This work is set in the foggy city of London and tells the tragic life and experience of an orphan. Oliver, the protagonist, grew up in an orphanage, experienced an apprenticeship, fled hard, strayed into a thief's den, and was forced to associate with vicious murderers. Finally, with the help of good people, he found his own life experience and obtained happiness. [ 1]
This book reveals many social problems at that time, such as workhouses, child labor, gangs absorbing teenagers to participate in crimes, etc. The book has been adapted into movies, TV and stage plays many times.
Name of the work
[Literary Works] Oliver Twist
Foreign name
[Literary Works] Oliver Twist
Alias of works
Oliver Twist
Year of creation
1838
Literary genre
long novel
brief Introduction of the content
Oliver Twist, the hero of the novel, is an orphan born in a workhouse, suffering from hunger and bullying. He fled to London alone because he was abused by the coffin shop owner and parish deacon Bon Bulf, but he was tricked into a thief's den as soon as he arrived. Fagin, the leader of the thieves' gang, tried his best to train Oliver as a pickpocket and let him drive. Oliver stole a handkerchief from a gentleman named Brownlow (who happened to be his father's good friend) when he followed the thief's companion "a clever guy" and Bates to the street, and was arrested by the police. Later, because the owner of the book stall proved his innocence, it showed that the thief was someone else, so he was released. Because he was very ill and delirious at that time, and his appearance resembled the portrait of a young woman left by a friend before his death, Brownlow took him in for treatment at home, and he was taken care of by Brownlow and his housekeeper, Mrs. Bidwin, and felt the warmth of the world for the first time. The thieves' gang was afraid that Oliver would reveal the secrets of the gang. Under Fagin's instructions, when Oliver went out to return the bookseller's books for Brownlow, Sikes and Nancy tried their best to get him back to the thief's den. But when Fagin tried to punish Oliver for beating him, Nancy stepped forward to protect Oliver. Fagin tried to force Oliver to become a thief and a cash cow by threats, inducements and indoctrination.
The cover of Oliver twist
One night, Oliver was involved in the theft of a big house under the coercion of Sikes. Just as Oliver climbed into the window to report to his master, he was shot and wounded by the housekeeper. The thief ran away and abandoned Oliver in the ditch by the side of the road. Oliver crawled in the rain and snow and got hurt. He accidentally went back to the house and fainted at the door. Mrs. Merry, the kind master, and her adopted daughter, Miss Ross, took him in and sheltered him. Coincidentally, this Miss Rose is Oliver's menstruation, but neither side knows it. At Mrs. Merry's house, Oliver really enjoyed the warmth and beauty of life. But Fagin and his gang couldn't let Oliver go. One day, a man named monks came to Fagin. This man is Oliver's half brother. Because he was unfilial, his father gave all his inheritance to Oliver in his will. Unless Oliver and the monk are the same unfilial son, the inheritance can be inherited by the monk. So monks paid a high price to bribe him and turned Oliver into a hopeless criminal, so as to seize all the inheritance under Oliver's name and vent his resentment against his dead father. Nancy heard monks proudly talking about how he colluded with the Bond Bulf couple and destroyed the only evidence that could prove Oliver's identity. Nancy was brave, sympathized with Oliver's experience, risked her life, secretly found Miss Ross and reported all this to her.
Just as Miss Rose was thinking about how to act, Oliver told her that he had found Mr. Brownlow. Miss Ross and Brownlow discussed how to deal with this matter. When Miss Ross met Nancy again accompanied by Brownlow, Brownlow learned that monks, the unfilial son of his late friend Edwin Leward, decided to negotiate with monks himself, but their conversation was heard by the spies sent by Fagin. Sikes killed Nancy in cold blood. Nancy's death destroyed Fagin's gang. Fagin was arrested and hanged, while Sikes slipped and was strangled by his own rope. At the same time, monks was taken home by Brownlow, forcing him to give up everything. The truth came out that Oliver was adopted by Brownlow, ending his miserable childhood. In order to give monks a new chance, he got half of the inheritance that should have belonged to Oliver. However, the monk did not change his bad habits, squandered his property, continued to do evil, and finally went to prison and died in prison. Bourgh, who deserves what he deserves, was deprived of all his posts and spent the rest of his life in the workhouse, where they once bullied others. [2]
Catalogue of works
Chapter name
Chapter 1 About the birthplace of Oliver Twist and the scene when he was born.
