Dickens's Low-level Narrative

This thesis analyzes the contradictions of Charles Dickens's underclass narrative concerning the novels Oliver Twist,Hard Times and The Tale of Two Cities.On the one hand,he sincerely sympathizes with the underclass and hopes to improve the life of the underclass.On the other hand,he does not really integrate with the underclass,keeping a distance with them,looking at the underclass in the condescending way,and even fearing the power of the underclass.In Dickens's underclass narrative,there is a mixed underclass world.One is the basement of Victorian slum dwellers of London in the 19th century.The other is that Dickens constructed when he thought about how to solve the underclass's problems.Dickens's novels focus on the tragic life of the underclass.They live in dirty,broken slums,wear rags,and are often in starvation.They cannot express their appeals to the society,and are mocked and oppressed by the middle and upper classes.He pays attention to the misfortune of the underclass,and disagrees with the view that the bourgeoisie has attributed poverty to moral corruption.However,he does not realize that the misfortune of underclass is caused by social conditions.Therefore,he cannot agree with the revolution to solve the problems of the underclass.Although he expresses sympathy for the oppressed revolutionaries,he is not aware of the nature of the revolution and uneasy about the frenzy of revolution and the possible turbulence and disorder.He also does not realize the importance of the revolution to the underclass of the enlightenment and breaking the existing social structure.For Dickens,in order to change the underlying life and eliminate social injustice,the only way is reform.That is to say,it is adjusted through legal and moral means within the existing social framework.Dickens makes a voice for the underclass,which exerts the function of intellectuals and makes more people to focus on the underlying problems.This is not only related to his childhood experience,but also deeply influenced by the realistic traditions of realistic novels in the eighteenth century and the idea of enlightening the readers in the works of English literature.However,as a middle class writer,he is not equal to the underclass,and arranges the underclass with superiority and elite consciousness.Therefore,in the Dickens's novels,the slum becomes a dangerous and evil place that meets the imagination of the middle class,workers and revolutionaries who try to rebel are ridiculous or cruel,and the underclass people who meets his moral requirements is finally saved.Dickens is not a radical political thinker,but as a novelist,his narration at least has two values.First,as an intellectual,he plays a role in awakening social morality.The second is that his novel has indeed changed social conditions to some degree,such as the promotion of school reform,legal reform,and the improvement of child workers's life.