Orphan of the Mist

Author: [British] Charles Dickens (Dickens, C.) Author, Yuan Liang Translator
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Oliver Twist is a great social novel by Dickens 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 Poor Law was passed. Dickens's clear love and hate, vivid characterization, and distinctive features are fully embodied in his writing. The characters he portrays are rich in distinct personalities, and the entire work has a strong emotional impact. Dickens can be regarded as an outstanding master of language, skilled in using irony, humor, and exaggeration. The characters and language style in his works are imbued with a strong romanticism. The protagonist was an illegitimate child of a wealthy family in the upper class. His young mother, long deprived of love, endured hardships and suffering alone, and died shortly after giving birth to him. After coming into the world, he never experienced maternal love or the warmth of a family. In the so-called charitable institutions of the Poor Law, he lived a miserable life worse than hell, and was sent to work as an apprentice in a coffin shop at the age of nine. It reflects the struggle between good and evil, beauty and ugliness, justice and injustice, praises the inherent integrity and kindness in human nature, and also exposes and criticizes the hypocrisy of some charitable institutions and the tyranny of the police at the time in England. A young pregnant woman of unknown origin collapsed on the street, and people sent her to the poorhouse. The next day, she gave birth to a boy and died, and this orphan was named Oliver Twist. Ten years later, Oliver became an apprentice in the coffin shop. Unable to endure the abuse, he fled to foggy London and unfortunately fell into the hands of thieves. The little orphan struggled in adversity, but fortunately, his kind nature won the help of kind people, who repeatedly turned danger into safety. In the end, he was able to reunite with the people who loved him, and the mystery of his birth was also revealed. The author is one of the most famous realist writers of 19th-century Britain, having written more than ten long novels in his lifetime. When he wrote Oliver Twist, he was only twenty-five years old. This novel has been adapted and filmed into various movies and television dramas, which have been widely broadcast and have had a profound impact.