Charles Dickens
Martin Chuzzlewit

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Hmmm, Charles Dickens is one of my all-time favourite authors and I will happily re-read his books over and over again, but this is one book of his which has never grabbed me like the others have and therefore I have only read it once rather than re-reading it and re-reading it as I have done the others. So I feel it is time to try again with this book and see if I can love it as I love his other books, or if it still doesn’t grab me for some reason then to try and understand the reason for this. And even though I have read this book before, that was years and years ago, so it feels like I will be reading it for the first time as I don’t really remember what happens in it.  

Usually I jot down my thoughts (and my attempts at plot/character guesses!) as I read the book and the story develops so I usually give a summary of each chapter/section and then my thoughts on it, but there are so many characters and plotlines and locations in this book that I soon found that hard to do whilst trying to keep track of everything, so I’ve found it easier to take notes on each character each time they appear in the book and summarise their individual journey through the book. I hope I’m not dismantling the book too much by doing it this way (!), but I’m hoping it will allow me to appreciate how richly and thoroughly each character has been written and be able to study each character in greater depth. I’ve just begun each character’s notes more or less in the order that they appear in the book, rather than in order of their importance in the book as I’m not sure from the beginning who will be important and who won’t (although I could probably have a fair guess that Martin Chuzzlewit will be a fairly major character, tee hee!).

Seth Pecksniff

He teaches architecture to paying pupils who board at his house in a village near Salisbury, one of his pupils being Martin Chuzzlewit (a relative of his), though he takes a large fee for this and doesn’t provide much useful teaching. Tom Pinch is his assistant, though he is scornful of Tom. He speaks of himself as a moral man and sees himself as being only in the right and he lectures others on their lack of morality compared to his own. He often tries to take advantage of others and is selfish and opportunistic, and is accused by another pupil, John Westlock, of being a hypocrite and a pretender. Hmmm, he really isn’t a nice man, is he?! I think Dickens likes to depict the irony with these characters though, people who lecture others whilst not behaving at all well themselves (and John Westlock’s accusation does seem to describe Pecksniff very accurately!), and these characters often make for humorous scenes. I chuckled at him falling over backwards on his front door step, that was a funny scene with the wind blowing so strongly and mischievously, and him then being discovered by his daughter in a disheveled state, tee hee, how very wounding that must have been to his dignity! 

Pecksniff is a cousin of Chuzzlewit Snr (an elderly rich gentleman), and manages to convince this gentleman that the concern and regard he shows towards him has no ulterior motive by pretending to urge Martin Jnr’s case to him and concealing the fact that he is aware of their falling out. He suggests inviting all of Chuzzlewit Snr’s relatives to his own house, pretending that this will deflect their attention from the gentleman which will then enable him to secretly leave the town and avoid his relatives. Hmmm, so Pecksniff is just as interested in Chuzzlewit Snr’s money as all the rest of the gentleman’s relatives are, but he certainly seems far cleverer than them at concealing this, and I chuckled at his deviousness in seeming to selflessly suggest that all the relatives gather at his house, in order to benefit the gentleman. 

He travels to London with his daughters (Mercy and Charity) and stays at Todgers’ Boarding House (run by Mrs Todgers), and Anthony and Jonas Chuzzlewit (more relatives of Chuzzlewit Snr) coincidentally join their coach to London. Pecksniff and Chuzzlewit Snr meet in London, and that gentleman shows his willingness to rely on Pecksniff again, though he requests that Pecksniff sends Martin Jnr away, which Pecksniff agrees to and also pretends to appear shocked at the news that Martin Jnr had declared feelings for Mary Graham (Chuzzlewit Snr’s carer/companion), which the gentleman feels is a betrayal. Pecksniff also agrees, along with his daughters, to show care and sympathy towards Mary. Later, after returning home again, he is summoned secretly to London by Anthony Chuzzlewit who is keen for his advice on how to help further the chance of marriage between Pecksniff’s daughter and Jonas, as Anthony feels she would be a wise choice of wife for Jonas because she would not frivolously waste the money which Jonas would inherit from Anthony when he dies, and she would be keen to help Jonas save and make more money. Pecksniff feels Anthony is looking older and frailer, and Anthony then has a fit and dies while Pecksniff is at their house. Jonas begs Pecksniff to stay longer at their house, in order to deny anyone’s suspicions that Jonas had done something to bring about or speed Anthony’s demise. Pecksniff also catches sight of Anthony’s will leaving his money to Jonas. Later when Pecksniff wants to cunningly conciliate and take advantage of both Jonas and Chuzzlewit Snr but conceal from each his attempts with the other, he is unpleasantly shocked at Chuzzlewit Snr and Mary arriving unexpectedly at his house when he already has Jonas there intending to propose marriage to one of his daughters, at the same time as his two daughters are angrily in hysterics due to Jonas proposing to Mercy rather than Charity. He takes the chance of telling Chuzzlewit Snr that he was present at the death of his brother Anthony and was impressed by Jonas’ seriousness and grief. Tee hee, that was a humorously chaotic scene with Chuzzlewit Snr and Mary arriving whilst Jonas was there and also Mercy and Charity being in hysterics, and all praise to Pecksniff for thinking and acting swiftly but it was amusing to see him squirm! And I don’t like him sacrificing his daughters to Jonas in marriage in this way (though I guess this was often the way at that time, with marriages being arranged for the acquisition of security and money, rather than for love).

Pecksniff continues to impress Chuzzlewit Snr and becomes able to talk him into practically anything, and he convinces the gentleman to move into the Pecksniff home rather than staying at the Blue Dragon Inn. He also plans to marry Mary himself in order to secure Chuzzlewit Snr’s fortune and in order to pay back Martin Jnr. He comes across Mary solitarily walking and proposes to her, which she strongly rejects and tells him that she sees him for the conniving person he really is and that he is taking advantage of her in her unprotected state and taking advantage of Chuzzlewit Snr. He ignores all this, and insists on putting his arm around her waist and holding her hand, even though she demands that he doesn’t. He then explains to her that it would be better for Martin Jnr if she agreed to marry himself as he would then try and help Martin Jnr, but that Martin Jnr would suffer if she refuses him. Grrrr, this scene was really quite difficult to read with him forcing his attentions on poor Mary and effectively blackmailing her! What a nasty character Pecksniff has suddenly become, before this I viewed him as selfish and a little manipulative, but now he really is creepy and very manipulative!

