Oliver Twist

Author: Charles Dickens (English), translated by Long Bing
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-12-06
Features: This book is one of Dickens's early works, written when the author was in the full bloom of youth. As a result, the work is filled with vitality and an optimistic spirit, reflecting an unyielding hope in society, life, and humanity. This is fully demonstrated in the natural reflections on human nature evident throughout the work. At first glance, it seems the author did not deliberately explore the depths of human nature in this novel; on the contrary, we see much cruelty and coldness. Yet, precisely within this atmosphere, a reflection on human nature emerges like splashing water, trickling and wetting the eyes of those who read it. The kindness and goodness of the compassionate characters in the story need no mention, nor do the thieves and outcasts who live in holes and dens—even those as sinful as Fagin and Sikes, whose hearts are numb,, and cruel, their faint pursuit of light still shown in the harsh reality. In Fagin's death cell and his final moments with Oliver, the author seems to use symbolic brushwork, allowing an innocent boy to guide the old, sinful, and pitiful criminal as an angel. On the night Sikes kills Nancy and flees, he encounters a towering inferno (which is precisely where the author's craftsmanship lies). Sikes sees: "It was almost a new life." Torn by pervasive fear and confusion, he frantically puts out the fire, wanting to "escape memory, escape himself," and "realizes his crime is ten times more terrible than before." The author's arrangement of these two characters is thought-provoking. From this, we can also see that Dickens, as a realist writer, was not entirely devoid of "romance." This romantic touch not only exists deep within the work, waiting to be savored by readers, but also moves the heart. The appreciation and understanding of a work are multi-faceted, and often, the meaning behind the interpretation of a work is even deeper than the work itself.