David Copperfield (Not the magician)

This piece at first appears quite ominous due to its enormous size. Surprisingly enough it moves mush faster than you might at first expect. David Copperfield serves as a type of autobiography of Charles Dickens. Keeping this in mind is extremely helpful when the book seems to get bogged down with slow and mundane themes (such is any real life at times). Despite the length of the novel and the aforementioned slow and mundane themes, this book has won a special place in my heart.

In the beginning, we learn that David’s father died before young Davy’s birth. The family (consisting at this point of Mother Copperfield and Pegotty, the nanny) is, as you could imagine, not well off and struggling to make ends meet. The night David is born we meet his father’s aunt. She is a stuffy old woman who is terribly upset to find out that the baby is a boy and not a little girl who she intended to name Betsy. She in turn sets her back to the helpless family (and we in turn as readers find ourselves declaring “Good Riddens!”), but surfaces at a crucial time in the story where we learn that her heart isn’t quite as stony as we once believed.

Enter the cruel Mr. Murdstone courting the widow Copperfield. This man seems to get on in life by sucking it out of those around him. I am not convinced that he wins over the heart of the widow, but am more apt to believe that he uses his money and monetary means to convince David’s Mother to marry him. After the marriage both Mr. Murdstone and his sister move in with David and his mom and promptly sets to work wringing the life out of them. This is a sad time in David’s life. Not only is he forced to perform all of his studies under the critical and unforgiving eye of sister Murdstone, but also sees his fair mother’s health begin to fail as a result of the emotional and psychological abuse administered by the two Murdstone’s.

During this time of his life (keeping in mind that he is between six and nine years old), David turns to reading books to help him escape the reality of his situation. He also goes with Peggoty to visit her brother down by the sea as often as the Murdstones permit. At Pegotty’s brothers place we find a few classic Dickens’s characters namely Mr. Pegotty (the brother) a sailor that, as uneducated as he might be, has a heart the size of the ocean, the adorable little Emily, faithful Ham, and dangerously unbalanced Miss. Gummidge. Here David feels accepted and forms lasting memories and friendships that effect the rest of his life. His visits to Mr. Peggoty’s come to an abrupt end when David is sent to boarding school for biting Mr. Murdstone.
At school, we meet more unforgettable characters that we run into time and again throughout the book. Steerfoth and Traddles are two of these, who epitomize the heroes and underdogs we all knew in grade school. Here David builds lasting friendships but is taken out of school when his mother dies and Mr. Murdstone sends him to work pasting labels on bottles. Poor David by this time has been so ill treated that the reader wouldn’t mind inviting this Murdstone fellow to “step outside”. David can’t abide this work place and runs away to his great aunt (yes the one that wanted to name him Betsy), where he finds a new life full of love and learning. This is where the real adventure begins and where I leave it.

There are so many wonderful characters in this book that it makes a book report rather lengthy. Although the book deals with real life and in turn can seem to drag a bit, characters like Barkis, Mr. Dick, Mr. Micawber, and Agnes keep the book alive and vibrant. If you enjoy Dickens I highly recommend this book.