Pecksniff later slumbers in the church where Tom Pinch is playing the organ and wakes to hear voices, it is Mary telling Tom about Pecksniff’s true character and that he is taking advantage of Chuzzlewit Snr and trying to force her to marry him by threatening Martin Jnr. After Mary leaves, Pecksniff secretly watches Tom and can see that Tom’s opinion of him as a hero and someone he admires and who has no faults, has now changed. He therefore determines to act first and so goes to Chuzzlewit Snr saying he has overheard fragments of a conversation between Tom and Mary and that Tom tried to force his affections on Mary, adding that he now has no choice but to let Tom go. Tom does not challenge this accusation when Pecksniff tells Tom this infront of Chuzzlewit Snr, as Tom realises this would only anger Chuzzlewit Snr more against Martin Jnr and Mary, and he realises that if challenged then Pecksniff would just excuse himself by saying he only heard fragments of the conversation so may have misunderstood the details, although Tom intimates to Pecksniff that he knows he had heard the full conversation as he found Pecksniff’s eyeglass in the church so knows exactly where Pecksniff had been sitting listening. Grrr, again! What a nasty piece of work Pecksniff is to tell these lies about poor faithful Tom! And what a gentleman Tom is, with not retaliating or defending himself as he knows it would hurt others more, just quietly accepting his fate (though I was desperate for him to speak up and defend himself!). But I was pleased that he let Pecksniff see that he now knows him for a liar, as it won’t do any harm, I feel, for Pecksniff to have Tom’s knowledge hanging over him, even though Tom appears powerless at the moment to bring Pecksniff to justice.

Further on, when Martin Jnr comes to speak to his grandfather after returning from America, Pecksniff constantly challenges and interrupts Martin Jnr and speaks for Chuzzlewit Snr, who seems agreeable with this arrangement. Martin Jnr flatly ignores Pecksniff and refuses to retaliate. Meanwhile Jonas agrees, under pressure from Montague Tigg (a rogue), to persuade Pecksniff to invest his money in Tigg’s Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company, and Pecksniff is convinced to do this and invests almost all of his savings as he is certain that he will inherit Chuzzlewit Snr’s money. Ooooh, I can see Pecksniff getting his comeuppance here by losing all of his money! 

He is later invited to meet with Chuzzlewit Snr, infront of Mark Tapley (Martin Jnr’s friend) and Tom and Ruth Pinch (Tom’s sister) and John and Martin Jnr and Mary and Mrs Lupin (the landlady of the Blue Dragon pub), in order for it to be revealed to him that Chuzzlewit Snr had all the time seen through his duplicitous ways and was actually testing him to see the depths to which he would sink. Chuzzlewit Snr hits Pecksniff and knocks him to the floor. Pecksniff retreats, after declaring that he himself had been fooled and taken advantage of by Chuzzlewit Snr and the others due to his own trusting nature, adding that he’s not ashamed to own such a trusting nature, and stating that he forgives Chuzzlewit Snr for his duplicity. He ends up a drunken beggar, frequently applying to Tom for money and then spending it on drink whilst continuing to criticise Tom for his kindness. Oh wow, I almost began to feel sorry for Pecksniff when all his schemes came crashing down around his ears and he realised that his machinations had been seen through all that time (almost sorry, but not quite!). And how typically Pecksniff that he still tries to maintain his falsely moral character right to the end, praising his own trusting nature, tee hee, it’s like he has almost convinced himself he really is that kind and caring man! And again, I was beginning to feel sorry for how he ended up, but again I stopped when I saw how he continued to be unkind to Tom, grrr! I feel like he has been shown the error of his ways but hasn’t learnt from this and refuses to repent. And I loved this description of Pecksniff that he ‘combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerable touch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent’, tee hee! And also the comparison of the unlikeliness of him performing a generous action being similar to the chance of ‘the sun turn green and the moon black and…12 first-rate comets careering round those planets’, so tee hee, no chance at all then! And I particularly enjoyed the statement that Pecksniff’s ‘exposed throat looked as if a halter would have done it good’, that really made me chuckle!

Mercy and Charity Pecksniff

They are the daughters of Mr Pecksniff, and they follow his example by being patronising to the boarders, particularly towards Tom. Later they agree to show care and sympathy to Mary at the request of Chuzzlewit Snr and in order to display their (and their father’s) supposedly disinterested regard for that gentleman. Jonas shows interest in them both, it is presumed he will propose to the eldest, Charity, but he actually proposes to the youngest, Mercy. Mercy teases Jonas constantly and calls him names and declares she will have the best of him when they are married. Chuzzlewit Snr asks her if she has been coerced into marrying Jonas and if she wishes to get out of the engagement as he is willing to help her do this, but she denies this. Mercy also gloats over Charity with the fact that Jonas chose her over Charity. Charity is hurt and bitter about Jonas preferring Mercy, and when she realises that Tom has injured Jonas she says she will be Tom’s friend from then on. Hmmm, these really aren’t pleasant girls, but I guess having the father that they do would probably make it a challenge to be anything else! I don’t want either of them to marry Jonas as he really doesn’t seem like he will be a pleasant husband, but I am sad that they turned against each other regarding him and became competitive towards each other, as they had always seemed quite united before this. And silly, silly Mercy, to refuse a way out of the marriage to Jonas which is offered by Chuzzlewit Snr, choosing her pride over her happiness.

Mercy is brought back to Jonas’ house after a month of being married, she seems subdued by the death and darkness and dreariness that still seems to linger in the house after Anthony’s death, and subdued and fearful and dejected around Jonas. Chuffey (Jonas’ father’s elderly clerk) is there at the house and asks her if she has really married Jonas, and when she confirms this he says ‘woe upon this wicked house’. Mercy is beaten and treated cruelly and scornfully by Jonas, but she continues to try and placate him and speak lovingly to him and submit to him, just asking him to be gentle with her, which he ignores. Meanwhile Charity is angry at her father for colluding with Jonas for him to marry Mercy and still hurt that Jonas had chosen Mercy over her, and she is also angry at her father as she has guessed he plans to marry Mary. She demands to move out to Todgers’ Boarding House, and Pecksniff agrees to this as he wants her out of his way. She stays with Mrs Todgers and is proposed to by a gentleman there, Augustus Moddle, after much prompting from herself, and accepts him. Charity bumps into Tom in London and takes him back to the boarding house where he is shocked and upset to see the sad change in Mercy when she visits Charity there. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, poor poor Mercy, my heart bleeds to see her treated so cruelly and just begging Jonas to be gentle with her, evil nasty man that he is! It is clear that Mercy is becoming a kinder and more empathetic person, but I’m very sorry that it has been caused by her suffering so much cruelty. And poor Augustus, he really doesn’t stand a chance against Charity!

