A Study on Nancy’s kindhearted Image in the Oliver Twist from the Perspective of Stylistics

【Abstract】The majority of scholars suggest that although Oliver is the main character in the novel Oliver Twist， the most successful character is Nancy. Nancy not only has the same fate as Oliver， but also is a loyal member of the pickpocket gang. She lives in a miserable pathetic life. For her contradiction inside， she struggles between the good and the evil. Stylistic analysis， which is an effective method of studying literatures， plays a significant role in bridging linguistics and literary criticism. This thesis mainly analyzes the character of Nancy in the Oliver Twist from the perspective of stylistics.

【Key words】Oliver Twist； Nancys image； Stylistics

Although Nancy had lived in the pickpocket team for a decade， she had never lost her essence of goodness. It is Olivers presence that awaked her virtues. The most attracting part of Nancy is her character. She looks like a weak girl， but virtually， she has a strong will. For justice， for love， she gains the courage to fight against the evils.

“Wait a minute！” said the girl：“I wouldnt hurry by， if it was you that was coming out be hung， the next time eight oclock struck， Bill. Id walk round and round the place till I dropped， if the snow was on the ground， and I hadnt a shawl to cover me.” （Ch 16：109）

After Oliver had been claimed by Nancy， Sikes and Nancy passed through a square， when the church bell struck the hour for eight. It is the time to hang the criminals. Nancy shows her mercy for those young men， and the deep concern for the uncertain future of Sikes. In this dialogue， Nancy using emphatic sentence “it was you that was coming out be hung” shows her deep love and compassion for Sikes. “Id walk round and round the place till I dropped， ” and “I hadnt a shawl to cover me.” This is a kind of hyperbole that made by using verbs. Dickens uses this rhetorical device to demonstrate that Nancy is profoundly sympathetic to those oppressed and vulnerable people， and Nancy wants to do something for them. For her kindness， she decided to help Oliver escaping from Fagin， as a result， setting the stage for her tragic fate.

“Keep back the dog， Bill！” cried Nancy， springing before the door， and closing it， as the Jew and his two pupils darted out in pursuit.“Keep back the dog；hell tear the boy to pieces.” （Ch 16：112）“I dont care for that， Bill， I dont care for that，” screamed the girl， struggling violently with the man， “the child shant be torn down by the dog， unless you kill me first.” （Ch 16：113）endprint

When Oliver tempted to run away， Sikes let the dog to bite Oliver. In fear of the dog might hurt Oliver， Nancy shouted at Sikes in a nearly mad way. Under such an urgent circumstance， Nancy using the Syntactic Overregularity - Repetition to express her anxiety that the dog would injure or even lead to the death of Oliver. She didnt control her feeling any more， instead， she cried in a crazy way and repeated the words “Keep back the dog” for two times at once and “I dont care for that” for two times， which attached great emphasis on the dialogue.

Her mercy and care for Oliver can empower her to fight against all the evils. It also helped her to use her courage and wit to steal important information from the thieves and to save Oliver eventually.

“I wont stand by and see it done， Fagin， ” cried the girl. “Youve got the boy， and what more would you have？ Let him be — let him be — or I shall put that mark on some of you that will bring me to the gallows before my time.” （Ch 16：113）

When the Jew inflicted a smart blow on Olivers shoulders with the club；and was raising it for a second， Nancy rushing forward， wrested it from his hand. She flung it into the fire， with a force that brought some of the glowing coal whirling cut into the room. Dickens uses dashing to narrative Nancys agitated emotion. Dash is often typed as two hyphens side by side. It functions to add emphasis to the components. Here the author intends to put more emphasis on this part of the sentence. Nancy， at that time， seemed like an unchained beast， she stamped with fury and summoned all her powers， roaring hysterically to Fagin “Let him be — let him be —”. It is heard like an order， but it more implies a kind of begging. For her kindhearted nature， she was not only fretted about Oliver， but also wanted to beg Fagin in a low profile.

References：

[1]Dickens，Charles.Oliver Twist[M].上海：世界圖书出版公司，2008.

作者简介：张文烨（1994.7.16-），女，汉族，辽宁沈阳人，现就读于辽宁大学外国语学院英语专业，主要研究方向：外国语言学及应用语言学。endprint