Classic Literature English-Chinese Contrast (Oliver Twist)

Author: Liu Wenjun, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Oliver Twist is Dickens's second novel. At the age of only twenty-five, the young novelist resolved to follow the example of the British realist painter William Hogarth (1697–1764), bravely confronting life and authentically depicting the miserable life in the slums of London at that time. It has been defined by scholars in China and the former Soviet Union as the "founder and greatest representative of critical realism in English literature." Oliver Twist is a great social novel and holds an important place in the history of world literature. The novel primarily reflects the life at the bottom of British society shortly after the passage of the Poor Law. Nancy is an unfortunate girl who fell into a thieves' den in her childhood and has become the mistress of the second-in-command, Sikes. However, she has not entirely lost her conscience. When she meets Oliver, an orphan raised in a poorhouse since childhood, she sees her own past innocence reflected in his innocent and pure nature, and a sense of sympathy arises within her. Despite obeying Sikes' orders to kidnap Oliver and return him to the thieves' den, she risks her life and ultimately succeeds in rescuing Oliver.