1、 外国语学院本科生英语二学位毕业论文论文题目:雾都孤儿里男主角的遭遇背后所显现的社会背景 Social Reality behind the Protagonists Misfortune Revealed in OliverTwist 学 院： 外国语学院 专 业: 英语二学位 授 课 语 种: 英语 学 生 姓 名: 王静雨 指导老师姓名: 春光 2015年 12月 13日本科毕业论文（设计）目录Abstract-1摘要-2I. Introduction -3II. Analysis of the Oliver Twist - 31. The story line2. Personalit
2、y of the protagonist3. Social backgroundIII. Social Factors behind the Phenomenon of Life -81. The workhouse system2. Criminal gangs3. Children living in the lower of societyIV. Conclusion -11Bibliography -13Social Reality behind The Protagonists Misfortune RevealedIn Oliver TwistAbstractOliver Twis
3、t is a famous book written by Charles Dickens, who is a great critical realist in English literature. It mainly describes the miserable life of Oliver Twist, who was the titular protagonist of the novel and an orphan living in a London workhouse.This paper mainly analyzes Olivers character and the s
4、ocial background of the 19th-century Britain, which is also known as the Victorian age. After a close examination of the protagonist and the social picture depicted in the book, the paper pins down the major social factors that led to the ups and downs of Olivers life experiences.This paper is divid
5、ed into four parts. The first part is an introduction, which gives a brief account of the novel Oliver Twist and its author Charles Dickens. The second part analyzes the plot development of Oliver Twist, the character of its protagonist and the social background reflected in the novel. The third par
6、t points out that the workhouse system was a failure; the criminal gang was caused by poverty and child labor was a reflection of maltreatment of children prevalent at that time in British history. The final part is conclusion, which generalizes the story line of the novel into a fight between good
7、and evil. Oliver Twist represents the good side of society while Fagin and other gang leaders as well as the workhouse management stand for evil forces. The happy ending shows Dickens wishes for reform and a better world.Keywords: Oliver Twist social reality character摘 要雾都孤儿是著名英国作家查尔斯狄更斯的小说。狄更斯是英国文学
8、界的批判现实主义作家。它主要描述了与该书同名的主人公奥利弗的悲惨遭遇。奥利弗是个孤儿，住在伦敦的一所贫民工棚中。本论文重点分析了奥利弗的性格和十九世纪维多利亚时期英国的社会背景。在详细分析了该书的主人公以及书中所描述的社会背景之后，论文又着重列出了造成奥利弗起伏跌宕的人生经历的社会原因。本论文分为四部分。第一部分是引言，简要介绍了雾都孤儿这部作品以及它的作者狄更斯。第二部分重点分析了该书的情节发展、主人公的性格以及书中所展示的社会画面。论文的第三部分指出，贫民工棚并未达到其预期的目的；都市犯罪团伙是由贫困造成的；童工的使用反映了英国历史上某个时期虐待儿童的做法。论文最后是结语部分，指出善与恶的
9、斗争贯穿了奥利弗人生故事的始终。奥利弗代表了社会上向善的力量，而贫民工棚的管理层以及费金和其他的盗窃团伙头目代表了邪恶势力。故事的结局是皆大欢喜，这代表了狄更斯对社会改革和美好生活的向往。【关键词】 雾都孤儿 社会的现实 性格I. IntroductionOliver Twist is an 1838 novel by the famous English writer Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial in a magazine.Oliver Twist, formerly known as “Oliver Bl
10、ogs”, is the second novel of Dickens, protesting against social injustice. The author described the life of London slums and the courage of the poor to face life. The author of this novel aimed to arouse public awareness of social problems so as to stage some social reform. That is why Dickens was d
11、efined as “the founder of English literary critical realism and one of its greatest representatives”.The novel describes the good and evil, and praised honesty and the positive side of human nature. At the same time, it exposes some problems with charity in a particular historical period of the Brit
12、ish social system. Readers can also find the book full of humanitarian feelings.The story is set in the foggy London. The novel tells the story of an unfortunate orphan named Oliver Twist and the sufferings in his life. The protagonist Oliver grew up in an orphanage, experienced undertaker apprentic
13、eship, and fled that kind of life because of the abuse. Then he fell into a den of thieves, and was forced to become a culprit. Finally with the help of a good man, the boys identity was found out, and he got a legacy from his father and thus led a happy life from then on.The purpose of this paper i
14、s to analyze Dickens novel Oliver Twist and find out Britains main social problems in that period. By doing this, we can better understand the British history so that we can learn from the past and build a better future.II. Analysis of the Oliver Twist1. The story lineOliver Twist was born into an u
15、nfortunate and terrible life. He was an orphan when he was born, because his mother died in childbirth due to obvious poor health and lack of food. Nobody knew who his father was. Oliver was a very thin boy who grew up under the Poor Law. Oliver spent his first nine years since birth in a branch of
16、the workhouse system, first in the nursery and then transferred to the main branch to work and earn his own bread. During that period of time, he was given very little to eat but hard work to do. One day Oliver breeched one of the rules, stipulated by request on behalf of another boy. He wanted a li
17、ttle bit more of the gruel. Olivers request angered the management of the board of directors, who thought of him as ungrateful. So by asking for more together with other youth inmates against the management of the workhouse system, Oliver was sent by the board of directors to be an apprentice to an
18、undertaker named Mr. Sowerberry, who was employed by the parish.However, in the service of the undertaker, Oliver was abused by Noah Claypole, another apprentice. On a special occasion, in order to bait Oliver, Noah insulted Olivers deceased mother. Because of Noahs words, Oliver came to attack him.
