oliver twist, one of the most famous works of charles dickens', is a novel reflecting the tragic fact of the life in britain in 18th century.
the author who himself was born in a poor family wrote this novel in his twenties with a view to reveal the ugly masks of those cruel criminals and to expose the horror and violence hidden underneath the narrow and dirty streets in london.
the hero of this novel was oliver twist, an orphan, who was thrown into a world full of poverty and crime. he suffered enormous pain, such as hunger, thirst, beating and abuse. while reading the tragic experiences of the little oliver, i was shocked by his sufferings. i felt for the poor boy, but at the same time i detested the evil fagin and the brutal bill. to my relief, as was written in all the best stories, the goodness eventually conquered devil and oliver lived a happy life in the end. one of the plots that attracted me most is that after the theft, little oliver was allowed to recover in the kind care of mrs. maylie and rose and began a new life. he went for walks with them, or rose read to him, and he worked hard at his lessons. he felt as if he had left behind forever the world of crime and hardship and poverty.
how can such a little boy who had already suffered oppressive affliction remain pure in body and mind? the reason is the nature of goodness. i think it is the most important information implied in the novel by dickens—he believed that goodness could conquer every difficulty. although i don't think goodness is omnipotent, yet i do believe that those who are kind-hearted live more happily than those who are evil-minded.
for me, the nature of goodness is one of the most necessary character for a person. goodness is to humans what water is to fish. he who is without goodness is an utterly worthless person. on the contrary, as the famous saying goes, 'the fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose', he who is with goodness undoubtedly is a happy and useful person. people receiving his help are grateful to him and he also gets gratified from what he has done, and thus he can do good to both the people he has helped and himself.
to my disappointment, nowadays some people seem to doubt the existence of the goodness in humanity. they look down on people's honesty and kindness, thinking it foolish of people to be warm-hearted. as a result, they show no sympathy to those who are in trouble and seldom offer to help others. on the other hand, they attach importance to money and benefit. in their opinion, money is the only real object while emotions and morality are nihility. if they cannot get profit from showing their'kindness', they draw back when others are faced with trouble and even hit a man when he is down. they are one of the sorts that i really detest.
