英语毕业论文

1、 外国语学院本科生英语二学位毕业论文论文题目:雾都孤儿里男主角的遭遇背后所显现的社会背景Social Reality behind the Protagonists Misfortune Revealed in OliverTwist 学 院： 外国语学院 专 业: 英语二学位 授 课 语 种: 英语 学 生 姓 名:王静雨 指导老师姓名: 春光 2015年12月13日本科毕业论文（设计）目录Abstract-1摘要-2I. Introduction-3II.Analysis of theOliver Twist-31. The story line2.Personality of the p

2、rotagonist3.Social backgroundIII.SocialFactorsbehind the Phenomenon ofLife-81.The workhouse system2.Criminal gangs3. Childrenlivingin the lowerof societyIV.Conclusion-11Bibliography-13Social Reality behind The Protagonists Misfortune RevealedInOliver TwistAbstractOliver Twistis a famous bookwritten

3、byCharles Dickens, who is a greatcriticalrealist in English literature. It mainly describes the miserable life of Oliver Twist, who was the titular protagonist ofthenovel and an orphan living in a London workhouse.ThispapermainlyanalyzesOlivers character andthe social background of the 19th-century

4、Britain, which is also known as the Victorian age.After a close examination of the protagonist and the social picture depicted in the book, the paper pins down the major social factors that led to the ups and downs of Olivers life experiences.This paper is divided into four parts. The first part is

5、an introduction, which gives a brief account of the novelOliver Twistand its author Charles Dickens. The second part analyzes the plot development ofOliver Twist, the character of its protagonist and the social background reflected in the novel. The third part points out that the workhouse system wa

6、s a failure; the criminal gang was caused by poverty and child labor was a reflection of maltreatment of children prevalent at that time in British history. The final part is conclusion, which generalizes the story line of the novel into a fight between good and evil. Oliver Twist represents the goo

7、d side of society while Fagin and other gang leaders as well as the workhouse management stand for evil forces. The happy ending shows Dickenswishes for reform and a better world.Keywords:Oliver Twistsocial realitycharacter摘要雾都孤儿是著名英国作家查尔斯狄更斯的小说。狄更斯是英国文学界的批判现实主义作家。它主要描述了与该书同名的主人公奥利弗的悲惨遭遇。奥利弗是个孤儿，住在伦

8、敦的一所贫民工棚中。本论文重点分析了奥利弗的性格和十九世纪维多利亚时期英国的社会背景。在详细分析了该书的主人公以及书中所描述的社会背景之后，论文又着重列出了造成奥利弗起伏跌宕的人生经历的社会原因。本论文分为四部分。第一部分是引言，简要介绍了雾都孤儿这部作品以及它的作者狄更斯。第二部分重点分析了该书的情节发展、主人公的性格以及书中所展示的社会画面。论文的第三部分指出，贫民工棚并未达到其预期的目的；都市犯罪团伙是由贫困造成的；童工的使用反映了英国历史上某个时期虐待儿童的做法。论文最后是结语部分，指出善与恶的斗争贯穿了奥利弗人生故事的始终。奥利弗代表了社会上向善的力量，而贫民工棚的管理层以及费金和其

9、他的盗窃团伙头目代表了邪恶势力。故事的结局是皆大欢喜，这代表了狄更斯对社会改革和美好生活的向往。【关键词】雾都孤儿 社会的现实性格I. IntroductionOliver Twistis an 1838 novel bythe famous English writerCharles Dickens. It was originally published as a serialin a magazine.Oliver Twist, formerly knownas “OliverBlogs”, is the second novel of Dickens,protesting agains

10、t social injustice.The author describedthe life of London slumsandthe courageof the poorto face life.The author of this novelaimedtoarousepublic awareness of social problemsso as to stage somesocial reform. That is why Dickens was defined as “the founder of English literarycritical realism and one o

11、fitsgreatest representatives”.The novel describes the good and evil,andpraisedhonesty and the positivesideof human nature. At the same time, it exposessome problems with charity in a particularhistorical period ofthe British socialsystem. Readers can also find the book full of humanitarian feelings.

