An Analysis of the Main Characters of Oliver Twist英语毕业论文.doc

An Analysis of the Main Characters of Oliver Twist1. Introduction1.1 A brief introduction to the authorCharles Dickens was born in Land port , Hampshire, on February 7,1812 His father, John Dickens, was a clerk in the Navy pay office , but he was an extravagant spender, and could not make both ends meet .when Charles was nine years old, his family moved to London. There his father fell into debt, and was thrown into the poor-debtors prison .At eleven years of age the boy was taken out of school and sent to earn his living in a blacking factory, Afterwards a small legacy brought the father out of prison, and Charles was sent to school once more. At WellingtonHouseAcademy he learned little, but he laid by a store of material for future use .At fifteen he left school and went to work as clerk in a lawyers office. In his spare time he studied shorthand and visited the BritishMuseum library, where he did much reading .At the age of nineteen he became a Parliamentary reporter. From his early years he formed the habit of roaming London foot, often a dozen or more miles a day, or preferably at night, observing the life of the poor and oppressed. He knew that suffering meant. Although his life he was to keep his sympathy for the poor. Dickens is the outstanding representative of English critical realism.1.2 A brief introduction to the novel Oliver Twist, one of the most famous works of Charles Dickens, is a novel reflecting the tragic fact of the life in 19th century. The author who himself was born in a poor family wrote his twenties with a view to reveal the ugly masks of those cruel criminals and to expose the horror and violence hidden underneath the narrow and dirty streets in London.Oliver is a boy born in a workhouse, who has no idea of his parents identity. His mother Agnes died in childbirth. By pure chance he is chosen as a scapegoat by the other starving boys, and is made to go and ask for an extra helping at a mealtime. As a result of this breach of etiquette, he is “sold” by the workhouse as an undertakers apprentice. The cruelty he suffers at the hands of an older apprentice named Noah Claypole causes him to run away, and he finds his way to London, where he is taken under the wing of the Artful Dodger, a boy criminal. The Dodger introduces Oliver into his circle friends, who include Fagin the Jew, a criminal mastermind, and his brutal ally, Bill Sikes. Oliver is taught crimes such as picking pockets, but never actually participates in them. He is shown kindness by Bills 17-year-old mistress, Nancy. After a robbery that goes wrong, in which Oliver played the part of an unwitting lookout, he is taken into the home of a wealthy man, Mr. Brownlow. Unknown to them, effects are being made by Olivers half-brother, Monks, to locate him and prevent him from obtaining his inheritance, but Mr. Brownlow soon begins to suspect that Oliver is the son of his niece. Sikes and Nancy snatch Oliver back, and Sikes takes him on a burglary, planning to get him a criminal record as a favor to Monks .But Oliver is left behind when the burglary goes wrong, and is adopted into the home of Rose Maylie .Ultimately he is restored to Mr.Brownlow. Meanwhile, Monks and Fagin are plotting to try to go after Oliver again and either kidnap him or kill him. Nancy is fearful of such a scenario and goes to Rose Maylie and Mr.Brownlow to divulge the plot of the evil pair .She manages to keep her secret meetings hidden until Noah Claypole agrees to spy on Nancy and then gives information to Fagin and Sikes. In a fit of rage, Sikes murders Nancy and by getting hanged while being pursued by an angry mob. Monks is forced to explain his secrets and give half of his inheritance to Oliver, and soon moves to America afterwards, where he quickly spends his money, reverts to criminal activities and ultimately dies in prison. Fagin is arrested and hanged for his crimes. Oliver lives happily with his saviors, Mr. Brownlow.2. An Analysis of the positive characters2.1. OliverThe hero of this novel was Oliver Twist, an orphan, who was thrown into a world full of poverty and crime. In spite of the fact that he was born and brought up in the workhouse and suffered enormous pain, such as hunger, thirst, beating and abuse. He remain wants to be loved. Oliver is not a believable character, although he was raised in corrupt surroundings, his purity and virtues were absolute. Throughout the novel, Dickens use Olivers character to challenge the Victorian idea that paupers and criminals are already evil at birth, arguing instead that a corrupt environment is the source of vice. At the same time, Olivers incorruptibility undermines some of Dickenss assertions. Oliver is shocked and horrified when he sees the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates pick a strangers pocket and again when he is forced to participate in a burglary. Olivers moral scruples about the sanctity of property seem inborn in him, just as Dickenss opponents thought that corruption is inborn in poor people. Furthermore, other people children use rough Cockney slang, but Oliver, oddly enough, speaks in proper Kings English. His grammatical fastidiousness is also inexplicable, as Oliver presumably is not well-educated. Even when he is abused and manipulated. Oliver does not present a complex picture of a person torn between good and evil-instead, he is goodness incarnate.Even if we might feel that Dickenss social criticism would have been more effective if he had focused on a more complex poor character, like the Artful Dodger or Nancy, the readers for whom Dickens was writing might not have been receptive to such a portrayal. Dickenss Victorian middle-class readers were likely to hold opinions on the poor that were only a little less extreme than those expressed by Mr. Bumble, the beadle who treats paupers with great cruelty. In fact, Oliver Twist was criticized for portraying thieves and prostitutes at all. Given the strict morals of Dickenss readers, it may have seemed necessary for him to make Oliver a saint like figure. Because Oliver appealed to Victorian readers sentiments, his story may have stood a better chance of effectively challenging their prejudices.2.2. Mr. Brownlow.As most of the authors characters, Mr.Brownlow too, is brought out with an indirect presentation but it is not long after introducing him that his wholesome goodness is revealed to us. Though at first he accuses Oliver of the thief, his concern over Olivers welfare on the street is a direct hint of his innocence which successfully helps him convince Oliver to board at his house. A generous and trusting man he was, perhaps too good a man to be true; but with all the malicious characters in the story, a heroic and pure persona was needed to ensure a happy ending, with honesty and great