The 29th Annual Book Report Competition For Secondary School Students
School No.: 4915
Entry No.: 4915J-7
Title: Oliver Twist
Author: Charles Dickens
Publisher: The Commercial Press
Oliver Twist is a fictional masterpiece and one of the world’s classic novels. It was written by the famous and dynamic author, Charles Dickens. Dickens was an English novelist. His books are about poverty and other social problems of the Victorian age. Oliver Twist is one of his most popular stories.
Oliver Twist is set in England during Victorian times - a dismal and dark age for people born into the working classes. A boy named Oliver Twist is one of these people. Oliver is an optimistic, courageous, but unfortunate boy.
At the beginning of the story we meet Oliver, an orphaned child who is living and working in a workhouse somewhere in England. His early life is tragic. However, he manages to escape and decides to go alone to London, dreaming of a better life.
When he arrives in London, his hopes are shattered when he strays into a den of thieves. He becomes involved with this band of vicious child pickpockets, led by the evil Fagin. In London, Oliver experiences a lot of bitterness and suffering. But all is not lost. He also meets a lot of respectable and wealthy people, in particular the kind-hearted and generous Mr. Brownlow, and his niece, Rose Maylie . They help Oliver when he is at his lowest. However, the terrible, mysterious Fagin, his criminal friend, Sikes, and Oliver’s mean half brother, Monks, want to kidnap Oliver and make him do more crime. Monks wants Oliver to be caught by the police; because he wants the inheritance money left to Oliver by their father. Nancy, Sikes girlfriend, tries to help Oliver, but in the end she is murdered by Sikes.
Finally, Mr. Brownlow helps Oliver to escape this horrible situation and the police catch Fagin and put him in prison. Meanwhile, Sikes dies while he is running away from the police, and Monks disappears. The closing of this story is cheerful and uplifting. Mr. Brownlow adopts Oliver and teaches him a lot of new things. Oliver has finally found a comfortable, loving and precious family of his own.
Such a miserable life experience of hardship and misfortune usually makes people feel hopeless and lost. They may feel the world is against them. Why do people have to suffer such injustices? Why do the poor have to live such lives? Why can’t they have a blessed life, like we all deserve? The poor also have rights and the freedom to pursue the lives that they want, but they are often kept down by uncaring and authoritarian societies.
And yet poor children like Oliver, can fight against this injustice. Oliver has a brave heart, a positive outlook and he has his dreams. He found the courage to get rid of the shackles of poverty. He escaped the workhouse, and in his innocence, he followed his heart. He chased his dream, left a bad life and walked towards a beautiful new beginning.
I think there are so many unfair or unreasonable things in our world, and sadly so many people cannot escape it. Maybe because of all their problems, people lose the pure heart, the heart that they once had when they were children, like Oliver. Childhood is a time when they could be courageous or cheerful or ignorant. A time when they could be what they wanted to be, no matter what was happening around them.
Children do not have complex ideas, they cry if they are upset, they laugh when they are happy, they get angry or indignant when they feel wronged. Oliver courageously escaped from Mr. Sowerberry’s shop, and set off for London and a better life. He met a lot of dangers in his travels, but he never gave up. If you ask me why, I think it is because he had a firm and unwavering willpower to find his dream.
Of course, another point is that he met a lot of good and honest people, who helped him get through the crisis.
This shows us that we don’t have to be alone, that if we want to find our your dream or change our lives for the better, there are friends there to help us through the hard times, and stick by us, through thick or thin. Blessings and victory are waiting for us all at the end of the road. So be like Oliver - hold your head high, have courage, and soldier on.