Charles Dickens Section: Book Reports
. 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).
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