The second chapter is the growth, education and board of directors of Oliver Twist.
The third chapter tells how Oliver Twist almost got a job, but naturally it won't be a free job.
Chapter four Oliver found another job and entered social life for the first time.
Chapter 5 Oliver made some new friends. Attending the funeral for the first time, I was not interested in his master's affairs.
Chapter six Oliver was angered by Noah and rose up against him, which made him panic.
Chapter 7 Oliver is still out of control
Chapter 8 Oliver went to London on foot. I met a strange young gentleman on the road.
Chapter 9 further introduces the Happy Old Man and his promising disciples.
Chapter 10 Oliver has a further understanding of the temperament of some of his new friends; He bought an experience at a high price. This chapter is short, but it is very important in this biography.
Chapter 1 1 introduces Mr. Fan, the public security bureau chief, and illustrates one point of judicial work with examples.
Chapter 12 In this chapter, Oliver received unprecedented warm care. At the same time, this chapter will also talk about the happy old gentleman and some of his young friends.
Chapter 13 Smart readers will make some new friends here and learn some interesting plots about them related to this story.
Chapter 14 This chapter will further describe Oliver's experience in Mr. Brownlow's house and the strange predictions made by a Mr. Grimwig when Oliver went out on business.
Chapter 15 shows how the happy Jewish old man and Miss Nancy like Oliver Twist.
Tell me what happened after Oliver Twist was taken away by Nancy.
Chapter 17 Oliver's luck is still bad, but a great man came to London to slander him.
Chapter 18 How did Oliver spend his time among his respectable friends?
Chapter 19 This chapter discussed a major plan and decided to put it into practice.
Chapter 20 Oliver was sent to the home of Mr. William Sikes
Chapter 265438 +0 Out
Chapter 22 Breaking into houses and stealing
Chapter 23 This chapter includes the basic contents of a pleasant conversation between Mr. Bambo and a wife, which shows that even a parish steward sometimes has feelings.
Chapter 24 This chapter deals with a very poor man. Although it is short, it may be considered as a very important chapter in this biography.
In chapter 25 of this biography, this chapter, we talk about exhausting ourselves and his gang.
Chapter 26 A mysterious figure appears in this chapter; Many things that are inseparable from this biography have been processed.
Chapter 27 In the previous chapter, a wife was unceremoniously put aside; This chapter will compensate for that rude behavior.
Chapter 28 follows Oliver and further describes his experience.
Chapter 29 introduces the people who lived in the yard when Oliver was arrested.
Chapter 30 tells what Oliver's new visitors think of him.
Chapter 365438 +0 crisis situation
Chapter 32 Oliver began to spend happy time with his kind friends.
Chapter 33 In this chapter, the happiness of Oliver and his friends suddenly suffered setbacks.
Chapter 34 introduces some details of a new young gentleman and tells a new experience of Oliver.
Chapter 35 tells the story of Oliver's futile act and a very important conversation between Harry Miley and Ruth.
Chapter 36 this chapter is very short, and it may be considered irrelevant to appear here, but it is a continuation of the previous chapter and a copy of the later chapter that will appear at that time, so it is still necessary to read it.
Chapter 37 In this chapter, readers can see a married life that is not uncommon.
Chapter 38 This chapter tells the story of late-night talks between Mr. and Mrs. Bambo and Mr. Monks.
Chapter 39 introduces some respectable people that readers have met, and tells how resourceful monks and old Jews secretly do business together.
Chapter 40 A strange meeting, a continuation of the plot mentioned in the previous chapter
Chapter 4 1 here are some new discoveries, which show that it never rains but it pours, and amazing things often follow.
Chapter 42 An old acquaintance of Oliver showed unquestionable genius and became a celebrity in the capital.
Chapter 43 In this chapter, you can see how the deep card slipped quickly and finally fell down.
Chapter 44 It's time for Nancy to meet Ruth Miley. She can't keep the appointment.
