Abstract

Charles Dickens is one of the most prominent British novelists in the nineteenth century. Oliver Twist is his first social criticism novel, exposing the terrible violence hidden in London’s narrow, dirty and remote streets. But the novel is also full of vigor and optimism, such as the positive characters Oliver, Nancy and Miss Ross. Although they were born in misery, growing up in a world of darkness and evil, they always had a pure and good heart. Hardships did not break them down. Instead, they have shown their noble qualities of strong-will, holiness and pureness. In Oliver Twist, the natural expressions of contemplation on human nature reflect that Dickens’s hope for society, life and mankind can not be vanished.
Oliver Twist has aroused many scholars’ interests since it was translated into China. Some of them interpret it from the perspective of narratology, analyzing its narrative skills; some dig into the theme of the novel, exploring friendship, growth and other aspects of human nature; others also study from the perspective of social linguistics, analyzing the conversations in the novel. Based on previous studies, this paper will focus on the theme of good humanity, studying main characters of the novel, such as Oliver, Miss Rose and Nancy, so as to explore Dickens’s hope for good humanity and the optimistic and romantic humanity within himself. In this novel, Dickens shows people the best of human nature and let see not only the nature of the society, but also the hope in life. Through the interpretation of goodness of humanity in Oliver Twist, we can get spiritual experience of goodness, deepen our understanding of human nature, and enhance the spiritual realm of ourselves.

Keywords：goodness of humanity  Oliver  Nancy  Rose

摘要

查尔斯•狄更斯是英国十九世纪最杰出的小说家之一。《雾都孤儿》是狄更斯的第一部社会批判小说，揭露了当时隐藏在伦敦狭小、肮脏的偏僻街道里的恐怖暴力。但小说也充满了生气和乐观的情绪，如奥利弗、南希、罗斯小姐等正面人物，虽都都出生于苦难之中，在黑暗和罪恶的世界中成长，却始终怀有一颗纯洁、善良的心，种种磨难并未使他们堕落，反而更显示出他们坚强、圣洁的高贵品质。作品中流露的对人性的思索体现出狄更斯对社会、人生、人类抱有一种无法泯火的希望。
《雾都孤儿》自译进国内以来，引起了很多学者的兴趣。他们有的从叙事学角度出发，分析小说的叙事技巧；有的深入挖掘小说的主题内涵，开展友情、成长、人性观等方面的探讨；也有从社会语言学角度出发，分析小说中人物的会话。在前人研究基础上，本文将重点围绕人性善这一主题，对小说中的主要人物，如奥利弗、罗斯小姐、南希等展开深刻细致的研究，探索作者心目中对美好人性复归的期盼以及作者本人乐观、浪漫的人文主义气质。狄更斯在这部小说中把人性的闪光点展现在人们面前，让当时的人们看清了社会本质，也看到了生活的希望。通过对《雾都孤儿》中善性主题的解读，我们能获得对善的心灵体验，加深对人性的了解，提升主体的精神境界。

关键词：人性善；奥利弗；南希；罗斯