雾都孤儿读书报告

姓名： 王利利 班级： 一班 学号： 2010060641004 日期：2013.5.1

A Book Report on

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular. His representative works include: Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Dombey and Son, Hard Times, Bleak House and so on.

Oliver Twist, subtitled The Parish Boy's Progress, is Charles Dickens’s second novel. Oliver Twist was born into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse in an unnamed town .He became an orphan after his mother’s death and his father’s unexplained absence. He spent the first eight years of his life at a farm owned by a woman named Mrs. Mann. Along with other orphans, Oliver is brought up with little food and few comforts. One day, he was thrown into a cellar because of asking for more porridge. Having suffered a lot, Oliver left for London. Unfortunately, as soon as he arrived in London, he was cheated by a gang of thieves. The leader, Fagin tried every means to make him a burglar. The other day Mr. Brownlow had one of his beautiful watches stolen by two skilled teenage thieves, Artful Dodger and Charley Bates, and thought naturally it was Oliver that had done it because he was the only one nearby after the theft had taken place. Being wrathful, he caught Oliver, and sent him to the police station. Fortunately for him, Oliver was proved innocent by one onlooker afterwards. With sympathy, Mr. Brownlow took the injured, poor Oliver to his own home. There Oliver lived freely for some months. But he was caught again by those thieves and forced to steal in Mrs. Maylie’s house at midnight, but he failed. In the end, Mrs. Maylie proved to be the niece of Rose, the adopted daughter of Mrs. Maylie. Mrs. Maylie adopted Oliver also and gives him a happy life. All the evils got their punishment.

I was wondering how such a little boy who had already suffered oppressive affliction can remain pure in body and mind. For my part, the reason is the nature of goodness. I think it is the most important information implied in the novel by Dickens-he believed that goodness could conquer every difficulty. Although I don’t think goodness is omnipotent, yet I do believe that those who are kind-hearted live more happily than those who are evil-minded.