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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.
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