Chapter 45 Noah Klepp performs a secret mission for Fagin.
Chapter 46 Keeping an appointment
Chapter 47 Fatal consequences
Chapter 48 Sykes on the run
Chapter 49 monks and Mr. Brownlow finally meet. Their conversation and the new situation of interrupting it.
Chapter 50 Hunting and Escape
Chapter 5 1 various puzzles are solved, involving an engagement that never talks about property or money.
Chapter 52 Fagin's Last Night of Life
Chapter 53 They moved into a happy new house [3]
bale
Creation background
Oliver Twist is a Victorian work by British novelist Charles Dickens. The development of capitalism has made Britain a world superpower. But under the prosperity, it is poverty and misfortune. This prosperity was bred in dangerous and dirty factories and coal mines. Class conflicts became more and more obvious, and finally broke out continuously from 1836 to 1848. /kloc-at the end of 0/9, the national strength of the British Empire gradually declined. As a product of an era, literature is increasingly diversified, and many great writers appeared in that era. Oliver Twist was written when the law to help the poor was passed. Britain is undergoing a transformation from an agricultural and rural economy to a city and an industrial country. The Poor Law allows the poor to rely on public assistance, but requires them to do the necessary work. In order not to let the poor depend on public assistance, they are forced to endure unimaginable pain. Many poor people would rather die than seek public assistance, because the assistance of workhouses is notorious. The poor law did not improve the living standard of the poor class, but punished the most helpless lower class.
Oliver Twist
character introduction
Character list
On Chinese Names and English Names
Oliver twist, the hero of the story
Mr. Bambur, the head of the canteen in the workhouse.
Mr. Linkins, the executive of the workhouse
Spread out completely
Detailed introduction
Oliver Twist
Oliver, as the protagonist of Oliver Twist, is a sensitive and gentle boy, brave and strong. His real identity is actually the illegitimate child of a wealthy businessman. Living in the workhouse since childhood, he was bullied, but he always kept a pure and kind heart. When he arrived in London, Joan took him to Fagin's house. Although Fagin's painstaking efforts led Oliver into darkness, Oliver always had a turbid heart. Oliver was born in suffering and grew up in a dark and sinful world, but he always kept a pure world and a kind heart in his heart. All kinds of hardships can't make him degenerate or completely degenerate, but it shows his dazzling crystal quality even more.
After a series of setbacks and pains, Oliver was taken to court as a thief, was taken in by Mr. Brownlow, was taken back by Fagin, re-entered the thief's lair, was forced to participate in the theft, and was adopted after being injured. But his half-brother monk tried to hurt him. But evil triumphed over good, and finally all the bad guys were brought to justice. Oliver visited Fagin before he was hanged. At this time, Oliver showed his kindness again. He sincerely prayed to God to forgive the evil man.
After many hardships, kind little Oliver finally saw the rainbow after the rain and lived a happy life with happy menstruation and others.
Fagan
Dickens successfully created Fagin's image in Oliver Twist. As soon as the character appeared, the author vividly described the image of a skinny old Jew with a barbecue fork in his hand and messy red hair. "A long gown, a shiny face" and "strange smile" This is obviously not a kind-hearted old man, but a typical villain image, with a ferocious face and filthy appearance. Then Fagin began to teach young Oliver stealing skills, trying to make him a good thief. Fagin also instigated some of his children to steal and commit crimes to satisfy their own selfish desires. Old Jews also used claustrophobia to cultivate an innocent and pure soul, "injecting poison into Oliver's soul drop by drop and dyeing it black so that it will never return to its original color." Obviously Fagin's behavior is evil and inhuman. Even in the gang of thieves, Fagin is a real villain. When Oliver was involved in a street accident, Fagin was furious, aggressive and even punched each other. Until he was finally caught, he dreamed of letting visiting Oliver get him out. He didn't mean to come back at all. As a representative of the evil forces in the novel, Fagin is the dirtiest, the most disgusting and the most hateful. The author's description of him, from appearance to heart, from living environment to everything, is full of sin and filth. As a thief leader, he is an instigator of petty thieves, a greedy miser and a sinister and shameless villain.
