Book Report on Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist is a famous novel by Charles Dickens. As we all know, Dickens was one of the greatest British novelist in the 19th century. He was born in a poor family, and was forced to work in a factory in his early age. Although he got little formal education from the school, with great effort of self study and talent, he eventually became a representative of English critical realism.
The story is set in the 19th century in London. At that time, with the British industry revolution proceeding, in order to get the most profit, the industry bourgeoisie oppressed workers by lengthening working time, improving working intensity, even employing children and women for low salary. The low class people suffered a lot and the conflict between the industry bourgeoisie and the working class became sharper and sharper.
The novel is a story about Oliver Twist, an orphan, who is born in workhouse and is treated cruelly. His life begins with pain that makes him timid and weakness. In a world full of poverty and crime, he has a number of rich experiences. He meets many different people, some of them are kind but some of them are bad. Every day in his life, he suffers from starvation, beating and abuse. He has a very tragic life, but fortunately he doesn’t lose his kindness. Finally, justice defeats evil. Those bad people receive punishment which they deserve, and Oliver is adopted by a kind family. Of course, he lives a happy life in the end.
When I read the tragic experiences of the little Oliver, I am shocked by not only his sufferings but also the darkness of the society. In my opinion, author’s intention to model the character like Oliver was to reflect darkness and violence which were hidden underneath the narrow and dirty streets in London. Oliver stands for the homeless children at that time. All they wanted was just a simple life which had a warm place to sleep, and some food to eat. However, the decayed social environment couldn’t satisfy their little wish. Britain developed fast at that time but low class people even could not survive. How ridiculous and satiric it was!
In the novel, Oliver, Nancy and Rose all come from suffering, but they yearn for the better life and this yearning support them, so they never give up and never lose themselves. In their heart, goodness is still alive no matter how dark the environment it is around them. Our readers can easily catch idea that justice and kindness will eventually defeat evil among words and between lines. I admire Oliver’s brave spirit, and believe in that we should keep ourselves clean and don’t let our heart which is kind by nature covered by evil dust no matter how many hardship in the darkness of the experience.
Oliver Twist is a famous novel by Charles Dickens. As we all know, Dickens was one of the greatest British novelist in the 19th century. He was born in a poor family, and was forced to work in a factory in his early age. Although he got little formal education from the school, with great effort of self study and talent, he eventually became a representative of English critical realism.
The story is set in the 19th century in London. At that time, with the British industry revolution proceeding, in order to get the most profit, the industry bourgeoisie oppressed workers by lengthening working time, improving working intensity, even employing children and women for low salary. The low class people suffered a lot and the conflict between the industry bourgeoisie and the working class became sharper and sharper.
The novel is a story about Oliver Twist, an orphan, who is born in workhouse and is treated cruelly. His life begins with pain that makes him timid and weakness. In a world full of poverty and crime, he has a number of rich experiences. He meets many different people, some of them are kind but some of them are bad. Every day in his life, he suffers from starvation, beating and abuse. He has a very tragic life, but fortunately he doesn’t lose his kindness. Finally, justice defeats evil. Those bad people receive punishment which they deserve, and Oliver is adopted by a kind family. Of course, he lives a happy life in the end.
When I read the tragic experiences of the little Oliver, I am shocked by not only his sufferings but also the darkness of the society. In my opinion, author’s intention to model the character like Oliver was to reflect darkness and violence which were hidden underneath the narrow and dirty streets in London. Oliver stands for the homeless children at that time. All they wanted was just a simple life which had a warm place to sleep, and some food to eat. However, the decayed social environment couldn’t satisfy their little wish. Britain developed fast at that time but low class people even could not survive. How ridiculous and satiric it was!
In the novel, Oliver, Nancy and Rose all come from suffering, but they yearn for the better life and this yearning support them, so they never give up and never lose themselves. In their heart, goodness is still alive no matter how dark the environment it is around them. Our readers can easily catch idea that justice and kindness will eventually defeat evil among words and between lines. I admire Oliver’s brave spirit, and believe in that we should keep ourselves clean and don’t let our heart which is kind by nature covered by evil dust no matter how many hardship in the darkness of the experience.