19、 The difference between the two was obvious when Mr. Sowerberrys wife, who didnt like Oliver, was summoned. Noah distorted the causes and process of the fight to make Oliver look like a murderer for no apparent reason. So he got severely punished. Oliver decided to flee the undertakers place. That n
20、ight after he left, he wandered aimlessly. However, he quickly set his destination in London and walked in that direction.Cold and hungry, without friends, in desperation he met the young Dawkins. Dawkins took Oliver Twist to a dilapidated house. Here was a den of bandits that were headed by Fagin,
21、the leader of thieves. He was liked Oliver very much, because Oliver was clever and sensible. Then Oliver and Dawkins were made to go stealing on the streets. But Dawkins was found when he stole things. Oliver got a guilty conscience and started to run away, but was taken to the police office in the
22、 end. Fagin heard that Oliver was caught and blamed Dawkins for it but in vain. Fagin was worried about Olivers confession at the police office. Then he consulted Bill. They decided to send Bills girl friend Nancy to the police office pretending to be Olivers sister so as to bring him back from the
23、police station.However, when the police department was waiting for an examination and approval, The boss of the bookstore proved Oliver innocent. The victim of the theft was a rich man of London. His name was Brownlow. Because he wronged Oliver and felt guilty, he took to Oliver and thought him a lo
24、vely and poor boy, so Mr.Brown low took Oliver home with him. At Mr. Brownlows home everybody liked Oliver very much. Oliver did not have to worry about food and can also go to school. Oliver lived a happy life every day. Oliver was reading a book when he was at leisure. One day, Mr. Brownlows frien
25、d came here and talked about the old days. Just then a little boy from a bookstore came to deliver books. Oliver carried the book to Mr. Brownlow. Mr. Brownlow said there were a book and some money to be sent to the boss of the bookstore and asked Oliver to go there. Mr. Brownlows friend said Oliver
26、 had once taken his money and so would not return from the errand. When Oliver walked on the street, Bill and Nancy were also there, and then, they induced Oliver back to the den. Fagin beat up Oliver very acridly. Oliver almost lost his life. The next day Bill took Oliver to his home. The purpose w
27、as to break into Mr. Brownlows home. One night, Bill took Oliver to Tobys home. Bill and Toby discussed with Oliver how to break into a house. But Oliver was unwilling. He gave the owner of the house a signal, which caused Bill and Tobys plot to fail. Oliver received a gun wound. Bill wanted to thro
28、w Oliver in to the river, but he fell into the river before it. Nancy heard something about Oliver at Tobys and was very sympathetic to Oliver. In order to save Oliver from danger and enable Mr. Brownlow and Oliver to reunite, Nancy told the news to Mr. Brownlow and promised to take Oliver there the
29、 next time. On the first night Mr. Brownlow waited for Nancy at London Bridge, but Nancy did not come on the that night. One evening finally, Nancy and Mr. Brownlow had a chance to meet. Nancy told the matter to Mr. Brownlow. And it was heard that Dawkins was sent by Fagin. Dawkins came back to repo
30、rt what he knew to Fagin and Bill. Bill was angry and went home, and then he killed Nancy. The next day, Betty looked for Nancy at Nancys home and found that Nancy had died.Mr. Brownlow heard someone say that Nancy died. Mr. Brownlow called the police and they caught the thieves with the help of som
31、e civilians. The scene was very spectacular. The police took Fagin to the police office at last. Bill hid himself in a deserted house on a small island in the Thames. When he was trying to escape from police arrest, he accidentally stumbled and got strangled by the rope he was using to let himself d
32、own to the ground. Oliver survived. He got back home and reunited with Mr. Brownlow. Finally his fathers legacy was found and that put an end to his miserable childhood.2. Personality of the protagonistOliver is the protagonist of the novel. He was an orphan born in a workhouse, which was a social p
33、henomenon in the early stage of industrialization in Britain. It was impoverished because of management problems, so it was filled with darkness, but Oliver remained an embodiment of brightness, keeping his innocence. When he first came to this place, Oliver was very much like other children in the
