concidences in Oliver Twist 雾都孤儿情节巧合(英文论文)

Oliver Twist is Charles Dickens‟ first fully crafted novel. It centers on the hard years of an orphan, Oliver Twist, and is set against the seamy underside of the Lon2don criminal world. Dickens created a lively picture of lowlife under the capitalistic system. As the author of the novel, he mounted a direct attack on the cold impersonality of the workhouse system representing the class people with hard - heartedness, tyranny and hypocrisy. He used his unique humor, fierce satire and penetrating insight to expose the dark sides of the then society. Meanwhile he showed his great sympathy for the miseries and hardships suffered by the working people. It is widely acknowledged that the book‟s main theme is positive and optimistic, which reflects Dickens held radical ideas at that time, and reviews were and are generally favorable. However, Dickens was severely criticized for introducing many coincidences in the plot of the story. For example, the first person that Oliver Twist picks pockets happens to be Mr. Brownlow, a good friend of his father‟s. Later, Oliver is forced by Fagin to accompany Sikes in an attempted robbery of a house, (needing a small boy to enter a window and open the door for the (housebreakers), whose owner, Mrs. Maylie, by chance is his mother‟s elder sister – his aunt. Such incidents which seem to be unbelievable are regarded by many as” uneven and contrary to the real life. ”Seemingly, coincidences become the negative side of the novel. Some even go so far as to think Dickens was not well - thought in plotting the story. As a novelist, Dickens represented English critical realism writing during the 19th century. He washighly praised by Karl Marx as “one of the excellent novelists in Britain.” Such a great novelist did not arrange coincidences in the story without purposes. Therefore, to understand coincidences correctly, we must analyze them systematically from all sides rather than the one - sided approach. Oliver Twist by Dickens is characterized by a few coincidences especially happy encounters, about which some reviews are unfavorable. This essay , sharing quite opposite opinions to the unfavorable ones ,proves coincidences have advantages by means of systematic analysis from the following four points : Dickens‟ radical ideas ,his unique artistic style as well as his firm belief” good is rewarded with good ,and evil with evil . ”Coincidences embody Dickens‟ radical ideasDickens wrote Oliver Twist at the age of 25 , when he was bursting with youthful vigor , imbued with vitality and optimism , which became the main drift and purpose of his literary production to the letter. While ruthlessly exposing the dark corners of life and fiercely attacking the cynical reality , he showed us the good trend in the development of the society rather than depicted it as pitch -dark. So from his novel, readers have a strong sense that life is not utterly hopeless. Dickens chose to convey this message through coincidences in the book.Oliver is born of a dying mother in a parish workhouse and then sent to an infant farm, run by Mrs.Mann, until he is nine years old, at which time he isthen returned to the workhouse again, where he is starved and abused. Where there is oppression, there is rebelling. Young and physically weak as he is , Oliver is mentally powerful and brave enough to advance to the master and”ask for more gruel” on behalf of the group. In the undertaker‟s , he fights for his mother‟s dignity with Noah Clay pole , another of the undertaker‟s boy , who offends his late mother , though he pays great cost for it - a more severely physical punishment . Later he runs away to London alone to seek for new life. Such personalities - bravely facing sufferings of life, meeting challenges brought about by misery fate, and rebelling against the evil forces - are the essential conditions for him to happen to meet Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Maylie , which serve as Dickens‟ general purpose of arranging coincidences. He made it clear that no matter how tragic your lot is, no matter how hard your life becomes, the unfortunate will certainly get help from good - hearted men to free him from untold sufferings on condition that he is powerful and bold enough to face the reality and fight against the evil forces. His ideas guiding literary creation of this kind encouraged those who were then living in an abyss of misery, and who, consequently, from his novel, saw faintly a streak of light in the dark. Meanwhile he warned his readers of the dangers of degeneration. So the coincidences that Oliver happens to meet his late father‟s good friend Mr. Brownlow and his mother‟s elder sister Mrs. Maylie have the implications of Charles Dickens‟ radical ideas - being optimistic , intense pursuit of the happiness, and his firm belief that” tomorrow will be better. ”Creating coincidences is one of Dickens‟ artistic styles - combination of romanticism and realismCreating coincidences is one of Dickens‟ unique artistic styles. The Russian literary lion Gorky said , realism and romanticism often seemed to combine in great artists. Dickens is such a great one who is characterized by his perfect combination of realism with romanticism in writing , forming his unique artistic style - mixture of the realistic and the wildly improbable. Thus , it is not hard to understand that Dickens …stor y is full of legends and melodramas. As we all know , realistic writers aim at painting pictures in real life , by which they manage to reveal