Mercy is told by Jonas to prepare for a long journey, but they are taken off the boat due to Tom who was employed to do this by Tigg, although Tom doesn’t realise this or understand his involvement in it. On their return home, Mercy makes an effort to take care of and comfort Chuffey, and he is caring towards her too. When Chuzzlewit Snr plans to accuse Jonas of murdering Anthony, he first takes Mercy into safekeeping. Chuzzlewit Snr later visits Mercy, who has been staying with Mrs Todgers since Jonas’ death, with Chuffey keeping her company. He apologises for not trying harder to see her true character and warn her against marrying Jonas, but she says he was kind to try and that nothing would have changed her headstrong mind then and that she is grateful to the troubles she has had in marriage as it has changed her now for the better. Chuzzlewit Snr says Jonas’ estate will be seized to pay off creditors now Jonas’ part in the loan company is known, and also that her father is bankrupt, though Mercy says she wouldn’t go back to her father after he hastened on her marriage, so Chuzzlewit Snr asks her to come and live with him, assuring her that all his friends view her as a friend. Mrs Todgers also urges Mercy to go with Chuzzlewit Snr, and to go immediately so as to avoid Charity’s wedding, and Mercy follows this advice. Awww, bless her, Mercy, I like her so much more now, with her being kind to Chuffey and also with her now able to be self-reflective, though (as I said earlier) I’m so sorry that she had to go through such a dreadful experience in order to change for the better. I am pleased she isn’t going back to her father though, as I’d be worried she may then go back to being the person she was before (although I suspect she is better than that now and would never be that person again). And how lovely of Chuzzlewit Snr to look out for her and care for her so much and assure her of everyone’s friendly attitude towards her.

Augustus doesn’t turn up to his wedding with Charity, and his letter to her says he is on a ship and that he will never be taken alive. Charity faints in shock and humiliation infront of all the relatives she has invited to the wedding with the intention of gloating over them. Oh dear, poor Charity, though I don’t think she will alter for the better after this experience. Mercy is clearly the stronger of the two sisters and the one more capable of recognising her faults and being able to change, though it’s fascinating to consider how this wasn’t apparent at all when they were first introduced to the reader, and if I had had to choose then which sister would become a better person by the end of the book, I think I would have struggled to choose between them or believe that either could. And I did chuckle at the description of the two bickering sisters earlier in the book (bickering between themselves and bickering with other members of the Chuzzlewit family) that it is ‘quite impossible that any difference of opinion can take place among women without any who is within hearing taking active part in it’, tee hee, although I suspect Dickens is being quite disparaging of women in general with that statement, not just the two sisters! 

John Westlock

A pupil of Pecksniff, who leaves the school in a temper after accusing Pecksniff of taking his money under false pretences as no useful education has been provided. He sees the good in Tom, and recognises that Tom doesn’t see it in himself and that he naively and blindly trusts Pecksniff and is taken advantage of by Pecksniff. He comes into his fortune, so invites Tom to Salisbury so he can treat him to the meal they always talked and dreamt of, he happily includes Martin Jnr in the invitation although is a little suspicious that Martin Jnr doesn’t fully appreciate Tom and is taking advantage of him. He hears about Tigg taking money from Tom, so gives this money back to Tom by pretending Tigg asked him to pass on the borrowed money. Awww, I do like John and how he really values Tom and cares for him, Tom very much needs someone in his life like that, and it was really lovely and selfless of him paying back the money that Tigg had conned out of Tom, pretending this was from Tigg. And I very much share his concerns that Martin Jnr doesn’t appreciate Tom and is taking advantage of him, sigh.

John is summoned by the landlord of an inn, as there is a man there in a delirious fever who isn’t capable of giving details of his name or address or friends or relatives, but a letter has been found on him with John’s name. John confirms he knew this man, named Lewsome, when they were boys but hasn’t seen him recently and knows nothing about his life or associates now, or why he was in the process of writing this letter to John suggesting they meet, but John pays for Lewsome’s care there. He sees Lewsome off when he returns home to Hertfordshire to continue recovering his health, and Lewsome then says to John that he has something he needs to tell him, something frightful and unnatural and cruel that he helped in, but that he is too weak to tell him now and will write to him. Hmmm, this all sounds wonderfully and intriguingly mysterious, and quite dramatic too with it being something frightful and unnatural and cruel, eeek!

John welcomes Tom when he comes to London after leaving Pecksniff, making a fuss of him and taking care of him and not mocking him for his former belief in Pecksniff which has now been destroyed. He meets Tom’s sister Ruth and likes her. A man called Mr Fips comes to John saying he acts for someone who wants to employ Tom as a secretary and librarian, he can’t say who he acts for but explains that Tom is well known as a good man in the area of the Blue Dragon Inn, and John immediately shares this good news with Tom. Ooooh, another mystery, who is this man who wants to help Tom? Though I’m very pleased that Tom is receiving help and is valued, bless him.

Tom tells John about the strange incident on the wharf, with him being unintentionally involved in getting Jonas and Mercy off the boat. John is immediately interested in this and says he will do some investigations of his own regarding this, and he urges Tom to explain to Mercy or Jonas that he had no prior knowledge of the incident or what was in the note he delivered and has nothing personally to do with it, as John is fearful it could be something illegal and he doesn’t want people thinking Tom is involved. John then speaks to Lewsome, who explains that he is a doctor and that he knew Jonas due to gambling and he owed Jonas money, that Jonas had asked him for drugs to kill an animal and Lewsome had felt suspicious about this but he supplied the drugs as Jonas said he’d then clear his debt, but this has haunted him ever since and he is worried now that Jonas killed Anthony. John gets Lewsome to tell Martin Jnr this and they and Mark Tapley and Tom plan together how to act, as they would prefer to go to Chuzzlewit Snr but recognise he is under Pecksniff’s control (and Pecksniff is Jonas’ father-in-law), plus they are reluctant to involve Mercy in any more hardship. They decide in the end to approach Chuffey, as Tom remembered he had said odd words about Anthony’s death so may have seen or heard something that made him suspicious, though they can’t see a way to approach Chuffey directly so decide to go through Mrs Gamp (a nurse) who they know has recently been employed to care for Chuffey. John goes with Chuzzlewit Snr to speak with Chuffey, which results in them accusing Jonas of murdering Anthony. Wow, that all got very dramatic! So this was Lewsome’s frightful and unnatural and cruel incident that he wanted to tell John about, Jonas planning to kill Anthony! Again, I do like John, he is decisive and a good planner and determined to do the right thing, a really great character. 

John is invited by Chuzzlewit Snr to be present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff. He is then encouraged by Chuzzlewit Snr to accompany Ruth to Tom’s lodgings, with Chuzzlewit Snr obviously suspecting they are in love and wanting to further this. John proposes to Ruth, who happily accepts him. They both state they want Tom to live with them, and delight in sharing their plans with him. Awww, a lovely happy ending for three lovely characters, and I’m so glad that John was introduced into Tom’s life!

Tom Pinch

He is a pupil of Pecksniff’s and becomes Pecksniff’s assistant. Tom is thoroughly convinced of the goodness and fairness of Pecksniff, and doesn’t see that Pecksniff took Tom’s grandmother’s life savings with a promise to educate him which hasn’t been delivered on, and that Pecksniff uses Tom’s good and generous and selfless nature in the town as an advert for himself, and that Pecksniff frequently puts Tom down realising that he has low confidence in his own abilities and that putting him down ensures his low confidence never improves. He is loved by the other villagers who all see the good-heartedness and generosity of him. Awww, lovely Tom, but oh how I wish he saw Pecksniff for what he was, I can’t help being a little annoyed at him for being so naive and allowing Pecksniff to use him like this. He seems such a good character, but almost too good for the world he is in!