wealth as his prime qualities, he assists Oliver in his times of need and demonstrates to society with an exemplary touch, the attributes of a perfect citizen. As the positive extreme in both social status and benevolence, Mr.Brownlow is a definite aid in the development of the theme throughout the novel.2.3 NancyNancy, for us, must be the weakest character. A major concern of Oliver Twist is the question of whether a bad environment can irrevocably poison someones character and soul. As the novel progresses, the character who best illustrates the contradictory issues brought up by that question is Nancy. As a child of the streets, Nancy has been a thief and drinks to excess. She is immersed in the vices condemned by her society, but she also commits perhaps the noblest act in the novel when she sacrifices her own life in order to protect Oliver. Without her, Oliver may have never had the chance to grow up in a loving home and leave to be proper in his actions and pure in the soul. Nancys moral complexity is unique among the major characters in Oliver Twist. The novel is fun of characters that are all good and can barely comprehend evil such as Oliver, Rose, and Brown low; and characters that are all evil and can barely comprehend good, such as Fagin, Sikes, and Monks. Her ultimate choice to do good at a great personal cost is a strong argument in favor of the incorruptibility of basic goodness, no matter how many environmental obstacles it may face. The incorruptibility of basic goodness, Nancys love for Sikes exemplifies the moral ambiguity of her character. Her relationship with Sikes leads her to criminal acts for his sake and eventually to her own demise. The same behavior, in different circumstances, can have very different consequences and moral significance. In much of Oliver Twist, morality and nobility are black-and-white issues, but Nancys character suggests that the boundary between virtue and vice is not always drawn.3. An analysis of the negative character.Fagin, although Dickens denied that anti-Semitism had influenced his portrait of Fagin, the Jewish thiefs characterization does seem to owe much to ethnic stereotypes. He is ugly, simpering, miserly, and avaricious. Constant connected to his ethnic identity. However, Fagin is more than a statement of ethnic prejudice. He is richly drawn, resonant embodiment of terrifying villainy. At times, he seems like a childs distorted vision of pure evil. Fagin is described as a “loathsome reptile” and as “the old one,” a popular nickname for the devil.（卢建国，2004：4）Twice, in chapter 9 and again in chapter 34, Oliver wakes up to find Fagin nearby Oliver encounters him in the hazy zone between sleep and waking, at the precise time when dreams and nightmares are born from the mere silent and adult readers alike perhaps most frightening of all, though, is chapter52, in which we enter Fagins head for his last night alive. The gallows, and the fear they inspire in Fagin, are a specter even more horrifying to contemplate than Fagin himself.4. An View of society and charactersThe new Poor Law was passed in 1834, in accordance with which was established the new poor-house, known as the workhouse. The indigent were no longer objects of charity, but were collected in the prison like building, the Poor Law Bastilles, administered by officials who had no education and often no sympathy with the people under their care. “Oliver Twist” shows up the cruelty and meanness of such officials and authorities, high and low, which functioned under the Poor Law.These characters grants this story with a theme that capture reality in the midst of Englands nineteenth century. As revealed throughout the tale, Englands nineteenth century was an epoch of much poverty and great social problems which resulted in a society of two opposing classes: the wealthy and the poor. Within these two classes lay two other opposing forces: the good and the bad. In the same way that good and bad exist within all classes in the novel, the same thing can be said about real life. What the theme of this story says about reality is that in todays society, it doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor, educated or not, most competent human beings posses the ability to judge right from wrong and are therefore free to make whatever choices in their lives they wish to make, provided though, that they can live with the consequences of their decisions. In Olivers case, even just as a very younger boy, he was also able to judge right from wrong and ends up choosing not to steal. As a result of his decision, young Oliver is given a happy home and a promising future. On the other hand, Fagins judgment is not so proficient, and concluding, he remains with nothing but insanity and a solemn life in jail till his last day comes about. How can such a little boy who had already suffered oppressive affliction remain pure in body and mind? The reason is the nature of goodness. I think it is the most important information implied in his novel by Dickens, he believed that goodness could conquer every difficulty. I do believe that those who are kind-hearted live more happily than those who are evil-minded. For me, the nature of goodness is one of the most necessary characters for a person. Goodness is to humans what water is to fish.5. Conclusion Oliver Twist was famous for exposing the dark sides of people lived out that time. It exposed the hypocritical and cruelty of parish workhouse through depicting the little orphan boy Olivers childhood in it. He gave realistic pictures of the horrible existence in workhouse. One of the important characteristics of Oliver was the real and specific description of people who lived in the bottom of society. As for the positive ones, charity and loves are themes because even treated horribly by most people; he is shown love by a few people. As for the negative one, Greed and corruption are also themes because off how people take advantage of Oliver. He is taken advantages by Mr. Bumble at the workhouse, and the thieves. Mr. Fagin tries to control Oliver, to use him for his own wealth. Monks tries to steal his identity, and his inheritance. Anyway the inequality of class difference explores good and evil. Good represented by Oliver and evil by Fagin. Fagin prospers in the criminal underworld where as Oliver starts to fall ill and his character diminish. By doing this Dickens wishes to changes society and make England better for the low class. Charles Dickens led readers into a real but terrible life of underworld.待添加的隐藏文字内容2 References:Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Wordsworth Editions Limited. 1992Richetti, J., ed. The Columbia History of the British Novel. New York: Columbia Press, 1991The Oxford History of English Literature. 12 vols. 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