the truth of life while romantic writers pay attention to imagination and fascination , and they often describe pe2 culiar things in an exaggerated way. In Oliver Twist, theses two opposite ways of writing are unprecedentedly well- mixed. Dickens had a good memory and was endowed with great power of astonishing imagination. He had acute eyes , sharp ears and nose , and an excellent memory that enabled him to bear in mind every subtle detail of things that he had ever seen , heard , tasted or touched in his life , by using this he generated an imagination in which even Shakespeare could not match him. Oliver Twist is indisputably alive with such amazing gifts of Dickens. Every scene depicted in it is identical to that in real life whether viewed from the perspective of sense of sight , hearing , touch or taste and smell . Moreover , his vivid account of characters created great power toastonish his readers. In generating the story , he used his imagination with marvelous dexterity to create countless coincidences within the plot . In a sense , his artistic style – creating coincidences was also characterized by exaggeration , that is , an exaggerated mixture of romanticism and realism. Therefore , the situations he described in the novel were not the facts that happened really in a certain place at a certain time , but the ones that should or were more likely to happen in real life. Moreover , they were processed , or rather , exaggerated by the artist Dickens. As a result , these situations in the book became romantically realistic. As Dickens himself said , he used romantic realism“largely to express his own moral concepts rather than pursue perfect truth. ”While openly revealing and harshly criticizing hideous features in life , he praised ideal human nature and interpersonal relationships. He thought the masses had virtues and pure and innocent emotions that had not been affected by capitalistic monetary value , forming a sharp contrast with callousness , selfishness , tyranny and cruelty of aristocrats and the bourgeoisie. As a novelist , his finest quality lied in his ability to look at problems objectively - everything has its good and bad sides. According to him , human nature was of no class. Every class has its good people and bad ones. Monks is a representative of the unprincipled in the underworld while Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Maylie the benevolent with noble mind of the bourgeoisie. Such plot of the story shows he had lofty ideals of life , which inspire people to fight bravely with the evil forces rather than to surrender to it . Throughcoincidences he hinged his hopes on the beneficent bourgeoisie that they should help the underworld that were born with virtues and noble mind.Good is rewarded with good , evil with evilDescription of rare incidents reflects Dickens‟consistent creative attitudes and aesthetic psychology. Viewed from the perspective of the main theme of the novel , coincidences indicate that Dickens , an optimistic and romantic humanitarian , held the concept that good is rewarded with good , and evil with evil . Yet from his psychology of creation , it was his concept of children that urged him to plot the story in such a way. In the Bible , a child is re2 garded as a symbol of good. Pure and innocent children can be compared to angels in Heaven. According to the Bible, having child - like innocence means keeping good and love. Although Dickens was not a Christian , his humanitarian ideas were harmonious with the concept of children advocated by the Bible. Thus , children became symbols of good and love in his mind , which was also the key point of his humanitarianism. As a result , he created happy encounters by using“the simplest creative method- ”coincidences“ , in which a penniless , hopeless child is offered help from benefactors who free Oliver from sufferings and dangers many times. Towards the end of the novel , as Oliver is being chased by his half brother , villainous Monks , who intends to kill Oliver thereby negating the unknowing Oliver‟s claim to his rightful inheritance which would then go to Monks , Oliver happens to encounter Mr. Brownlow again despite along period of losing touch with each other. This good - hearted gentleman conquers Monks and helps Oliver get his share of in2 heritance - a large sum of money , hoping he will start a new life. From this coincidence , we seem to see Dickens himself is like a lonely and helpless child who is eagerly expecting happy encounter with good - hearted men by whom he will be offered help. Creating happy encounters is determined by his aesthetic psychology , which corresponds to his great expectations :“Good survives through every adverse circumstances , and triumph at last”② , and the light will supplant the dark in the end.Notes :①Anatole France (1844 - 1924) , French writer ,literary critic.②Charles Dickens , preface to Oliver Twist , thethird edition , P1 , Foreign Language Teaching and Re2search Press , 1992.Work cited[1 ]Catherine Peters , Charles Dickens. Xi‟an : Xi‟an World Publishing Corporation , 1998.[2 ] T. A. Jackson. Translated by Fan Deyi, Charles Dickens. Shanghai : Shanghai Translation Press ,[3 ]Luo Jin - guo , A Critical Biography of Charles Dickens. Shanghai : Shanghai Translation Press , 1989.[4 ] Charles Dickens , Oliver Twist . Beijing : Foreign Language and Research Press , 1992.[5 ] Jiang Cheng - yong ,“Dickens‟ psychological models and the fairy story patterns”, Journal of Hangzhou Teachers college (Social Science) No. 1 ,1995 , P73.。