On the other hand, Fagin is also a warm old man in a thief's den. Although there is a conspiracy hidden under his smile, there is no denying that he takes care of the lives of these homeless children, and the thief's den is even full of laughter. A little warm kindness makes Fagin a three-dimensional and rich character and the most interesting character in the novel.
Nancy
Nancy is the most tragic and awesome character in Oliver Twist. When Nancy was young, she was also a poor child who lost her parents. After being taken in by a pickpocket gang, she embarked on a helpless pickpocket road. As time went on, when Nancy grew up, Sikes, a savage robber, bought Nancy as his mistress. Nancy's life has been firmly in Sikes' hands. Nancy is not the most important person in this job, but she is the key person. Nancy has a fascinating life experience and tragic fate, but she has the quality of clear water. Nancy lingers between good and evil, but her humanity never dies. The fate of Oliver, the protagonist who has the same experience as Nancy, is closely related. Oliver's final rescue is attributed to Nancy's actions: sending a letter to the protagonist Ross, and meeting the protagonist Ross and the protagonist Brownlow. On the other hand, Nancy is also a member of the pickpocket gang and is loyal to the organization of the pickpocket gang.
Nancy is a kind, brave, witty woman who dares to love and hate. When Oliver was tortured by thieves, Nancy bravely stood up and protected Oliver with her own actions, and loudly threatened: whoever dares to bully and torture Oliver here again, I will fight with him; When Fagin and Monks plotted how to deal with tortured Oliver, Nancy pretended to be drunk on purpose and fell aside to eavesdrop on their secrets seriously. Find an opportunity to sneak past the dado and send the news as quickly as possible; Nancy is still a person who values sacred love more than future, reputation and even life, although his lover Sikes is cruel to him and doesn't take her seriously at all. However, no matter how much pain and abuse Nancy has to endure, even if her life is dying, she hopes to return to Sikes. Later, in order to save Oliver, she chose betrayal. Maybe she still has a little luck in her heart. I hope Sikes can give her a chance, for their old love. However, due to her betrayal, Sikes mercilessly killed Nancy who loved him deeply.
As a key figure in her works, Nancy is eager to return to a bright life, but she is trapped by reality. Nancy's ambivalence is an important highlight of the novel, which is another reason for her character and an important reason why she can't escape the tragic fate. [4]
works appreciation
Theme of the work
Benevolence thought
Dickens created the image of little Oliver through Oliver Twist. The whole novel exposes all kinds of ugly faces and cruel social reality, and shows valuable good thoughts. Then, due to the limitations of the times and classes, Dickens' thought of benevolence has certain limitations. First of all, Dickens attributed the root cause of the apathy of the whole society to a person and a new poverty relief law. The author thinks that the misfortune of little Oliver was caused by the officials of the workhouse and did not touch the whole bourgeois system. At this point, Dickens' thought of benevolence is too simple. Secondly, Dickens believes that benevolence is the universal antidote to society. All problems can be solved by caring. Little Oliver owes his happy ending to Brownlow's salvation. But there was a little Oliver in London at that time, and thousands of people in Qian Qian had the same experience as little Oliver. It is impossible for everyone to meet someone with the same kind heart to save him. For this, Dickens did not put forward a substantive prescription. Finally, Dickens still has some illusions about the bourgeoisie, thinking that they can save the working people. In the novel, the old gentlemen Brownlow and Miss Ruth are representatives of the bourgeoisie, and the author praises them blindly, but ignores the essence of the bourgeoisie. [5]
Oliver Twist
racial discrimination
It is the first principle that realistic writers should follow when creating. According to the traditional view, the realistic writers in this period, that is, critical realistic writers, gave a general and concentrated description of the typical and essential aspects of bourgeois society, and they "showed typical personalities in typical environments". In fact, as far as the social crimes revealed and described in Oliver Twist are concerned, Dickens did not strictly follow the above criteria to reflect the crimes in British society. Specifically, when Dickens turned pen and ink from the "workhouse" of bureaucracy to social crimes, he did not proceed from the real situation of society, but stood on the standpoint of racism, and regarded Jews represented by Fagin as the chief culprit who disturbed the social order in Britain, poisoned the physical and mental health of Christian children and forced them to commit crimes. This is not to say that Jews cannot appear as negative images in literary works, but that people of any race can commit crimes and also appear as artistic images in novels. What matters is the author's attitude towards them.