He falls in love with Mary when she comes to the local church to listen to the organ, but he doesn’t attempt to speak to her, being content just to be the means of giving her pleasure from his playing. He gives the last of his savings to Tigg. He is happy to be friendly to Martin Jnr when he is a pupil of Pecksniff. He is delighted by John’s good luck in coming into his fortune and is flattered to be invited to a celebratory meal with John, and accepts John’s story of Tigg paying back the borrowed money through John. Oh, sweet lovely Tom, he always sees the best in everyone and is loyal to those who don’t deserve it or appreciate his loyalty. And he never puts his own interests first, sigh, especially with loving Mary so selflessly, I again feel a little annoyed at him for this as I think he would be a far better caring man for her than Martin Jnr.

When Martin Jnr storms off from Pecksniff’s house, Tom gives him his last bit of savings. Martin Jnr writes to Tom asking him to take care of Mary during his absence in America and to forward on letters between them, describing Tom to Mary as a simple and foolish yet trustworthy soul who admires him. Martin Jnr later sends back Tom’s savings when he is anonymously given some money in London. Chuzzlewit Snr is interested in Tom, due to Mary praising him, but he judges Tom’s admiration of Pecksniff to be fawning and false and is therefore disappointed in him. Tom falls deeper in love with Mary when she and Chuzzlewit Snr are living at Pecksniff’s house, he also tries to give her opportunities to speak about Martin Jnr, as he agreed with Martin Jnr to do, but she makes no attempt to do this. Hmmm, I was concerned at Tom again giving his savings to someone who doesn’t deserve it, particularly with Martin Jnr’s unflattering description of Tom to Mary, grrr, but I was pleased that Martin Jnr did repay this. And oh poor Tom, having to be a go-between for Martin Jnr and Mary when he loves Mary himself, and I really think he must be one of the most selfless characters in literature with how he tries to encourage Mary to speak about Martin Jnr, bless him. I was very disappointed in Chuzzlewit Snr’s inability to see Tom clearly though, seeing Tom’s hero-worship of Pecksniff as something designing and sneaky and self-serving, although I guess this worship is hard to understand so perhaps it’s not that surprising that he would think that.

Jonas bullies and goads Tom as he feels Tom is beneath him in social standing and raises his stick to Tom, who grabs the stick and when doing so accidentally strikes Jonas with the stick, which he feels very guilty about, though Jonas tells people that the injury is from walking into a low branch of a tree in the dark rather than that Tom injured him. Mary tells Tom about Pecksniff’s true character and that he is taking advantage of Chuzzlewit Snr and trying to force her to marry him by threatening Martin Jnr. Tom finally sees Pecksniff in his true character and realises that the man he worshipped never actually existed. Having listened to Mary and Tom’s conversation and realised that Tom’s view of him has changed, Pecksniff destroys Tom’s character to Chuzzlewit Snr by saying that he overheard Tom trying to force his affections on Mary, Pecksniff adding that he now has no choice but to let Tom go. Tom does not challenge Pecksniff and defend himself, as he can see the consequences to others by doing so, but he makes it clear to Pecksniff that he sees through him and his lies and could tell the truth about him if he so chooses. Tom leaves Pecksniff’s and the town, though the town’s inhabitants are tearful to see him go, and he walks to Salisbury, but he doesn’t manage to speak to Mary before leaving. Oh poor poor Tom! Firstly to be abused by horrible Jonas, and then to be lied about by horrible Pecksniff, and to have his high opinion of Pecksniff shattered. I am glad that Tom made it known to Pecksniff though that he has the opportunity to reveal how he lied, I just doubt that Pecksniff will reflect on how this therefore makes Tom the bigger person of them both or that Pecksniff will squirm with guilt, sigh. Tom’s lovely kind and selfless character really is a huge contrast to the selfish nasty characters of Jonas and Pecksniff. And Tom is gone, having not spoken to Mary first! But I was heartened by how the local residents showed him how much he is cared for by them, and I’m sure that helped him in his sadness at leaving and his grief at the loss of his belief in Pecksniff.

Tom decides to go to London from Salisbury in order to seek out John for advice. John is delighted to see him and immediately offers to put him up at his apartment, though John is sad to see how upset he is at the revealing of Pecksniff’s true character. John also doesn’t mock him for his former belief in Pecksniff, to Tom’s relief. Tom seeks out his sister, Ruth, and is angry to see her being treated disrespectfully by her employers so he takes her away, to her great relief, and they rent some rooms in Islington. He bumps into Charity, and also sees Mercy and is saddened at the change in her. While Tom is preparing an advert for himself in order to gain employment, John tells him that a Mr Fips has offered Tom the post of secretary and librarian based on his good name in the area of the Blue Dragon Inn, though neither John or Tom know Mr Fips and this man refuses to say who he is acting for. Yay, I’m so glad that Tom and Ruth are together and can support each other. And I’m so pleased for Tom to get that employment, though it is very mysterious who his benefactor can be!

Tom and Ruth are watching the boats on the Thames leave for foreign places one morning, when their odd landlord, Nadgett, asks Tom to give a note to a particular passenger on the boat, which Tom does and this turns out to be Jonas who is there with Mercy. The note causes Jonas to hurriedly get off the boat to be faced by Montague Tigg, and though Tom doesn’t understand any of this, Jonas believes Tom somehow has knowledge of the situation and had agreed to be used in this way by Tigg, and he therefore vows to get even with Tom. Tom is urged by John to explain to Mercy and Jonas that he had nothing to do with the incident on the wharf and the note, as John is suspicious something illegal is happening and wants to ensure that Tom isn’t thought to be involved in this. Tom heads off with Ruth to speak to Mercy who accepts his explanation, but Jonas comes home and is angry to see Tom there and doesn’t believe his explanation. Later, Tom is shocked and upset when Martin Jnr states that he is hurt by Tom’s betrayal and confused as Martin Jnr doesn’t explain what this betrayal is. Tom is convinced someone has abused him to Martin Jnr and is sure it will be put right in the end but is hurt himself that Martin Jnr believes the lies rather than thinking better of Tom. Oh no, someone else who doesn’t see Tom for the lovely man he is and therefore believes that his actions have an ulterior motive when nothing could be further from Tom’s mind. And it’s curious what it is that Martin Jnr is referring to! The whole incident on the boat with Jonas and Mercy was odd too, but I’m glad that John convinced Tom of the importance of making it clear to them that he had no knowledge or involvement in it as there are already too many people thinking incorrect things of poor Tom (Chuzzlewit Snr and now Martin Jnr) to have more, bless him (though Jonas clearly still incorrectly thinks badly of Tom).

