Oliver Boy's one-liner, "I'd like a refill, please," is unforgettable. Dickens, "Oliver Twist"
Oliver Twist" was published by Dickens in 1837.
I read "Oliver Twist" in Shincho Bunko, translated by Takuro Kagayama.
We will look at the synopsis as soon as possible.
Orphan Oliver Twist was kicked out of the poorhouse for asking for more thin gruel and dragged into a gang of juvenile thieves headed by the Jew Feigin. He is sheltered by the wealthy and kind-hearted gentleman Brownlow, who encourages his pure heart, but once again he is returned to Feigin and his fellow Sykes. What fate awaits Oliver and the secret of his birth? A masterpiece of Dickens' early work.
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The orphaned boy, Oliver, was placed in a poor orphanage called the Relief Home for the Poor.
Life there was so bad that they were barely fed, and everyone was always hungry.
For three months Oliver Twist and his friends were subjected to the torture of slow starvation, until finally they reached the point of starvation and their hearts sank. One boy, tall for his age and unaccustomed to this kind of suffering (because his family owned a small restaurant), darkly confided to his companions that if they did not add another bowl of thin gruel every day, he might one day eat the child sleeping next to him at night. He happened to be a sickly little boy who was not old enough. The tall boy had hungry, ferocious eyes, and those around him believed him. After consultation, a lottery was held to determine who would walk up to the waiter after dinner that day and demand a refill. The winner was Oliver Twist.
Shincho Bunko, Oliver Twist, translated by Takuro Kagayama, p23-24
It was under these circumstances that he said for the benefit of the other children that famous phrase, "Please give me a refill.
I did not say that because I was hungry. I said it on behalf of everyone because I had no choice but to say it because I won the lottery.
But this one word would throw him into a tumultuous world.
Now, here is Keiko Shimada'sDarkness and Light in Dickensian Literature."We will take another look at the life of this oliver with reference to the
The Poorhouse was established by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, but its management and environment were poor, and the poor sent there were subjected to hard labor and poor food. Under such social conditions, Dickens thoroughly criticized the Poor Law with his scathing satire. In a poem directed at the fat and bleary director of the poorhouse, the emaciated and pale Oliver said, "Please, sir, more gruel. More porridge, please." was the plea of the poor people. Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Mann are portrayed as representatives of those who support the social evil of the poorhouse system. They persecute the little ones, resting on their laurels of power. Poor Oliver, with no relatives, is a nasty burden to the parish, simply a mortal ‛item'.
Sairyusha, Keiko Shimada, Darkness and Light in Dickens' Literature, p62
Dickens' depiction of Oliver is a symbol of the oppressed and weak.
And as a result of his one word, "Please give me a refill," he was kicked out of the poorhouse and subsequently dragged into a world of evil.
Oliver Twist also brilliantly exposes not only the inhumane ruthlessness of the poorhouse, but also the horrific web of crime that awaits those who leave it: the dark side of a complex and bizarre society of thieves, robbers, thuggish vagrants, prostitutes, murderers, and lonely fugitives such as Oliver. Feigin, Sykes, and their band of evil men, representing the criminal element of the lower DuKai, were exposed for their ferocity and horror, causing the whole world to tremble. Dickens captured society through the eyes of a journalist and painted it with the brush of an artist, and his investigation of the actual social conditions of the world is the main character's life journey (the subtitle of "Oliver Twist" is ‛The Parish Boy's Progress'). It was portrayed as more realistic within the framework of metaphorical fiction.
Sairyusha, Keiko Shimada, Darkness and Light in Dickens' Literature, p62
There are "not evil people in the world, but a society that produces evil people.
Dickens considers evil in the world as a problem of individual evil, but also as an evil created by the social system.
The gap between rich and poor creates oppressed people, and those who want to get out of it but have no choice but to sin in order to live.
Few people commit crimes because they want to do bad things. Dickens believes that dismissing bad people because they are bad people is not the solution to the problem.
Oliver was born and raised in just such a situation, and when he was kicked out of the poorhouse, he was taken in by such a gang of thugs.
What will happen to Oliver, the kind and good boy?
And the secret of Oliver's birth will be revealed later in this story.
Impressions - From a Dostoevskyian Perspective
It is not clear whether "Oliver Twist" had a direct and significant influence on Dostoevsky's work, but Dostoevsky's gentle gaze toward the oppressed children seems to have been influenced by Dickens.
French great Hugo'sLes Miserables.too, but from the perspective that "the very structure of the world itself creates evil people, and the oppressed and miserable are forced to fall into a negative spiral.
Yes, people who have done bad things may be evil in the story, but Dickens seems to be saying that not everything is their unique nature.
That is why we need to look at it and act on it to improve our society.
And Dickens' ideas actually moved the world.
His biographer, Zweig...The Three Masters.He describes this in a work called
When "Oliver Zwist" was published, children on the streets received more handouts than ever before. The government improved the poorhouse and strengthened supervision of private schools. British sympathy and goodwill were strengthened by Dickens. The number of poor and unfortunate people whose harsh fate was alleviated by these measures must have been enormous.
Misuzu Shobo Zweig: Sho Shibata, Yoshio Kamishina, Cho Ogawa, Ken Watanabe, co-translator, Three Masters, p. 90
Oliver Twist" was not merely "interesting as a novel," but had a strong impact on society itself.
Such is the "influence of the novel in evoking goodness.
This is a tremendous achievement.
Perhaps this is why Dostoevsky recommended Dickens' novels to many people, especially children.
Oliver Twist" is a follow-up to the previousThe Pickwick Club.Unlike the "The World of Evil," this work has a darker side, depicting a world of evil.
However, despite the darkness, there is salvation in it.
What saves the story from its peril is Oliver's noble heart and faith, and the message of confidence in the workings of love and goodness that pervades the story. The wandering human Oliver meets danger and suffering, but has a happy ending, protected by Maylee and Brownlow and saved by Nancy's sacrifice. Oliver is not drawn into Fagin's evil world, and the forces of good triumph in the end.
Keiko Shimada, Sairyusha, "The Darkness and Light of Dickens' Literature: Stories of People Fascinated by the Light that Illuminates Evil," P68
Such a plot of noble faith and the power of good overcoming evil and triumphing in the end would have given readers the courage to live.
Dostoevsky was probably one of them.
Dickens' masterpiece, "Oliver Twist," was an interesting work, easy to read and with a dizzying storyline.
The above is a synopsis of Dickens' "Oliver Twist - An indictment of the dire social conditions in London! The Adventures of Oliver, a Good Boy".
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