In fact, in Oliver Twist, "Jew" does not simply refer to Fagin and Barney's definitions of individual identity and race, but refers to a certain kind of people in society through their individual symbols, which is, in Dickens' words, "Jewish creatures". Therefore, in the novel, Dickens first described Fagin's hair, eyebrows and beard as red. In doing so, in addition to consciously connecting Fagin with the devil, the deeper intention is to highlight and amplify the unique racial characteristics of the Jewish nation by emphasizing the external imprint. However, it should be noted that Dickens has always called him a "Jew" in other places except in some direct quotations. This subtle change seems not surprising, but it is actually meaningful-aiming to show that the author hates not only Fagin, but also contempt for the entire Jewish nation. In novels, Dickens always used to talk about or describe Jews with irony and contempt. "He is younger than Fagin, but his evil and disgusting appearance is almost equal to Fagin." Dickens' young Jews only appeared once in the novel, without the foreshadowing of the previous one and the development of the latter one. Based on his Jewish identity, the author concludes that he is as "evil and disgusting" as Fagin. [6]
Artistic feature
Oliver Twist, the English name of the hero in Oliver Twist, means "twisted, twisted and distressed", which means that Oliver's life is very bumpy and he has to go through a lot of pain. In this melodramatic novel against society, Oliver is regarded as a hero, whose purpose is not to touch our literary sensitivity, but to touch our emotions.
Oliver Twist
The characters in Oliver Twist can be divided into two camps-angel camp and devil camp, and the whole novel is launched in the confrontation between good and evil characters. Oliver, an orphan, was born poor, but kind by nature. He is polite and well educated, but he has no formal education. And such a lovely boy was born with hunger, poverty, loneliness and the opposition of the wicked. In nurseries, children have to eat all day and suffer from all kinds of abuse; In helping the poor, Oliver lived a life of hunger and cold, and was condemned by the parish secretary for bullying just because he wanted more porridge. In the coffin shop, Oliver was jealous and insulted by his apprentice Noah; In the den of thieves in London, Oliver was framed by the thieves Fagin and others many times and almost died. Just as the positive characters in fairy tales are always persecuted by witches, villains and demons, Oliver has always had villains in his novels. However, the unfortunate child has never changed his nature after suffering. He always maintained a kind nature, devoted himself to goodness, and finally shared weal and woe, and ushered in a new life with the help of good people. Oliver Twist has successfully created a number of villains, including Bambur, a domineering priest, Noah, a jealous and arrogant coffin shop clerk, Sikes, a rich thief, a degenerate thief and a monk who does not change his inferiority. At the same time, the novel also creates a group of kind people who are difficult to teach: the enthusiastic old gentleman Brown Lu, the warm-hearted Mrs. Merry, the beautiful and kind Miss Ruth, the helpful doctor Spencer, the young and enthusiastic Mr. Harry, the girl with persistent conscience and so on. In the novel, the camps of good and evil characters are clear, and the confrontation is fierce and sharp. Just like the contest between angels and demons in fairy tales, it is a contest between justice and evil.
