Charles Dickens Essay

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Something about Charles Dickens and his ability to take his reader to unbelievable places

with his imaginative powers allows him the honor of being the most popular English

novelist of the 19th century. Dickens has thrilled his readers for many years with his

down-to-earth stories about real people forced into real situations. Charles Dickens has

the ability to tell his stories from personal experiences. He fine-tuned his ability to tell his

own story through the life of another character or cast of characters.

Born on the evening of February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens was the second child of his

parents, John and Elizabeth Dickens.. Although he was a solitary child, Dickens was

observant and good natured . Looking back on this period of his life, Dickens thought of it

as the golden age (Carey 6). In the first novel that he wrote, The Pickwick Papers,

Dickens tries to bring back the good old times as he remembers them with their

picturesque nature. Gary Carey believes that this novel displays the happiness of innocence

and the playful spirit of the youth during the time of Dickens's youthful days (7).

Overtaken by financial difficulties, the Dickens family was forced to move into a

shabby suburb of Camden Town. This move must have shown the family how good they

had it back in Chatham. There Dickens was removed from school and forced to work

degrading menial jobs in an effort to help his struggling father put food on the table.

Dickens was put to work in a blackening factory among many rough and cruel employees,

probably the worst job in town. Shortly after Dickens started working in the factory his

father was thrown into jail for failure to pay his debts, only to be released three months

later. This period of time affected Dickens greatly as he went into a period of depression.

He felt abandoned and destroyed by this evil roller-coaster ride of life he was on. From

this time period come many of the major themes of his more popular novels. Perhaps the

most popular of these novels is David Copperfield. In this novel Dickens depicts a young

man who grows up in a very similar way to that of his own (Allen 28). Dickens' sympathy

for the victimized, his fascination with prisons and money, the desire to vindicate his

heroes' status as gentlemen, and the idea of London as an awesome, lively, and rather

threatening environment all reflect the experiences he had during his time on his own. On

his own at the age of twelve, Dickens learned many necessary life skills which also

developed in him a driving ambition and a boundless energy that transferred into every

thing that he did (28).

It would be a mistake to think of Charles Dickens as an uneducated man just because he

had little formal schooling. Dickens did what everyone should do, learn from life. His

entire writing career was a continuing process of development and experimentation. Many

of his themes keep repeating themselves throughout his pieces and those themes most

certainly stem from his early life. From his early Pickwick Papers to his one of his last

pieces The Mystery of Edwin Drood Dickens never ceased to develop his writing abilities

and skill, establishing himself as the major and primary Victorian novelist (Bloom 189).

The journey from boyhood into manhood is a momentous one, and definitely something

that has a lasting effect on one's person. Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield

describes the journey into manhood by telling a story similar to his own life through the

life of "David Copperfield." There isn't one underlining theme in this novel there are many.

The journey is one that along with "David's" is longing for what is lost in the past and the

humiliation he feels from being an orphan. Dickens has written an excellent novel

describing the troubles of growing up and the benefits of having a rough childhood.

Through the rough experiences that he had, Dickens was able to look back on his early life

and write world-famous stories about them. Calvin Brown feel that these experiences also

helped shape the man the Dickens became, as do all experiences in life for everyone

(Brown 144)

The structure of Dickens's Copperfield has the freeness and the unity of a wonderful

journey. As the scene moves from place to place in the story each move also represents a

critical step in David's spiritual journey to manhood. Dickens uses the pattern of changing

scenes to provide both variety and contrast of mood. The atmosphere changes as the story

moves along from the Salem House to Blunderstone, giving the story diversity. Dickens

constantly shows how the life of David would have been much easier had he had a decent

father figure in his home while he was growing up.

David is constantly searching for what he has lost in the past. He recalls the beautiful

world of the Peggottys when he says, "It seems to me at this hour that I have never seen

such sunlight as on those bright April afternoons, that I have never seen such a sunny little

figure as I used to see, sitting in the doorway of the old boat..."(Copperfield 7) This

writing of Dickens binds the reader to the story. David remembers the "olden" days and

thinks of them as the "golden" days (Allen 28).

As the beginning of the story describes, David Copperfield has many hard childhood

experiences, such as Dickens's own humiliating days spent working in the blackening

factory in London. The despair and humiliation that he suffered there and the rejection of

his parents and the loss of all his hopes of self-fulfillment are relived through David in this

book. Dickens tells his own story well through the life of David Copperfield. He isn't

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