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1、The Indelible Nature of Goodness- A Study of Oliver Twist1. IntroductionGoodness is one of the most essential characters for a person and it will never be out of date. It is to humans what water is to fish. People who own the quality of goodness are supposed to own happiness in a sense. Goodness can
2、 help us overcome every difficulty we may meet or at least remain us in a positive mind. The person who owns the character of goodness undoubtedly will be happier than the one who is evil-minded, for goodness is such a thing that will benefit others as well as us. We should keep goodness in our mind
3、 no matter how hard the condition we are in. But to my disappointment, more and more people seem to ignore the importance of goodness. They look down people who are honest and kind-hearted, thinking that they are really silly animals. They show little sympathy to those who are in trouble and never o
4、ffer to help others. On the contrary, they do harm to those who prevent them from the way to money and power. Whats more, they pick up “goodness” when it can profit them a lot. What a nerve! In their eyes, nothing is more important than themselves. It is obvious that such kind of people will never r
5、each their satisfying goal. They never get real happiness in their whole life because of the countless desire.Charles Dickens is one of the greatest critical realist writers of the Victorian Age. Oliver Twist is probably the best known of all Dickens novels. It strongly exposes the workhouse functio
6、ns as a sign of the moral hypocrisy of the working class. Oliver is Charles first child hero, who is an orphan living in a workhouse from his birth. Because he cant stand the terrible conditions in the workhouse, he escapes to London where he is trapped by Fagin and the cruel Bill Sikes who try and
7、teach him to become a thief. Though treated with cruelty and surrounded by coarseness for most of his life, he is a piteous, innocent child and his charms draw the attention of several wealthy benefactors. He lives a happy life at last. By the experience of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens emphasizes b
8、elief of goodness again.In Oliver Twist, Nancy is Bill Sakes mistress; Dickens first depicts her as a willing helper of Fagin who she helps to recapture Oliver. But later Nancy overheard Monks telling Fagin his plans to destroy Oliver; she reports their intention to Rose, which ultimately leads to h
9、er death. In this novel, her final decision to protect Oliver at a great personal cost expresses fully the incorruptibility of basic goodness, no matter how many difficulties it may face.In order to discuss one of themesthe incorruptibility of natural goodness, this paper analyses the character of O
10、liver and Nancy and environments impact. Oliver and Nancy are two main representatives of basic goodness. On many levels, Oliver is not a believable character, because although he is raised in corruptible surroundings, his purity and virtue are absolute. Throughout the novel, Dickens uses Olivers ch
11、aracter to challenge the Victorian idea that paupers and criminals are already evil at birth, arguing instead that a corruptible environment is the source of vice. Oliver talks little and his courage to escape shoes an inner struggle to protect himself. He remains unaffected in spite of the surround
12、ing evil forces. The bad environment harms Nancys character and soul as well, but in the end she sacrifices her own life with the purpose to protect Oliver.In a word, the difference between Oliver and Nancy is whether the environment destroys their characters or not.2. The virtue of Oliver and Nancy
13、In his early period, Dickens insists that life is a combat between vice and virtue, and vice is certain to be defeated by virtue. So virtue is one of the most important aspects in Oliver Twist. Dickens wants to give voice to those who served for this purpose. Oliver and Nancy are two typical heroes.
14、 This chapter discusses the only junction of Oliver and NancyNatural goodness.2.1 The virtue of OliverOliver is Dickens first child hero. He is possessed with natural charm, innocence, and benefits of character. In fact, Dickens gives readers and exact depiction of Oliver at the beginning of the nov
15、el. “Oliver Twists ninth birthday found him a pale thin child, somewhat diminutive in stature, and decidedly small in circumstance. But nature or inheritance had implanted a good sturdy spirit in Olivers breast.” (Dickens 8)From his birth, Oliver is living in workhouse, which is closed circumstance
16、and creates his innocence. When Oliver puts up “the old calico robes which had grown yellow” and “falls into his place at oncea parish child” (Dickens 4), he even does not know the facthe is an orphan.“Boy,” said the gentleman the high chair, “listen to me, you know youre an orphan, I suppose?”“Whats that, sir?” Inquired poor Oliver.“The boy is a fool.” (Dickens 15)In addition, Oliver is so pure that he can scarcely comprehend evil. As soon as