Ruth guesses that Tom loves Mary, but he explains to her that he has never once thought he could marry her and although this sometimes makes him sad he is not going to let it make him bitter or affect his happiness in life. Chuzzlewit Snr appears at Tom’s workplace saying that he is Tom’s employer and that he has been pretending all this time to be Pecksniff’s dupe in order to learn the worst about the man, and that he is now about to punish Pecksniff. Tom is invited by Chuzzlewit Snr to be present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff, and Tom is praised to the group by Chuzzlewit Snr for his honesty and loyalty, who also explains that he was determined to ensure Tom was looked after when he left Pecksniff so secretly set up the librarian job for him. Martin Jnr then begs Tom’s forgiveness, explaining that he had seen Tom enter the property he knew belonged to Chuzzlewit Snr and so presumed Tom was in collaboration with his grandfather. Tom instantly forgives him for this. At Chuzzlewit Snr’s praise of him, all present gather around Tom, delighted for him and keen to show their love for him and how much they value him. Ruth and John tell Tom of their love and he is delighted for them, and they also add that they want him to live with them after they are married. Awww, finally Tom is getting the recognition he deserves for being such a wonderful selfless person. And that was a twist that Chuzzlewit Snr was actually fully aware of Pecksniff’s slimy character, it reminds me of Boffin in Our Mutual Friend concealing his true character for a higher purpose.

The book ends many years later with an older Tom playing the organ, not bitter about his unrequited love for Mary and just happy that her child adores him and chooses him to comfort her, and also not bitter with Pecksniff’s continued betrayal of him by criticising his kindness in sending him money now he is reduced to a drunken beggar. It is implied that Chuzzlewit Snr is now dead but that he continued to bless Tom on his deathbed. At the end of the book, Ruth comes to sit next to Tom on the organ seat. Awww, I’m still sad that Tom didn’t get his love, but it seems he was still happy and was loved by all, and it is particularly lovely that Mary’s daughter adores him. There were a few descriptions of Tom which I particularly liked, such as him ‘smiling with an embarrassed frankness, particularly his, and which was as plainly a confession of his own imperfections, and an appeal to the kindness of the person he addressed, as if he had drawn one up in simple language and committed it to paper’, bless him, but he is so meek and vulnerable, sigh! And I loved his sensitivity too, such as when playing the organ ‘as the grand tones resounded through the church, they seemed, to Tom, to find an echo in the depth of every ancient tomb, no less than in the deep mystery of his own heart, great thoughts and hopes came crowding on his mind as the rich music rolled upon the air…the feelings that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being’, wow, what a beautiful stirring passage! And I have to admit I had a soft spot for Tom with his love of books, and his feeling of ‘what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops…all those rows and rows of volumes, neatly ranged within, what happiness did they suggest’, exactly my feelings, just how precious books are, and indeed how bookshops themselves are so precious and my sadness that there are less and less of them now.

Martin Chuzzlewit Snr (I’ve referred to him as Chuzzlewit Snr, for ease)

He is rich but feels that his money has been a curse as it has corrupted all the people in his life, changing their natures and making them conspire to try and take his money from him, which in turn makes him suspicious of everyone, both friends and family. He often makes a will when he is ill, but then destroys these wills as can’t decide who to leave his money to. His only companion/carer is an orphan, Mary Graham, who receives a wage from him and is told that she will inherit nothing from him on his death as he sees this as the only way to ensure she wants him alive rather than coveting his death. He is angry when he discovers Martin Jnr and Mary are in love and threatens to disinherit Martin Jnr unless he gives her up, which Martin Jnr refuses to do. He is taken ill while passing through Pecksniff’s town near Salisbury, and recognises Pecksniff as his cousin though making it clear to Pecksniff that he is suspicious of him and wants nothing to do with him. However, he is taken in by Pecksniff’s apparently disinterested concern and regard for him and is impressed by Pecksniff’s pretending to urge Martin Jnr’s case to him with no apparent gain or knowledge of their falling out, and by Pecksniff inviting all their relatives to his own house which then allows Chuzzlewit Snr to secretly leave the town. Oh dear, Chuzzlewit seems a very unhappy and suspicious man, and I imagine poor Mary’s life is quite a trial! He obviously believes he is powerful too, with him ordering Martin Jnr to give Mary up. And Pecksniff is just so two-faced, grrr! 

Pecksniff and Chuzzlewit Snr meet in London and he believes further in Pecksniff and is ready to rely on him and stays at his house, though he does ask that Pecksniff sends Martin Jnr away from his school, which Pecksniff agrees to. Mark Tapley offers to work for him but he declines this saying he is unable to trust anyone now, though he does add that he would be more likely to think well of Mark than of anyone else. He is prepared to think highly of Tom but then judges Tom’s praise and devotion to Pecksniff as false and fawning. He is concerned that Mercy is being coerced into marrying Jonas as she talks constantly of hating Jonas, and he warns her that she cannot be released once she marries so urges her to think hard about if she wants to be released now and offers to help her with this, but Mercy states she doesn’t want to be released from the engagement. Hmmm, his interactions with others are interesting, in some ways he seems a good judge of character (such as with Mark and Mercy) and to be kind to them, but he is very wrong about Tom and Pecksniff. And I really wish Mercy had accepted his help, but her desire to get one over on her sister seems to dominate everything, silly silly girl! And Mark puzzles me with him deliberating seeking out situations which would make him unhappy because he wants to test his ability to be positive, very strange!

Chuzzlewit Snr later declines in health and seems to be losing his hearing and his sharp thinking, and becoming more and more reliant on Pecksniff’s influence. He is told by Pecksniff that Tom has tried to force his affections on Mary, and he supports Pecksniff’s decision to sack Tom. Martin Jnr comes to speak to him after his return from America and apologises for his hasty actions and for not showing his grandfather due respect, explaining that he has now seen the error of his ways and has altered his behaviour and that he cares for his grandfather and wishes to rebuild their relationship, but Chuzzlewit Snr allows Pecksniff to speak for him and to undermine what Martin Jnr is saying. He demands Bevan’s details in order to repay the money which this American gentleman lent to Martin Jnr in order to aid his return to England. Oh dear, he really seems to be completely controlled by Pecksniff now, how could a man of such strong mind and such self-confidence and with (as he believes) the ability to judge people’s character, descend to this? And poor Martin Jnr to be turned away now he has learnt the error of his ways.

