مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - A Comparison Between the Image of the ‘Child’ in Dickens’ Oliver Twist and in Golding’s Lord of The Flies

Abstract :

The aim of this study was to cast a light on the child as a literary figure from different perspectives which are constructed upon a comparative outlook, regarding Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The interest in the image of the child that begins in the Victorian period continued in the twentieth century. This continuation brings a profound investigation to the concept of the child through a comparison between these two-paramount works. In this study, while Oliver Twist as a Victorian novel focuses upon the naivety and purity of childhood on the one hand, subsequently, Golding attempts to destroy this purity, with the possible evil character in the human soul in the Lord of The Flies. As a matter of fact, the child feeds his soul not only with childish softness but also the corrupted nature of adulthood. In a way, this issue will be examined with the purity and innocence of Dickens’ Oliver Twist, as well as with the hellish figuration of the boys in the Lord of the Flies..