34、workhouse, being laughed at, and no one cared about him. In the parish, Oliver had always been bullied. Later the boss of the coffin shop owner paid five pounds to take Oliver with him. Oliver lived a little better in the new environment, but this made Noah jealous. Noah provoked and insulted Oliver
35、. When the situation became unbearable, Oliver ran away at night. For seven days, Oliver walked in the direction of London. He met Dawkins of the street in London and Dawkins stole food for him. Out of gratitude Oliver went with the stranger Dawkins. Dawkins brought him to the den of thieves. Oliver
36、 was too credulous and innocent to take good care of himself.Honesty also plays an important role in the story of Olivers life. As we know, in the story, Mr. Brownlow is a also very important role. One day, Mr. Brownlow wanted to go to a book store to return some books and pay five pounds for some n
37、ew books he had taken earlier. He told Oliver to do it. And Oliver promised to do it well. As we all know, Oliver was a poor boy, and he needed money. But he did not take the money away because he was an honest boy and he said to Mr. Brownlow, “I will be back after ten minutes” (Lu, 2004). He was ca
38、ught by Bill unluckily. When he met Fagin, he said, “Those books and money belong to the kind Mr. Brownlow who took me into his home. If I dont give back the books and money to him, he will think I stole them” (Lu, 2004). At that time, although he was in a bad situation, he still wanted to return th
39、e money and books to Mr. Brownlow. He just wanted to convince Mr. Brownlow that was not a cheater, and he was honest. Although those things had not been returned, Olivers words in front of Fagin shows the honesty of Oliver.We know that there were a lot of thieves in London. Most of them became thiev
40、es because of poverty. Oliver was sympathetic with them and expressed kindness to them. Fagin was cunning, and he did not believe anybody. Fagin was not kind to others, and that could be seen from this scene: He looked at the jewelry with delight, and then thought what a good thing it was to wear th
41、em. The dead man could not talk or betray old friends. So he was not an honest man. Because he was not trustworthy, he was constantly afraid that the other thieves might betray him while all of them were working for him and they were merely children. There is another scene in which Fagin even got ve
42、ry angry with Dodger and Charley Bates. He even knocked them both down the stairs and sent them to bed with no dinner just because they had returned with nothing. Fagin abused Oliver when Oliver was found trying to flee from Fagins house. Fagin the instigator picked up a long piece of wood, and hit
43、Oliver hard on the shoulders with the stick. Although Fagin was a very bad person, Oliver still retained a kind attitude to Fagin. When Fagin was in prison, Oliver even went to see him. He said, “Yes, will you pray with me?” (Chang, 1990) How kind he was! What he thought at that time was the good th
44、ings that Fagin had done to him. From this we can see that the purpose he went there was to pray for him. I think Oliver had never really hated Fagin. He might have thought if it had not been for Fagin to offer him a place to live in, he might have died.3. Social backgroundThe Victorian age saw the
45、emergence of many great writers such as the famous critical realist novelist Charles Dickens who wrote Oliver Twist. The nineteenth century has been divided into two stages in the history of the UK. The first was before 1837. During that time, King George III and George IV ruled England in successio
46、n. In the meantime, due to the Napoleonic wars, Britain had been involved in war with other countries for a long time, and at home Britain was in the midst of an industrial revolution. Social changes were taking place and there was a big improvement in the lives of people. In villages, agricultural
47、revolution had yielded its initial fruit and farming became highly mechanized. In cities, the middle class and the working class were rising. In 1837, George IV died. His daughter Alexandra Victoria succeeded him to the throne and reigned as Queen of Britain. The royal house belonged to the Hanover
48、clan. Queen Victoria ruled Britain for 63 years (1837-1901).At that time, the British people completed the industrial revolution and the country began to expand by setting up overseas colonies. This is how the huge British Empire was established. It is known as “ The Empire on which the sun never sets.” The Victorian era has be