12、The story is set in the foggy London. Thenovel tells the story of an unfortunate orphannamed Oliver Twistandthesufferings in hislife. The protagonist Oliver grew up in an orphanage, experienced undertaker apprenticeship,and fled that kind of lifebecause of the abuse. Then he fell into a den of thiev

13、es,and wasforced to become aculprit. Finally with the help of a good man, the boys identity was found out,andhe gota legacyfrom his father andthusled a happy lifefrom then on.The purpose of this paper is to analyze Dickens novelOliver Twistandfind out Britains main social problems in that period. By

14、 doing this, we can better understand theBritishhistory so that we can learn from the past and build a better future.II.Analysis of theOliver Twist1. The story lineOliver Twist was born intoanunfortunate and terrible life. He was an orphan when hewas born, because his mother died in childbirthdue to

15、 obvious poor health andlack offood.Nobody knew whohis fatherwas. Oliver was a very thin boywhogrew up under the Poor Law. Oliver spent his first nine years since birth inabranchof theworkhousesystem, first in the nursery and then transferred to the main branch to work and earn his own bread.During

16、that period of time, he was given very little to eat but hard work to do.One dayOliver breeched one of the rules,stipulated by request on behalf of another boy.He wanteda little bit moreof thegruel. Olivers request angered the management of the board of directors,who thought ofhim asungrateful.So by

17、 asking for more together withother youthinmates againstthe management of the workhouse system,Oliver wassent bythe board of directors tobean apprenticeto an undertaker namedMr. Sowerberry, who was employed by the parish.However, in the service of the undertaker, Oliver was abused by Noah Claypole,a

18、nother apprentice.On a special occasion, in order to bait Oliver, Noah insultedOliversdeceasedmother. Because of Noahs words, Oliver came to attackhim. The difference between the twowasobvious when Mr. Sowerberrys wife, who didnt like Oliver,was summoned. Noahdistorted the causes and process of the

19、fight to make Oliverlook like a murderer for no apparent reason. So he got severely punished. Oliverdecided tofleethe undertakers place. That nightafterhe left, he wanderedaimlessly. However, he quickly set his destination inLondonand walked in that direction.Cold and hungry, without friends, in des

20、peration he met the young Dawkins. Dawkins took Oliver Twist to a dilapidated house. Herewas a den of bandits that were headed byFagin, the leaderof thieves. He was likedOliververy much, because Oliverwas clever and sensible. Then Oliver and Dawkinswere made togo stealing on thestreets. But Dawkins

21、was found when he stole things. Olivergot aguiltyconscienceand started to runaway, butwas taken to the police officein the end. Fagin heard that Oliver was caught and blamedDawkinsfor it but in vain. Fagin was worried about Olivers confession at the police office. ThenheconsultedBill. They decided t

22、osend Bills girl friend Nancy tothepolice officepretending to be Olivers sister so as tobringhimback from the police station.However, when the police departmentwas waitingfor anexamination and approval,The boss ofthebookstore provedOliverinnocent. The victim of the theftwas a rich man of London.His

23、name was Brownlow.Because he wronged Oliver and feltguilty,he took toOliverand thought him a lovely and poor boy, so Mr.Brown low took Oliver home with him.AtMr.Brownlows home everybodylikedOliververy much. Oliver didnothave toworry about food and canalsogo to school. Oliver lived a happy life every

24、 day. Oliver was reading a book when hewas atleisure. One day, Mr. Brownlows friend came here and talkedabout the old days.Just thena little boyfrom a bookstore came todeliverbooks. Olivercarriedthe book to Mr. Brownlow. Mr. Brownlow said therewerea book andsomemoney tobe sent tothe boss ofthebookst

25、ore andaskedOliver to go there. Mr. Brownlows friend said Oliverhad oncetakenhis money andsowouldnot returnfrom the errand. When Oliver walkedon the street, Bill and Nancywere alsothere, and then,they inducedOliver back to the den. Fagin beatupOliver very acridly.Oliver almost losthis life. The next

26、 day Bill took Oliver to his home. The purposewas tobreak intoMr. Brownlows home. One night, Bill took Oliver to Tobys home. Bill and Toby discussedwith Oliverhowtobreak intoa house. But Oliverwasunwilling.He gavethe owner of the house asignal, whichcausedBill and Tobysplottofail. Oliverreceived agu

