Abstract

Charles Dickens is a British critical realistic novelist in the 19th century. He paid particular attention to the life experience of the “little” that lived at the bottom of the society, and profoundly reflected of the complex social reality in Britain at that time. Oliver Twist is one of his realistic novels. The novel, taking the fog city London as the background, tells a story of an orphan’s tragic life experience and setbacks. Growing up in an orphanage, Oliver suffered a lot. After leaving the orphanage, he was ever an apprentice. He was ever cheated to be a thief. And, he was ever forced to stay with evils. After experiencing countless bitterness, and finally with the help of kind people, he got a happy life.
Initiation is an everlasting literary theme. A Bildungsroman is a novel which describes the growth of the characters or protagonist. It is based on the narration of a character’s experiences to show inspiration of initiation and to reflect the changes of a character’s thoughts and transformation in mentality from naivety to maturity. Oliver Twist is a typical initiation novel. However, scholars usually analyze it from the point of view of humanity and violence, characters’ personalities and social criticism. This paper, from the perspective of initiation theme, based on the description of the hero’s initiation experience, analyzes the changes of hero’s characteristics and psychological states and highlights the initiation theme. In the modern society, there are too many temptations and negative factors, which make a great negative impact on the development of young people. Everyone should stick to their kindness and innocence.
 
Key words: Oliver Twist  initiation theme  Oliver  psychological changes
 
摘  要
查尔斯•狄更斯是19世纪英国批判现实主义小说家。狄更斯特别注意描写生活在英国社会底层的“小人物”的生活遭遇，深刻地反映当时英国复杂的社会现实。《雾都孤儿》是他于1838年出版的写实小说。小说以雾都伦敦为背景，讲述了一个孤儿悲惨的身世及遭遇，主人公奥立弗在孤儿院长大，经历学徒生涯，艰苦逃难，误入贼窝，又被迫与狠毒的凶徒为伍，历尽无数辛酸，最后在善良人的帮助下，查明身世并获得了幸福。
成长主题是一个永恒的文学主题。成长小说就是以叙述人物的成长过程为主题的小说。它通过对一个人的成长经历的叙述，表现这个人在社会化过程中一次或几次成长的经历和感悟，反映出人物的思想和心理从幼稚走向成熟的变化过程。《雾都孤儿》是一部典型的成长小说。然而，文学评论家多从仁爱与暴力、人物性格、社会批判等角度对其进行剖析。本文试从成长主题入手，结合小说主人公的成长经历，分析他性格及心理的变化，从而凸显成长主题。在现代社会中，太多的诱惑和不良因素对青少年的成长具有极大的影响。在成长过程中，每个人都应该坚持自己心中的那份善良和纯真。
 
关键词：《雾都孤儿》  成长主题  奥利弗  心理变化