Dickens' portrayal of the protagonist Oliver shows obvious fairy tale color. Little Oliver grew up in a workhouse. He didn't get a good education, but he didn't have any bad habits. On the contrary, he has good moral character and upbringing. Even in the thief's garage, he can betray himself and get rid of the mud. This is obviously illusory and untrue, and the portrayal of the bourgeois image in the novel is full of illusions. They loved Mr. Brown Lu, Mrs. Merry and Miss Ruth with angelic faces and hearts, saved Oliver in hot water with generous love, and turned the little orphans in danger into safety again and again. There is no bourgeois selfishness and greed here, only the savior of poor orphans and the perfect figure who combines human virtues. [7]
In the plot setting, Oliver Twist has too many adventures and coincidences of surreal logic, showing a strong fairy tale color. Oliver went shopping with thieves for the first time. The person who was stolen happened to be Brown Lu, a good friend of his dead father. In Brown House, a portrait of a young woman left by a friend looks like Oliver, but the portrait is just his dead mother. Oliver was lucky enough to be fooled by Brown Lu, but the rags he handled just fell into the hands of the thief, thus exposing his whereabouts and making him fall into the thief's den again. Oliver was robbed by the gangster Sikes. Unfortunately, he was shot and injured. He was abandoned in the wild by Sikes. In order to survive, Bob struggled to climb to the door of a house that happened to be stealing. What is even more surprising is that the stolen family happened to be his home during menstruation, Ruth Merry. The things left by Oliver's mother when she died fell into the hands of the head nurse, Mrs. Connell, who later became Mrs. fabrice. Sykes happened to meet Mr. fabrice in a bar when he was inquiring about Oliver's birthplace, so he successfully bought something from Mrs. fabrice to prove Oliver's life and destroyed it. Such plot coincidences are numerous in the novel, which is obviously difficult to make sense, but it is precisely because of such adventures that the orphan's story is full of twists and turns.
The ending of Oliver Twist is from sadness to joy, and good and evil are rewarded. Although Oliver has experienced hardships and humiliation, he is always kind, tolerant, loyal and caring wherever he is, maintaining a pure nature and a kind soul. In the end, I will get happiness through hard work. The kind and beautiful Miss Ruth also broke through the combination of the concept of status class and Harry's happiness. For the villains in the novel, the author arranged tragic endings for them one by one: the thief was tried fairly and hanged; Sikes slipped in his escape and was strangled by a rope. In the end, life is death: the thief "can't catch it" and was sentenced to life exile by the court for stealing a snuff bottle; The monk's bad behavior is hard to change. He squandered his family property and eventually died in prison. Fabrice, the director of the parish, was dismissed and spent the rest of his life in the workhouse. Although the ending of this story is far from real life, it is only the author's good wish, but it achieves the purpose of restraining evil and promoting good and educating people. This kind of good and evil ending and the writing intention of Oliver Twist to punish evil and promote good coincide with fairy tale creation. [7]
The influence of the work
The influence of the work
Oliver Twist is Dickens' first social novel, and the section "Oliver wants porridge" in the novel has been compiled into many English textbooks. [8][8]
His works have been adapted into film and television works for many times:
Works directed by roman polanski in 2005 [9][ 10] 5. 1999 British mini-TV series [1].
2. 1948 works directed by David Lane [12][ 13] 6.2005 British TV series (produced in 2005 and released in 2007) [14]
3. 1997 directed by Tony Bill 7. 1922 directed by American film frank lloyd [15]
4. 1968 directed by carol reed [16]
Brief introduction of the author
The British novelist Charles John Huffam Dickens (18 12~ 1870) was born in a small family of naval staff officers. At the age of 10, his family was forced to move to the debtor's prison. At the age of 1 1, he took on heavy housework. I used to be an apprentice in a leather shoes workshop. 16 years old, worked as a copywriter in a law firm, and later worked as a reporter in a newspaper. He only went to school for a few years and became a famous writer by hard self-study and hard work. He lived in the transitional period from semi-feudal society to industrial capitalist society in Britain. His works describe all aspects of social life in this period extensively and profoundly, vividly depict the images of representatives from all walks of life, expose and criticize all kinds of ugly social phenomena and their representatives from the humanitarian point of view, and give sympathy and support to the suffering and resistance struggle of working people. At the same time, however, he also advocated the idea of tolerance, forgiveness and class harmony with "benevolence" as the core, and held a contradictory attitude of supporting the struggle of working people in action and denying it in morality. It shows the powerful strength and weak fantasy of his realism. Dickens wrote 14 novels, many short stories and essays, travel notes, plays and essays in his life. [ 17]
[Name] Charles Dickens (English writer)
reference data
[1] enlightened editor, world masterpiece [M], Inner Mongolia Children's Publishing House, 2007, p. 165.
[2] edited by Yu Pingjiao. Fairy legends and legendary novels in English and Chinese. Beijing: Beijing Yanshan Publishing House.2010.01:Page 82-84.
[3] Charles John Huffam Dickens. Oliver twist Shanghai Translation Publishing House. 2008