francis bacon said in his essay, 'goodness, of all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the greatest, being the character of the deity, and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing, no better than a kind of vermin.'
that is to say a person without goodness is destined to lose everything. therefore, i, a kind person, want to tell those'vermin-to-be'to learn from the kind oliver and regain the nature of goodness.
各位老师、同学们：
大家好！
这天很高兴有机会和大家在一齐聊一聊当下倡导并受到人们广为关注的感恩教育。究竟什么是感恩教育呢？我们曾被哪些事情感动过？这次高二年级语文月考卷中有一篇文章，题目是“假如这天是我生命中的最后一天”，我觉得这个题目很好，于是在班级中作了一个调查：假如这天是我们生命中的最后一天，你会做哪些事情？台下发言较为涌跃：有的就说，我们要好好地吃一顿，有的说要好好地玩，还有的说什么都不做……各种答案五花八门。这时候我想起以前看到过的一篇报导：一位母亲陪同儿子参加高考，儿子在教室里考试，母亲在外面守侯。因为天气太热，气温过高，不久这位母亲便中暑倒在了地上，被路人送到了医院。在医院，母亲一向没有苏醒过来，令众多医生束手无策，最后还一个护士想到一个好点子，在母亲的耳边轻轻地说“高考结束了”。话还没说完，母亲便坐立起来，大声地说“我得赶紧问问我儿子考得怎样样？！”在这个生死关头，母亲心里牵挂的仍是正在考试的儿子。这是一种多么伟大的母爱啊，她永远把儿子放在了第一位，因为关心儿子，而忽略了自我的一切，甚至是生命。我相信各位同学的家长在遇到这种状况的时候，也同样会为你们付出的，因为你是她的孩子。他们爱你，她们关心你胜过自我的生命。
但是同学们，你们又有多少人是把父母放在第一位的呢？不少同学总是不断地报怨自我的父母这样不好，那样不对，对父母的行为和做法挑三拣四，横加指责，甚至于直接与父母顶撞！有些同学不明白自我父母身体的健康状况，不记得自我父母的生日，有的连自我父母的工作单位在哪都不明白，想想看，父母为你们付出那么多精力和心血，扪心自问，你关心过他们吗？你为你们的.父母做过什么呢？如果什么也没做过的话，那又有什么理由去指责你们的父母呢？对待自我的父母尚且如此，又怎样敢奢望你们会善待你们的老师和朋友呢？国家有难，又怎样敢指望你为他抛头胪洒热血呢？如果人人都是这么自私自利的话，社会哪里还会有温情呢？如果我们生活在这个失去温情的世界，那么我们活着又有什么好处呢？光靠喊口号是没有任何用处的，我们就应用我们实际的行动来关爱我们的父母！同学们，我想说，假如这天是我生命中的最后一天，我们要做的第一件事情，就是报答养我育我的父母！为他们献出自我的一份爱心。
还有一篇报导，一位不识字的母亲劳作了大半辈子，买了一副银手镯，很是珍爱，成天戴在手上舍不得摘下。有一次她去城里看望他正在读高三的儿子，儿子惊奇地发现母亲手上的手镯不见了，便问他母亲手镯去哪了，母亲笑盈盈地掏出一个蓝布包，说：“娘用这副手镯给你换回来两本“天书”，这回俺娃考大学但是有期望啦！”看着母亲充满笑意的脸，儿子感到很惊奇，这个世界上哪有保证能考上大学的“天书”啊？社会上的骗子这么多，该不会是上当受骗了吧？接过布包，层层打开，果然，那两本所谓的“天书”，但是是两本小学课本罢了。儿子一急，准备说出真相，期望找到骗子挽回损失。但是当他看到母亲满脸的皱纹和充满期望的双眼的时候，儿子放下了。他实在不忍心告诉他母亲这个残酷的事实，柔弱的母亲将受不了这样致命的打击！于是便笑着告诉母亲：“娘，你回去吧，我记下啦！必须考好”！望着母亲渐渐离去的瘦小背影，儿子哭了，哭得很悲哀，回去后，儿子便把这个充满爱意的“天书”摆放在最显眼的位置，让它激励自我。半年后的高考，儿子获得了前所未有的成功，北京的一所重点大学录取了他，他从此踏上了人生的正轨。
爱其实就是我们的身边，我们并不缺少爱，缺少的只是发现它的双眼。每一天早晨睁开双眼，我都会庆幸，这天我还活着，活着是多么地完美，世界上每一天发生那么多的灾难和不幸，却没有一件落在我的头上，我活得很快乐。什么是幸福？想起非洲那么多的难民，突然懂得了吃得饱其实也是一种幸福。比起那么先天性残疾或是智障，我们的父母给了我们健全的肢体和聪明的大脑，这也是一种幸福。那些天生残疾的人尚且没有埋怨老天的残忍和不公，仍然为了能够更好地生存而在不断地奋斗着，那么拥有健全的肢体，聪明大脑的我们，又有什么理由去怨天尤人呢？记得我读中学的时候，爆发了美伊战争和轰炸南联盟事件。看着电视新闻里每一天不断变化的战况，我感到很庆幸，庆幸的是我身在强大的中国，而非伊拉克或是南联盟，我们的国家保证着我的生命和财产不受外敌的侵害，我用不着成天提防着导弹的袭击。路上遇到人民警察的时候，我会感到个性地亲切，因为是他们用辛劳维护了整个社会的稳定和安宁，让我不必担心歹徒的肆意侵挠。努力吧，同学们，为了我们国家的更加繁荣和富强，为了我们的母亲的强健和安康，努力吧！我相信，只要我们都能够尽我们的全力了，即便不能取得成功，我们也将无悔。