coincidencesinolivertwist雾都孤儿情节巧合.pdf

Coincidences in Oliver Twist 雾都孤儿情节巧合 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 ’smain 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 was highly praised by Karl Marx as “one of the excellent novelists in Britain. Such” a great novelist did not arra