Abstract: This article uses the experience of the protagonist Oliver in the novel "Oliver Twist" as a clue to explore Dickens's thoughts of benevolence reflected in the work and analyze its origins, thereby revealing Dickens's attempt to use his Literary works are used to promote the idea of ??benevolence and achieve the purpose of alleviating social conflicts and promoting social harmony.

Keywords: "Oliver Twist" Dickens's thoughts on benevolence and good and evil

As a great British critical realist literary master in the 19th century, Dickens combined his life experience and personal beliefs to The connotation of the thought of benevolence is deeply reflected in the works. The novel "Oliver Twist" caused a huge response as soon as it was published. Most readers were shocked by the profound description of society and the expression of the characters' good wishes in the work. Various public opinions and comments on the novel were mixed. There are many.

In "Oliver Twist", the protagonist Oliver went through various hardships and finally lived a happy life with the help of Mr. Brownlow. The whole novel is immersed in the author's strong thoughts of benevolence.

In the society described in the novel, the elderly and sick are treated poorly by their employers, while the state and government do nothing. Children in the workhouse lived in poor conditions, did not have enough food to eat and had to work every day. Later, when Oliver was sent to work in the coffin room, another apprentice, Noah, often insulted Oliver's mother rudely. This made Oliver's life very unhappy and he was even forced to flee to London. Unfortunately, he got lost and fell into a den of thieves. After that, the gang of thieves headed by Fagin deliberately trained children like Oliver to become thieves.

As Marx once said, modern British novelists have revealed more political and social truths than politicians and moralists. Dickens was one of the novelists mentioned by Marx. Dickens describes Oliver's tragic situation in vivid language, full of pity, making readers worry about Oliver's life.

Dickens is also very clever in plot design. When Oliver is in trouble, someone will always stand up to help him get through it. On Oliver's way to London, a man gives him bread and cheese, and an old lady gives him food and says kind words to him. And these people who helped Oliver actually lived a hard life, and when they saw others in trouble, they would selflessly lend a helping hand. When Oliver was caught stealing and had a fever, a kind-hearted Mr. Brownlow took him home and took good care of him. This made Oliver feel very warm and liked staying in this home. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and Oliver returned to the den of thieves. Oliver is forced to follow Sikes to steal and is shot. But Sikes is a selfish person, he only cares about himself. When Oliver was about to die from his injuries, Mr. Giles and some servants found him. Miss Ruth and Mrs. Mellie lied to help the unconscious Oliver heal his wounds, tried to help him escape from the police, and took care of him meticulously. . When Fagin puts Oliver in danger again, Nancy saves him. The clever design of these plots in the novel reflects Dickens' sympathy for the weak and highlights his benevolent thoughts.

The ending of "Oliver Twist" tells us that good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil. Dickens allows us to see a happy ending supported by his faith. In his eyes, a person's origin is not important, no matter when and where, we only need to maintain our kindness and innocence. What's more, we should keep our pure souls and find the way to happiness. Young Oliver suffered a lot, but he always stayed clean and finally inherited the property with the help of Mr. Brownlow and Miss Ruth. As for the ugly phenomena in the novel, Dickens gave them a tragic fate. The thief leader Fagin was hung on a wooden frame. Sykes slipped on the track and strangled himself with a rope. Jack was exiled for stealing a snuff bottle. Mr. Bumble lost his job at the workhouse and ultimately gained nothing.

Sadly for Nancy. She did a lot of bad things, but that was because no one was willing to help her when she was facing death and she had no choice but to steal for a living. In fact, Nancy has a benevolent nature, or she is a conscientious thief. She felt deeply for Oliver. Once, when Oliver tried to escape, Sikes chased him, and Nancy stood at the door to stop Sikes. She begged Sikes to die not to let the dog bite Oliver, so she was beaten black and blue. She also ventured to see Miss Ruth to tell him about Oliver's situation. When Sikes found out, he beat Nancy to death. It can be said that she is a tragic victim.

Through the character's behavioral description, we can find that Oliver has the kindest heart, and Nancy's sins sparkle with kindness. Dickens points to benevolence in his descriptions of characters. In addition, in the description of the cruel Sikes and Fagin, Dickens fully shows us their sins, precisely to express his thoughts of benevolence, and good will eventually defeat evil.

Dickens's real life experience laid the foundation for his thought of benevolence. When he was 12 years old, his father went to prison for debts and his family fell into financial difficulties, so Dickens had to leave school and go to work.

After working hard in various jobs for many years, Dickens also suffered a lot, but this experience gave him the opportunity to come into contact with all aspects of British social life and made him understand the pain of the lower class people's lives. At this time, the idea of ??benevolence began to sprout in the young Dickens's heart. With important goals in mind, Dickens wanted to protest social injustice, promote reform through public opinion, and ultimately help people in need. In fact, Oliver's hardships in "Oliver Twist" are a vivid portrayal of Dickens's personal experience. His descriptions of the characters' psychology and behaviors in his novels are so delicate and realistic, which stems from his feelings about his childhood experiences.

The social and moral environment at that time also affected Dickens's thoughts of benevolence. In the 19th century, Britain, which insisted on and pursued morality, laid the social foundation for Dickens's thought of benevolence. Dickens lived in the Victorian era, when humanitarian ideas were very popular. The entire society is full of moral pursuits in all fields. The Victorian era insisted on moral excellence and pursued kindness and justice. As the European Enlightenment moved deeper into life, materialist ideas were widely spread, science and technology gradually developed, and people began to pay more attention to children. People recognize that children have independent personalities. Education is something every child should have access to. This is also the social problem faced by Dickens in "Oliver Twist".

Furthermore, Dickens believed in ____. Christ's spirit of equality, love and redemption also laid the foundation for Dickens's thoughts of benevolence. The Victorian era contains rich religious culture. Dickens learned a lot from Christ and put Christ ____ throughout his works. As a writer, his religious beliefs will inevitably affect the creation of characters in his works. In Dickens's works, it is not difficult to find that the thoughts of benevolence and humanitarianism are often reflected.

However, in some respects, Dickens's idea of ??benevolence is too idealistic, unrealistic, and has obvious limitations. First of all, Dickens's understanding of the social roots of evil is too superficial. He simply summarizes the causes of evil as personal moral failings and the injustice of some legal systems. In "Oliver Twist", Dickens attributed Oliver's misfortune to the promulgation of the New Poor Law and the moral failings of evil people. He simply did not see the nature of the capitalist system. His attempts to use benevolence to alleviate social conflicts and promote social harmony are so feeble. He only sees the surface of the problem and ignores the profound nature of the social system. For the petty bourgeois Dickens, he could not avoid this limitation in the period of rising capitalism.

In addition, Dickens, who was full of benevolent thoughts in his heart, criticized and exposed the ugly phenomena of society in an unrealistic way. In his view, the source of suffering and evil is the evil nature of human nature. In the novel, Dickens arranged the plot of Mr. Brownlow, Mrs. Macy and Miss Ruth to use their kindness to save the orphan Oliver in trouble, turning him from nothing to a person with both property and status. However, this This happy-get-rich-quick ending is dreamlike and simply cannot happen in reality.

In "Oliver Twist", Dickens tried to use literary creation to expose the hypocrisy of the new Poor Law, criticize social ugliness, and protest against injustice. He wanted to awaken people to help the underprivileged. This was also his ultimate goal when writing this novel. Throughout his life, Dickens always used the spirit of charity to expose evil, protest against inequality and advocate the beauty of human nature. He tells us that we should keep a pure heart and never give in to evil forces.

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