Chuzzlewit Snr later explains to Tom that he is actually Tom’s employer, and that he has pretended to be Pecksniff’s dupe in order to learn the worst about the man and is shortly going to punish him. He also goes with John and Mark and Lewsome to speak with Chuffey and they all then accuse Jonas of murdering Anthony. He also listens to Mark when he states that Martin Jnr’s earlier characteristics of thoughtlessness and selfishness were actually caused by Chuzzlewit Snr’s own behaviour and by those characteristics that he himself had. He gathers everyone together, and then when Pecksniff arrives he informs him that he saw through him from the very beginning and realised that Pecksniff criticised Martin Jnr to him whilst also trying to keep Martin Jnr on side at the same time. He tells Pecksniff that he therefore decided to test how far Pecksniff would go with his lies so pretended to be under Pecksniff’s power, but adds that he had also decided to be fair to Pecksniff and note any virtue or goodness he showed but that there were no examples of this. He hits Pecksniff and knocks him to the ground. He says that although he pretended to cast Martin Jnr aside, he actually employed Tigg, who he got to know from his appeals to him on Chevy Slyme’s behalf (Chevy being another relative of Chuzzlewit Snr’s), to keep him informed of where Martin Jnr was and of his plans, and in this way he was able to anonymously send Martin Jnr the bank note while he was in London. He admits that he now realises that the selfishness he identified in others was also present in himself and it was his selfishness which kept people away and often contributed to their selfishness, and he uses the example of sending money to Martin Jnr because he believed that this would cause Martin Jnr to be grateful and humbled and come back to him but he didn’t realise this wouldn’t happen unless he himself altered his own ways. He says he had always harboured a secret wish that Martin Jnr and Mary would fall in love and had planned to benefit them and help them set up in life so was then surprised and hurt and offended when he discovered that they were already in love without his assistance and that he’d been cheated of the chance to plan for them and benefit them, and he let this hurt cause him to forget his earlier secret wish that they would fall in love. He says that he blesses their union. He also adds that he was testing Mary during the time he was testing Pecksniff, and was impressed and humbled by her truth and loyalty to both him and to Martin Jnr, and that he then asked Mrs Lupin to help prevent Pecksniff from further harassing Mary. He also says he was impressed and humbled by Tom, and that he therefore decided to secretly help him by employing him as a librarian in one of his buildings. He adds that he regrets giving Tigg money for keeping him updated about Martin Jnr, as he fears that this then allowed Tigg to begin the loan company which then led to his death. He tells Mrs Gamp she must consume less alcohol and be more honest and show more humanity and regard for her patients otherwise he will report her, and he asks for Poll Sweedlepipe’s (Mrs Gamp’s landlord) assurance that he will make sure that she follows these instructions. He adds that he encourages John and Ruth in their relationship, and says he must be allowed to act as a father to both Mary and Ruth for their weddings. He later visits Mercy, who has been staying with Mrs Todgers since Jonas’ death, and says that Charity is heartless to arrange her wedding so soon after Jonas’ death. He apologises for not trying harder to warn her against marrying Jonas, but she says he was kind to try and that nothing would have changed her headstrong mind then. He explains that Jonas’ estate will be seized to pay off creditors and that her father is bankrupt, so asks her to come and live with him, assuring her that all his friends view her as a friend. Awww, what a lovely kind man he has ended up becoming, such a contrast from the selfish and suspicious man at the start of the book, there isn’t anyone he hasn’t now had a hand in benefitting or improving, he’s turned into a cuddly teddy bear! And it’s remarkable how much he has learnt about himself too, with some good life lessons that he has absorbed, and good lessons too that Dickens is giving the reader, although it’s worth bearing in mind that a portion of Chuzzlewit Snr’s realisations about himself happened at Mark’s prompting, but credit to him still for listening and not taking offence and he was obviously already aware of his defects as he was secretly helping so many people throughout the book. It was such a relief to learn that he wasn’t taken in by Pecksniff, and what a deliciously sneaky trick to test him like that, and gathering everyone together to reveal this to Pecksniff reminded me of when a detective gathers all the suspects together to reveal the murderer, I could almost feel sorry for Pecksniff with his shock at finding out that he had been seen through right from the beginning, all his plotting and conniving and planning had been wasted, and I chuckled when Chuzzlewit Snr said he was ready to note any good behaviour in Pecksniff too but there was none, tee hee, though I was a bit shocked that he hit Pecksniff (though I did also cheer a little too!)! I am relieved he also included Mrs Gamp in his guidance and has ensured she will mend her ways, as I really didn’t like to think of her still out there ‘caring’ for vulnerable people. And I’m so pleased that he is taking in Mercy, poor girl, and hopefully both of them will benefit from that relationship and it seems fitting as they have both learnt hard lessons and grown in consequence.

Mrs Lupin

She is landlady of the Blue Dragon Inn, and has feelings for Mark Tapley and is sad to see him leave the town. She is also sad to see Tom leave, and brings a basket of provisions for him when she waves him off. Awww, she is a nice selfless character (we don’t seem to have had that many of them yet in the book!) and I do wish Mark would listen to her and give up this silly idea of looking for challenges to test his positivity! I am intrigued by the name of the Blue Dragon Inn too as I’m not aware of it being a common name for a pub, I see on wonderful Wikipedia that a blue dragon is a sea slug, it looks amazingly beautiful but has apparently an extremely dangerous sting and is even more venomous than the famous Portuguese man ‘o war and can even eat these man ‘o war! Wow, they sound stunning but terrifying! And this makes me wonder even more about the name of the inn, did Dickens name it after this sea slug and if so was he trying to imply that one of the characters associated with the inn is as deadly as this creature? Surely not, as both Mrs Lupin and Mark seem lovely! Plus the Inn isn’t near to the sea, so a nautical name doesn’t seem logical for that reason either. Or is the blue dragon a symbol of Wiltshire, like a red dragon is a symbol for Wales, though when I google I can’t see that Salisbury has a link with a dragon, there is a George and Dragon pub there, like so many other places with pubs of this traditional name, but there is obviously no ‘George’ in the Blue Dragon Inn’s name, hmmm, a puzzle! 

Later, Mark and Martin Jnr surprise her by turning up at the Blue Dragon Inn safe and well after their return from America, and she is delighted to see how respectfully Martin Jnr now treats Mark. She is invited by Chuzzlewit Snr to be present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff, as she had been asked by him to keep Pecksniff from harassing Mary. She and Mark marry and run the Blue Dragon Inn together. Yay, a nice happy ending for her, and I’m so relieved that Mark has somebody so sensible looking out for him. And I’m relieved that Mary had Mrs Lupin secretly looking out for her and protecting her from Pecksniff.

