Learn from critical realism representative writer Dickens: "Empirical imagination, blended into one"

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As a 19th-century British realist writer, Charles ▪ Dickens ushered in a new era of realism with the outstanding achievements of 14 great works, and was respected by later generations as the most outstanding representative of satirical giants, language masters, and critical realism. Two days ago, I read Dickens's "Pickwick Biography", "Orphans of the Mist", and "The Old Antique Shop" with you. Today, let's take a look at another of Dickens's masterpieces, David ▪ Copperfield.

David ▪ Copperfield is a semi-autobiographical novel that surpasses other works by Dickens, who affectionately calls himself "the favorite child of his heart." Through the unfortunate encounter of an orphan, the work paints a broad and colorful picture of society, profoundly exposing the exploitation of the working people by the bourgeoisie, the oppression of the people by parliament and the dark corruption of the judicial circles.

The book uses first-person narrative techniques, using rhetorical techniques such as contrast and exaggeration to shape typical characters of different classes in society. For the diligent and honest workers, the author especially gave warm praise and sincere praise. The salesman Micawber is a very successful character created by Dickens with great skill.

Mr. Micawber has many children and a heavy burden of life, often earning no commission and is in debt. Nevertheless, his thoughtful manners, his proper manners, his elegant manners, his modest demeanor, and his loyalty and affection for his wife remained unchanged. The Micawbers often cried because of financial constraints, but as soon as they turned around, they immediately hummed happy songs again, and regained confidence in getting rich.

The breakthrough of Dickens's portrayal of Micawber's character is not that he truly depicts the specific situation of the underclass being stretched and impoverished, but in creating a typical character like "Micawber". Today, the term "micawberism" has entered every ordinary English dictionary with an interpretation of "the optimism of long-term thinking and luck", which also shows the strength of Dickens's language shaping ability from one side.

Dickens's early works, mostly loosely structured "legends of the tramp", were improvisations inspired by the brush of inspiration. David ▪ Copperfield, on the other hand, is his mid-production, which pays more attention to the sense of proportion and structural skills of art. In chapter 11, Dickens summarizes his creative approach as "empirical imagination, combined into one."

When creating works, Dickens is not limited to copying or copying what actually happened, but fully mobilizes his subjective initiative, breaks the original mode and exerts his imagination, and uses life materials to create new things. Some of the characteristics or experiences of the protagonist are sometimes taken from the author's own life experience.

The scene in the book where David learned the alphabet with his mother when he was a child is his own personal experience. After his mother remarried, David read the same books he himself had read at that age in his extreme loneliness. After his mother was tortured to death, David was sent to work as a child laborer, which was also the age at which Dickens was a child laborer.

However, the facts are very different from the novel: Dickens is not an orphan, and his David is a "widow". Of course, there are many connections between works of art and real life, and there will be many differences at the same time.

Throughout David ▪ Copperfield, it is not difficult to feel Dickens's humanitarian spirit of fraternity, forgiveness, and compassion. Mr. Pei Guoti, Mr. Pei Guoti, and his nephew Hamm and others all possess the precious qualities of honesty, kindness, loyalty, and integrity, and their hearts are pure and soft.

When David was beaten so badly and bruised by his stepfather, even his biological mother did not dare to visit him. Peggotty, a warm-hearted working woman, secretly went out in the middle of the night to comfort David, who was locked in a room alone. The dialogue between the two is very touching, and since then an indescribable affection has been established.

Sometimes, strangers have more thoughtful care than indifferent relatives give. Everyone, like David ▪ Copperfield, has received a lot of guidance and help on the road to growth. In this regard, we should be grateful and let this warm power be transmitted to a wider place.