27、nwound. Bill wanted to throw Oliver in to the river, but he fell into the river before it. Nancy heardsomethingaboutOliveratTobysandwasvery sympathetic to Oliver. In order to save Oliver from danger andenableMr. Brownlow and Oliver to reunite,Nancy toldthe news to Mr. Brownlow and promised totakeOli

28、vertherethenext time.On the first night Mr. Brownlow waitedfor Nancy at London Bridge,but Nancy did not come on the thatnight. One eveningfinally, Nancy and Mr. Brownlow had a chance to meet. Nancy told the matter to Mr. Brownlow. And itwasheardthatDawkinswassent by Fagin. Dawkinscameback to reportw

29、hat he knewto Fagin and Bill. Bill was angry and went home,andthen he killed Nancy. The next day, Betty lookedfor Nancy at Nancys home and found that Nancy had died.Mr. Brownlow heard someone say thatNancy died. Mr. Brownlow calledthe police andthey caughtthe thieves with the help of some civilians.

30、The scenewas very spectacular. The policetook Fagin to the police office at last. Billhid himself in a deserted house on a small island in the Thames. When he was trying to escape from police arrest, he accidentallystumbled andgotstrangled by the ropehe was using to let himself down to the ground. O

31、liver survived.Hegot back homeand reunited withMr. Brownlow. Finallyhis fathers legacy was found and thatput an end to his miserable childhood.2.Personality of the protagonistOliver is the protagonist ofthenovel. He was an orphan born inaworkhouse,which was a social phenomenon in theearly stage ofin

32、dustrialization in Britain. It was impoverishedbecause of management problems, so it was filled withdarkness, butOliver remainedan embodiment of brightness, keeping hisinnocence. When he first came to thisplace, Oliver was verymuchlike other children in the workhouse,beinglaughedat, and no one cared

33、about him. In the parish, Oliver had always been bullied.Laterthe boss of the coffin shop owner paid five pounds totakeOliverwith him. Oliverlived a little betterinthenew environment,butthismade Noahjealous. Noahprovoked andinsultedOliver.When the situation becameunbearable,Oliverran away at night.

34、For seven days, Oliverwalked in the direction ofLondon. He met Dawkins of the street in London and Dawkins stole food for him.Out of gratitudeOliver went withthestranger Dawkins. Dawkins brought him to the denof thieves.Oliver was too credulous and innocent to take good care of himself.Honesty also

35、plays an important role in the story of Olivers life. As we know, in the story, Mr. Brownlow is a also very important role.One day, Mr. Brownlow wantedto go toabook store toreturn some booksandpayfive poundsforsome new bookshe had taken earlier. He told Oliver to do it. And Oliver promisedtodo it we

36、ll. As we all know, Oliverwas a poor boy,andhe needed money. But he did not take the money awaybecause hewas anhonest boy and he said to Mr. Brownlow,“I will be back after ten minutes”(Lu, 2004).He was caught by Bill unluckily.When he met Fagin, he said,“Those books and money belong to the kind Mr.

37、Brownlow who took me into his home. If I dontgiveback the books and moneyto him,he will think I stole them”(Lu, 2004).At that time,althoughhe was inabad situation, he still wanted to return the money and books to Mr. Brownlow. He just wanted to convinceMr. Brownlowthatwas not acheater,andhe was hone

38、st. Although those things hadnot been returned,Olivers words in front of Faginshowsthehonesty of Oliver.We know that therewere a lot of thieves in London.Most of them became thieves because of poverty.Oliverwas sympathetic with them andexpressedkindness to them.Fagin wascunning,and he did not believ

39、e anybody.Faginwas not kindto others,andthat could be seen from thisscene:He looked at the jewelry withdelight,andthenthoughtwhat a good thingit was to wear them. The dead mancouldnot talk or betray old friends. Sohe was notan honestman.Because he was not trustworthy, hewas constantlyafraid that the

40、 other thieves might betray himwhile all of themwere working for him and theyweremerely children. There isanother scenein whichFagin even got very angrywithDodger andCharley Bates. He even knocked them both down the stairs and sent them to bed with no dinnerjustbecause they had returned with nothing