Mary Graham

She is an orphan employed by Chuzzlewit Snr to be his companion/carer. She accepts Martin Jnr’s declaration of love, although Chuzzlewit Snr is angry at this and then disowns Martin Jnr. Later, Mark arranges a meeting in London between her and Martin Jnr before they leave for America, but she doesn’t notice Martin Jnr’s selfishness in only thinking of himself in these schemes, and she buys him a diamond ring with her savings so that he has something of value on his travels that he can sell if needed, though he does not suspect this sacrifice of hers and presumes the ring was a gift that Chuzzlewit Snr gave her. Oh, bless her, a patient and loyal and selfless character but it frustrates me how blind she is to Martin Jnr’s faults, sigh, he is clearly not worthy of her. And I thought the line ‘that heart where self has found no place and raised no throne, is slow to recognise its ugly presence when it looks upon it’, is beautifully stated in describing her and Martin Jnr.

Tom adores her but keeps this secret. Pecksniff plans to marry her in order to secure Chuzzlewit Snr’s fortune but when he proposes to her she strongly rejects him and tells him that she sees him as the conniving person he really is, and points out that he is taking advantage of her in her unprotected state and she is aware that he is also taking advantage of Chuzzlewit Snr. He ignores her reprimand however and puts his arm around her waist and holds her hand, even though she demands him not to, and he then informs her that it would be better for Martin Jnr if she agreed to marry himself as he would then try and help Martin Jnr but that he would hurt Martin Jnr if she refuses to marry him. She goes to Tom asking if he has heard anything from Martin Jnr but he hasn’t, and as she is still very upset she tells Tom about Pecksniff’s true character and that he is taking advantage of Chuzzlewit Snr and trying to force her to marry him by threatening Martin Jnr. Pecksniff overhears all this, and rushes to tell Chuzzlewit Snr that he heard Tom trying to force his affections on Mary so he now has no choice but to let Tom go. Tom leaves but does not manage to speak to Mary before leaving. Arrrgh, I was cheering when she stood up to Pecksniff, telling him exactly what she thought of him, but now I’m really worried for her with Pecksniff threatening to hurt Martin Jnr unless she marries him, evil conniving man! And wow, she has been the means of Tom finally seeing the true nature of Pecksniff, although I didn’t want Tom to be upset and hurt, and I was so sad that he didn’t get to speak to her before he left and also concerned for her now she doesn’t have Tom there to try and protect her. 

On Martin Jnr and Mark’s return from America, she tells them that Pecksniff has proposed to her and that she knows him to be a bad person and avoids him, and although she doesn’t think Chuzzlewit Snr will try and persuade her to marry Pecksniff, she is concerned how he seems to be under Pecksniff’s control. She also tells them that Chuzzlewit Snr has been kind and considerate to her throughout. Later, she is invited by Chuzzlewit Snr to be present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff, and he tells her and Martin Jnr that he blesses their love, and she and Martin Jnr marry.

Montague Tigg

He is a friend of Chevy Slyme, who is a relative of Chuzzlewit Snr and hopes for money from that gentleman. Tigg is more confident than Slyme so tends to speak for him, though he is down on his luck, keen to borrow money from others, and full of big talk. He tries to swindle money from Tom and Martin Jnr for his and Slyme’s board at the Blue Dragon Inn and he succeeds in getting it from Tom. Hmmm, I don’t like these characters and their way of taking advantage of others for their own gain, and Tigg seems quite similar to Pecksniff with his smooth-talking ways and particularly using this to take advantage of poor Tom.

Tigg bumps into Martin Jnr in a pawnshop in London and he tells Martin Jnr that he has now split with Slyme. Later he changes his name to Tigg Montague Esquire and creates the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company, encouraging people to invest their savings for life insurance whilst there is actually no money or security behind the company to ever be able to pay people if they claim, and also offering loans at exorbitant interest. He convinces people of the stability and success of the company by having fine offices full of fine equipment which are manned by a finely dressed porter, and Tigg himself is Chairman with David Crimple as Secretary/Director (Crimple being the nephew of the pawnbroker that Tigg used to deal with) and Tigg also employs Bailey (who formerly worked at Todgers’ Boarding House) as his groom to drive his carriage, and employs Nadgett as an information-gathering man, and he has Dr Jobling (a local doctor) working on commission to recommend the company to his patients (though Jobling is very careful to state he knows nothing of the company’s figures). Tee hee, somehow I’m liking Tigg more now he is Tigg Montague Esquire, he seems somehow more suave and attractive…but omg, I’m being taken in by him just like the others, tee hee, being charmed and amused by his confidence and audacious chatter. But what horrors is he going to cause when someone actually tries to make a claim and then it becomes apparent that he has taken so many people’s savings and effectively ruined them?

Jonas approaches the company (having been recommended to do so by Dr Jobling) for life insurance against Mercy’s life, having had this request turned down by other insurance companies. Tigg charms Jonas’ suspicious and cunning nature by telling him how the company really works and suggesting that Jonas joins the company, also revealing to Jonas who he really is in order to impress him with how much he has gained from this scheme and therefore demonstrating how much Jonas could gain himself. He asks Nadgett to look into Jonas, and Nadgett discovers a secret about him which allows Tigg to threaten Jonas and make him agree to persuade Pecksniff (Jonas’ father-in-law) to invest money in the company. Tigg also uses Nadgett, who uses Tom, to prevent Jonas leaving with Mercy on a boat to Antwerp. He tells Jonas, when asked, that no-one else knows his secret but him. Hmmm, well, obviously the thought of Jonas being conned by Tigg is a fitting one and I’m fine with that, with Jonas being such a nasty man and trying to insure Mercy’s life, which makes me worry that he intends to kill her! And I’m curious what Jonas’ secret is that Tigg (thanks to Nadgett) has discovered, could it be that Jonas actually killed Anthony?

Tigg reluctantly agrees to travel to Wiltshire with Jonas in order to help convince Pecksniff to invest money in the company, he takes Bailey for safety but Bailey is sat outside the coach and Tigg feels very nervous travelling at night alone inside the coach with Jonas during a heavy storm. The coach crashes and Tigg is knocked unconscious, and Jonas quickly tries to drag the kicking horses close to Tigg in the hope they will kill him but the driver intervenes and Jonas then makes it seem as if he was trying to prevent the horses from harming Tigg. They stay overnight at an inn, but Tigg is still very ill at ease around Jonas. Tigg convinces Pecksniff to invest his savings in the company and then informs Jonas that he has no further need of him so Jonas can leave rather than them travelling home together. Jonas lies in wait for Tigg in a wood as he heads home on horseback after finalising the deal with Pecksniff, and murders him. Omg, that was really tense to read, the tension really built up with Jonas waiting as Tigg approached! I did feel sure that Jonas was going to somehow murder Tigg and I so much wanted it not to happen and for Tigg to escape unharmed, I am so sad he is dead, he was really becoming an interesting character after my first view of him as just a smooth-talking loser. And obviously I am pleased that Pecksniff has been drawn into the snare of this fake loan company too, he’s someone else who deserves to be caught out and punished!

