuriosityShop and Barnaby Rudge. These were Dickens early work. In 1842 Dickens made atrip to America and his unfavorable impressions of the life in the U.S.A. werereflected in American Notes and Martin Chuzzleuit. In 1843 Dickens published oneof his most famous works A Christmas Carol. Since 1844 he had spent much time inthe European Continent especially in France and Italy. The great social movements inthe middle of the 19th century inspired Dickens famous novels of social criticismDavid Copperfield Bleak House Hard Times and Little Dorrit. At the same time hewas editing Household Words 1852-1859 the Entire Year Round1859-1870 twoweekly magazines. Dickens was widely read in Europe and in 1858 he set off on a tour of publicreadings. In 1859 he published his historical novel of the French Revolution A Taleof Two Cities which were followed by some novels on contemporary themes GreatExpectations and Our Mutual Friend. During his lifetime Dickens was known all over the world for his remarkablecharacters his mastery of prose in the telling of the common peoples lives and hisdepictions of the social classes and his exposure of dark sides of the society. And hewas also a spokesman for the poor. Dickens health started deteriorating in the 1860s. On June 9 1870 CharlesDickens died and was buried in the Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey. He hadwritten fifteen substantial novels and countless short pieces except The Mystery ofEdwin Drood which was unfinished at the time of his death. And his tomb inscribedthus: “He was a sympathizer to the poor the suffering and the oppressed and by hisdeath one of Englands greatest writers is lost to the world.”C. Writing Style Dickens is a great humanitarian. He shows the sympathy for different class ofcitizens who suffer the misery of social inequality. And he demonstrates the peoples 4kind and beautiful soul in the novel. Meantime Dickens ruthlessly exposes the darkreality and depicts social evils as well as the abuse and corruption of the Englishparliamentary system. Besides the exposure and condemnations Dickens also showsthe concern for the plight of the common the poor and the oppressed people andfeels the hatred for the exploitation of the upper class. However in the conflictedworld of the good and the evil he always adds the hope of future to the world so thatthe reader could have the impression of the moral purity: He sees life from the point of view of the poor of a great city. He shows great concern about social problems supports all proposals for social reform advocates an increase of democracy in all spheres of life and champions the cause of the oppressed. Dickens maintains an unbroken faith in people with an entire pessimism as to capitalist society. His love for the working people is deep and sincere.2 In the aspect of art Dickens is an expert in the satire and the humor. He is goodat portraying the main feature by the way of irony humor and exaggeration so thatmost of the characters in his novels can leave unforgettable impression on the readersmind. Also he is a remarkable master of language. Dickens has a large amount ofvocabulary and the astonishing skills of controlling language. All the characters hedepicts usually have certain peculiarities in appearance or in the style of speaking.And it is these peculiarities that make them vivid and alive. 5 II. A Brief Introduction to the Novel Oliver TwistA. General Outline of the Novel Oliver Twist is one of Dickenss most well-known works of critical realism. Theevent in the story mainly happened in England in the 19th century. Oliver Twist is born into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse. Hismother whose name no one knows is found on the street and dies just after Oliversbirth. Then he is sent to a workhouse where he is poorly fed and mistreated. At theworkhouse he asks for more food by making a very famous request “Please sir Iwant some more. And this behavior leads him into a big trouble. After that Mr.Bumble the parish beadle decides to give five pounds to anyone who would takeOliver as an apprentice. Later Mr. Sowerberry an undertaker comes to take Oliverinto his service. He treats Oliver better but his wife dislikes Oliver and alwaysmistreats him. What is worse he suffers torment from the Noah Clay pole and fellowappetence and Charlotte the Sowerberrys maid servant. One day because of thesevere insults and the abuse he runs away. Then he comes to the London. Through seven days of walking he is veryexhausted and starved. Then he encounters Jack Dawkins a boy his own age. Jackoffers him shelter in the London house of an old man Fagin. And then the innocentOliver Twist falls into a gang of pickpockets led by Fagin. And the other chiefmembers are the burglar Bill Sikes his mistress Nancy and the Artful Doger a youngpickpocket. They teach Oliver to pickpocket and make every effort to convert Oliverinto a thief. After a few days of training Oliver is sent on a pick pocketing missionwith two other boys. When he sees them pick a handkerchief from an elderlygentleman he is horrified and runs away. Then he is caught but narrowly escapesbeing convicted of the theft. Mr. Brownlow the man whose handkerchief was stolen 6takes Oliver to his home and takes good care of him. But the two members of Fagingangs Bill Sikes and Nancy catch him again and make him join them once again. A mysterious person named Monks has a special interest in Oliver and keepshim in the gang so that Oliver could become a criminal. Then Oliver is forced toparticipate in a task of burgling with Bill Sikes. But in the process of burgling OliverTwist is shot by a servant of the house and is seriously wounded by the gun-shot.Then he is taken in by the women who live there Mrs. Maylie and her beautifuladopted niece Rose. They grow fond of Oliver and Oliver spends a happy summerwith them. But Fagin and Monks are planning to recapture Oliver. After a time when the Mayflies come to London the mistress Nancy comes tovisit Miss Rose secretly and informs her of Monks plot. But a member of F.