41、. FaginabusedOliver when Oliver was foundtrying to flee from Fagins house. Fagintheinstigator picked up a long piece of wood, andhit Oliver hard on the shoulders withthestick. Although Fagin wasavery bad person, Oliver stillretained a kind attitude to Fagin. When Fagin was in prison, Oliver even wen

42、t to see him.He said,“Yes, will you pray with me?”(Chang, 1990)How kind he was! What he thought at that time was the goodthingsthat Faginhad doneto him.From this we can seethatthe purpose he went therewasto pray for him. I think OliverhadneverreallyhatedFagin. He might have thoughtifithad notbeenfor

43、 Fagintooffer him a place to livein, he might have died.3.Social backgroundTheVictorianage saw theemergence ofmany great writerssuch as the famouscriticalrealist novelist Charles Dickenswho wroteOliver Twist.Thenineteenth century has been divided into two stages in the history of theUK. The firstwas

44、 before 1837. During that time,King GeorgeIIIand GeorgeIVruled Englandin succession. In the meantime, due to the Napoleonic wars,Britain had been involvedin war withother countries for a long time,andat home Britainwas in the midst ofan industrial revolution. Social changeswere taking place and ther

45、e was abig improvement in the lives of people. In villages, agriculturalrevolution hadyielded its initial fruitandfarming became highly mechanized. In cities, the middle class and the working class were rising. In 1837, GeorgeIVdied. His daughter Alexandra Victoriasucceeded him to the throne andreig

46、nedas Queen of Britain.The royal house belonged to theHanoverclan.Queen Victoria ruledBritainfor 63 years(1837-1901).Atthat time, the Britishpeoplecompleted the industrial revolution andthe country beganto expand by setting upoverseas colonies.This is how thehugeBritishEmpirewas established. It iskn

47、own as “ The Empire on which the sun never sets.” The Victorian erahasbeenconsideredthepeak period of British industrial revolution and also the heyday of the BritishEmpireseconomic and cultural growth.In the Victorian era, Britains political, economicandsocial situationswerechanging rapidly. Itscap

48、acity ofindustrial production was larger than thecombined capacity of theworld.Its volume offoreign tradewasgreaterthanthat ofanyothercountryin the world. With the emergence of the middle class and working class,British people gradually changedthe old systemthat had been there since the GloriousRevo

49、lution. By now, Britainhadestablished a system of government,acivilian system,ajudicial system andasystem of parliamentary elections, etc.through the1832 and 1867 parliament reforms.In the literature, therewereschools andmovementssuch asclassicism, neoclassicism, romanticism, impressionist art andpo

50、stimpressionism, etc.The art circlewas aluminous sceneof stars.Thatisto say, Britainwasin a situation ofscientific, economic,social, and cultural prosperityin the19thcentury.Thats why the 19thcentury has been regarded by literary critics as the golden age of British overall development.III.Social Fa

51、ctorsbehind the Phenomena of Life1.The workhouse systemWhen Oliver was nine years old, he couldnt go to school like todays children,because no one supportedhim. So he had to gotoaworkhouse of child laborand gotengaged in hard work every day.Oliver was not a lazy boy.But becausehedidnt know how tofla

52、tterand please the boss, he wasoften beatenand scoldedbythesteward.The workhouse governorswere very indifferentand theywereall verysevere to the children there.Knowclearly thatOliverwas an orphan,they would stillaskhim the cruel question:“Do you know you are an orphan?”Theyalso saidin Olivers face t

53、hathewas a fool. Human indifferencewas already a heavy blow to a childonly nine years old, not to speak ofridiculeand abuse.On the management, one manwas there towatch over somany children in the work. Oliver was senttopick out the oakum. But he didnot know anythingabout itand asked themanager what

54、oakumwas.TheManagerlooked athimin contemptand said,“Stop asking so many questions.” Then he added,“You are serving your country”(Dickens，1992). Generally speaking, managers didnot allow any childinmate to challenge authority.The distribution of foodin the workhousewas the most unreasonable.The childrenwere every day engaged in heavy manual labor for a long time,but themeal wasonly a spoonful of very thin gruel, so they didnot have enough food to eat. The childrenweresohungrythat they couldnt fall asleep at night. A boy name