The Parish Boy's Progress
图书预览
作者
Charles Dickens
类型
书籍封面
图书总体内容
Oliver Twist, subtitled 'The Parish Boy's Progress,' is Charles Dickens's compelling social novel that follows the life of an orphan born in a workhouse in Victorian England. The story begins with Oliver's birth to an unknown mother who dies shortly after childbirth, leaving him without identity or family. Raised in the cruel conditions of the parish system, Oliver endures systematic neglect and abuse under the supervision of the beadle Mr. Bumble and the workhouse authorities. The novel's most iconic moment occurs when the starving Oliver dares to ask for more gruel, an act of desperation that brands him a troublemaker and leads to his apprenticeship with the undertaker Mr. Sowerberry. After suffering brutal treatment from Noah Claypole, who insults his dead mother, Oliver fights back and subsequently flees to London. In London, Oliver falls into the clutches of Fagin, a criminal mastermind who runs a gang of young pickpockets including the Artful Dodger (Jack Dawkins) and Charley Bates. When Oliver is falsely accused of stealing a handkerchief from the elderly gentleman Mr. Brownlow, he is brought before the harsh magistrate Mr. Fang. Though initially suspected, Oliver's innocence becomes apparent when he faints in court, and the compassionate Mr. Brownlow takes him into his home to recover. Mr. Brownlow notices a striking resemblance between Oliver and a portrait hanging in his house, hinting at mysterious connections to Oliver's unknown parentage. Meanwhile, Fagin and his criminal associates, including the brutal Bill Sikes and the conflicted Nancy, conspire to recapture Oliver, fearing he might expose their operations. The narrative masterfully weaves themes of poverty, institutional cruelty, crime, and redemption against the backdrop of London's underworld. Dickens employs biting social satire to expose the failures of the Poor Laws and the hypocrisy of those who administer them. Through Oliver's journey from workhouse to criminal den to respectable society, Dickens explores questions of nature versus nurture, suggesting that inherent goodness can survive even the most corrupting environments. The novel stands as a powerful indictment of Victorian society's treatment of its most vulnerable members.
目录
书籍摘录
Oliver Twist
OR THE PARISH BOY’S PROGRESS
by Charles Dickens
Contents
I TREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVER TWIST WAS BORN AND OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS BIRTH II TREATS OF OLIVER TWIST’S GROWTH, EDUCATION, AND BOARD III RELATES HOW OLIVER TWIST WAS VERY NEAR GETTING A PLACE WHICH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SINECURE IV OLIVER, BEING OFFERED ANOTHER PLACE, MAKES HIS FIRST ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE V OLIVER MINGLES WITH NEW ASSOCIATES. GOING TO A FUNERAL FOR THE FIRST TIME, HE FORMS AN UNFAVOURABLE NOTION OF HIS MASTER’S BUSINESS VI OLIVER, BEING GOADED BY THE TAUNTS OF NOAH, ROUSES INTO ACTION, AND RATHER ASTONISHES HIM VII OLIVER CONTINUES REFRACTORY VIII OLIVER WALKS TO LONDON. HE ENCOUNTERS ON THE ROAD A STRANGE SORT OF YOUNG GENTLEMAN IX CONTAINING FURTHER PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE PLEASANT OLD GENTLEMAN, AND HIS HOPEFUL PUPILS X OLIVER BECOMES BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH THE CHARACTERS OF HIS NEW ASSOCIATES; AND PURCHASES EXPERIENCE AT A HIGH PRICE. BEING A SHORT, BUT VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER, IN THIS HISTORY XI TREATS OF MR. FANG THE POLICE MAGISTRATE; AND FURNISHES A SLIGHT SPECIMEN OF HIS MODE OF ADMINISTERING JUSTICE XII IN WHICH OLIVER IS TAKEN BETTER CARE OF THAN HE EVER WAS BEFORE. AND IN WHICH THE NARRATIVE REVERTS TO THE MERRY OLD GENTLEMAN AND HIS YOUTHFUL FRIENDS. XIII SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES ARE INTRODUCED TO THE INTELLIGENT READER, CONNECTED WITH WHOM VARIOUS PLEASANT MATTERS ARE RELATED, APPERTAINING TO THIS HISTORY XIV COMPRISING FURTHER PARTICULARS OF OLIVER’S STAY AT MR. BROWNLOW’S, WITH THE REMARKABLE PREDICTION WHICH ONE MR. GRIMWIG UTTERED CONCERNING HIM, WHEN HE WENT OUT ON AN ERRAND XV SHOWING HOW VERY FOND OF OLIVER TWIST, THE MERRY OLD JEW AND MISS NANCY WERE XVI RELATES WHAT BECAME OF OLIVER TWIST, AFTER HE HAD BEEN CLAIMED BY NANCY XVII OLIVER’S DESTINY CONTINUING UNPROPITIOUS, BRINGS A GREAT MAN TO LONDON TO INJURE HIS REPUTATION XVIII HOW OLIVER PASSED HIS TIME IN THE IMPROVING SOCIETY OF HIS REPUTABLE FRIENDS XIX IN WHICH A NOTABLE PLAN IS DISCUSSED AND DETERMINED ON XX WHEREIN OLIVER IS DELIVERED OVER TO MR. WILLIAM SIKES XXI THE EXPEDITION XXII THE BURGLARY XXIII WHICH CONTAINS THE SUBSTANCE OF A PLEASANT CONVERSATION BETWEEN MR. BUMBLE AND A LADY; AND SHOWS THAT EVEN A BEADLE MAY BE SUSCEPTIBLE ON SOME POINTS XXIV TREATS ON A VERY POOR SUBJECT, BUT IS A SHORT ONE, AND MAY BE FOUND OF IMPORTANCE IN THIS HISTORY XXV WHEREIN THIS...