An Analysis of the Characters in Oliver Twist from the Perspective of Alienation

从社会异化角度分析《雾都孤儿》中的人物形象

Introduction

Oliver Twist is a long realistic novel published by British writer Dickens in 1838.The work was set in London, a foggy capital, and it tells a tragic story and experience of an orphan. Oliver, who grew up in an orphanage, experienced an apprenticeship, fled hard, strayed into a den of thieves, and was forced to associate with vicious murderers. He experienced countless hardships and finally, with the help of good people, found out who really he was and obtained happiness.

The author of this book, Charles John Huffam(1992) was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, a rural region of southeastern England that was to become the focus of his fiction, and died on June 9, 1870. Dickens' novels pay much attention to describing life experiences of the " normal people" living at the bottom of the British society. They deeply reflect the complicated social reality in England at that time and have made outstanding contributions to the British critical realism literature. His works have exerted a profound influence on the development of English literature.

Dickens lived and created his works in the middle of the 19th century, just before the Victorian era. Dickens' life-long activities and creations have always kept pace with the trend of the times. The book, The Novelist, convey that he had exposed the hypocrisy, greed, pettiness and ferocity of the upper class and the bourgeoisie with realistic writing style(.F.R.Leavis,1970). He showed the miserable situation of the lower class, especially women, children and the elderly, with great anger and deep sympathy. He also described the struggle of the toiling masses who began to awaken with serious and cautious attitude. At the same time, he also eulogized the truth, goodness and beauty in human nature with lofty ideals and romanticism, hoping for a more reasonable society and a better life.

Alienation theory is an important part of " Western Marxism" social and political theory, and it is the most important ideological weapon for them to criticize the contemporary capitalist society. In the book The Education of Man, " Western Marxism" draws the conclusion that contemporary capitalism is an unreasonable, deformed and morbid society through revealing the alienation phenomenon of contemporary capitalism and analyzing the new features of alienation(Froebel,2001). " Western Marxism" not only affirmed that the British capitalist society at that time was a alienated and morbid society, pointed out the inevitable connection between alienation and capitalism, but also made great efforts to analyze the new characteristics of contemporary capitalist alienation.

Literature review

Dickens's novel Oliver Twist has aroused great repercussions since its publication. There are different researches on it, but most of them are shocked by its profound description of characters and expression of good wishes. Up to now, there are still endless researches related to it emerge.

Research status abroad: In 1911, scholars abroad such as Smith, G.Charles Dickens published the Literary Life(Smith, G.Charles Dickens,1996). Dickens'works have also been studied in depth, the most famous of which is the University of California in the United States. They have professional professors who thoroughly analyze Dickens'works and hold an annual conference on Dickens to discuss the latest research results.

Current research situation in China: as far as I know, there are many colleges and universities in China study "Oliver Twist".

In the 1980s, there has been considerable development in the study of the author of Oliver Twist. For example, the book Dickens Review, published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House in 1989, selected and translated some famous European and American writers and Critics'comments on Dickens, which can be roughly divided into three periods according to the published years(1989). The first period was when Dickens was alive. The second period was from the death of Dickens in 1870 to the 1940s. The two chapters of Dickens'childhood, written by John Foster, a friend and executor of Dickens, are also translated as appendices and appended to the end of this book.

In the 1990s, Liu Xiangxiang and Zhao of Central South University for Nationalities wrote "An Analysis of Nancy's Image in"Oliver Twist"（1990:15）. Starting with Nancy, a minor character in"Oliver Twist", she made a comprehensive analysis of her personality characteristics and pointed out the role of this character in the development of the whole story. At the same time, according to Nancy's experience, the article explores her psychological journey in depth. This will not only arouse readers'sympathy for the lost "thieves", but also help us to understand the true face of the society in which she lives.

At the beginning of the 21st century, new developments have been made in the study of Oliver Twist. For example, Qiao Guoqiang, in his journal "Seeing Dickens'Anti-Semitism Tendency from the Orphan of the Twist"(2004), from a racist standpoint, holds that the Jewish "race" is born with a demonic character and should not belong to the prejudiced tradition of a member of the civilized society of mankind. Dickens' depiction, description, analysis and analysis of Jewish Fagin in the Orphan of the Twist City Discuss Dickens'anti-Semitism tendency in his works.

In the 10s of the 21st century, the study of the book emerged in endlessly. For example, there are studies on the drawbacks of capitalism. Hao Lu of Yangtze Vocational College criticized the evil, injustice, hypocrisy, corruption, money worship and other ugly phenomena in Dickens'Criticism of Capitalism in Oliver Twist published in the Journal of Hubei Institute of Adult Education(Hao Lu,2010). In Oliver Twist, Dickens depicts a series of characters: evil Fagin, Sex, Bumble and so on, as well as conscientious Nancy(Jia,2017), kind Ross, Oliver, Mrs. Merry and so on. Dickens'vivid description of these characters deeply reflects the darkness of the society at that time, thus satirizing and criticizing the ugliness and darkness of human nature under the capitalist social system, communicate with Interpretation of Nancy#8217;s characters(Zhang,2016).

Conclusion

As a representative of English realistic literature in the 19th century, Dickens showed us the destruction of human nature by industrial society in Oliver Twist. Dickens lived in the middle of 19th century, which was the era of British capitalist industrial society. Although it is only the initial stage of capitalism, Dickens' writing style has touched on the core problem of capitalist society: distortion of human nature and alienation of society.