Jonas is later arrested for the murder of Tigg. Chuzzlewit Snr tells the others that he employed Tigg, who he got to know from his frequent appeals to him on Slyme’s behalf, to keep him informed of where Martin Jnr was and of his plans, but he is sorry now for giving Tigg money for this as he fears this allowed Tigg to begin the loan company that then led to his death. Hmmm, I began to quite like Montague Tigg, and as the book was moving along I was hopeful that Jonas and Pecksniff were going to get their comeuppance at his hands, even though he wasn’t challenging either of them in order to right wrongs and be a hero as his own morals were always decidedly quite shady! I am still sad he died though, as he became quite a memorable and amusing character. And I did chuckle at this description of him (before he became the smooth neat gentleman of Tigg Montague Esquire, of course) smelling like ‘several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy and water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed’, tee hee, what a description and how that brings his character to life on the page!

Chevy Slyme

He is a nephew of Chuzzlewit Snr and is led and dominated by Tigg. He is proud of his status in the family but miserable about his life and self-indulgent in his depression about having no money, though he believes that working for money is beneath him. Oh dear, he seems quite the loser, even more so than Tigg as at least Tigg is capable of self-confidence and planning.

He later becomes a police officer, and searches for the murderer of Tigg. He is told by Nadgett that Jonas murdered Tigg, as Nadgett had been following Jonas, and he goes to arrest Jonas and finds Chuzzlewit Snr and the others already with Jonas accusing him of the murder of Anthony. He arrests Jonas, who then offers Slyme money to give him some time alone in order to kill himself, saying that he has ‘it’ on him. Slyme is at first horrified by this suggestion, but on Jonas’ admission that he is indeed guilty of killing Tigg, and also considering that Jonas’ death would be less shameful for the family than his arrest and trial, accepts the money and lets Jonas go into the room on his own. After a time, he goes into the room himself, nervous of what he will find, but Jonas is still alive having not summoned up the courage to do what he planned to do. Slyme drags him to the coach to transport him to prison, having pushed the purse of money back into Jonas’ pocket, and Jonas then commits suicide in the coach. Well, a complete turnaround for Slyme, from hopeless loser and layabout to police officer, and full credit to him! I was relieved that Slyme had already pushed the purse of money back into Jonas’ pocket, as I was a bit uncomfortable with him taking money from Jonas as that seemed to compromise him in his occupation. I was quite intrigued with Slyme becoming a police officer and quite how this choice came about as it seems such a radical change from his previous life and he didn’t seem to give any hint of being interested in that kind of work (or any kind of work). I also wonder how Tigg took this news of his friend’s noble profession, bearing in mind the way Tigg was making his money, and whether Slyme overlooked what Tigg was doing in remembrance of their past friendship, or perhaps the two men had lost touch and neither knew about the other’s profession. And I loved the description of Slyme (before he changed his ways) as someone ‘whose great abilities seemed one and all to point towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass’, Dickens just expresses things so well and so amusingly! 

The Spottletoes/Chuzzlewits

These are all relatives of Chuzzlewit Snr who travel to Wiltshire following him, in hopeful expectation of money. They are later invited to Charity’s wedding, mostly so she can gloat over them, and they glory in her humiliation when her bridegroom stands her up. Tee hee, I think Dickens excelled himself (and thoroughly enjoyed himself!) describing these unpleasant grasping members of the Chuzzlewit family in the scene where all the relatives gathered around Chuzzlewit Snr trying to ingratiate themselves with him and bickering between themselves, there were so many wonderfully sarcastic lines but I particularly enjoyed the three spinsters of the group being described as having ‘so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses’, and I also chuckled at ‘the deaf cousin, who was not at all disqualified from joining in the dispute by reason of being perfectly unacquainted with its merits’, and George Chuzzlewit being described as ‘inclined to corpulency and rather over-fed himself, to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets as if with constant surprise’, as well as them all being ‘the pleasant little family circle…agreeably prepared to fall foul of anybody else who might venture to say anything whatever upon any subject’, with one of them even stating that another lady’s husband had died because she was ‘crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die’, tee hee, such a wonderful scene, and what a horrible lot, I can see why Chuzzlewit Snr despises them all!

Anthony Chuzzlewit

He is the father of Jonas and is greedy and driven by money, and travels to Wiltshire with the rest of the family following Chuzzlewit Snr in hopeful expectation of money. He later summons Pecksniff to London in order to encourage him to agree to his daughter marrying Jonas, purely because he feels that she would be a good wife with her money-saving abilities. Oh dear, no, I am already uncomfortable with this plan to marry one of the Pecksniff daughters to Jonas, what a life she would endure with Anthony and Jonas, even though neither sister seems very inspiring themselves!

He becomes frail and has a fit and dies. Later it is revealed that on his deathbed he told Chuffey that he was aware Jonas had tried to poison him, but he realised that Jonas had become such a greedy and covetous and unscrupulous person because of the greedy and covetous and unscrupulous way in which he had brought him up so he had pretended to take the poison in the hope that Jonas would repent of his ways when he would then forgive Jonas, but Jonas didn’t repent and Anthony said this broke his heart, and he had begged Chuffey never to tell anyone that Jonas had planned to poison him. Anthony also told Chuffey on his deathbed that he had planned to let Jonas marry as he wished and that he and Chuffey would then go away and live together on a little bit of money because he would give everything else to Jonas. Well, I was surprised that Anthony didn’t actually die from Jonas’ poison and a little puzzled why Dickens wrote it this way rather than having Jonas murder Anthony, as Jonas himself believed he’d murdered Anthony so why not just have it as Jonas being a double murderer and that he had murdered Anthony as well as murdering Tigg, or did Dickens perhaps feel it would be potentially too disturbing to have a character murder his father? And again, quite a change in how I feel about the character at the end of the book from the beginning with how the character himself has changed, with Anthony realising (like Chuzzlewit Snr realised regarding Martin Jnr) that he had some responsibility for how Jonas had turned out. That made me feel quite sorry for the poor old Anthony, and his loyalty to Chuffey was also a credit to him. I did like the way that Anthony was described though with his face being ‘so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room’, such a clever description, such wonderful words!

Jonas Chuzzlewit

He is the son of Anthony and travels with his father to Wiltshire following Chuzzlewit Snr in hopeful expectation of money. He has been taught by his father from a young age to be greedy and driven by money, but he also hates his father and desires his money. Hmmm, he really isn’t a nice man, is he?

A while after they return home, his father dies. Jonas begs Pecksniff (who is visiting at the time) to stay on at the house so Pecksniff can state that Jonas did nothing to cause or hasten Anthony’s death, and Jonas spends a fortune on Anthony’s funeral so no-one can say he scrimped on this. He shows interest in both of Pecksniff’s daughters and is encouraged to consider marrying one of them by their father, but he proposes to Mercy though it was presumed that it would be Charity he would propose to. He puts up with Mercy’s teasing and goading during their courtship, though tells himself that she will be made to pay for this when they are married. Oh dear, I feel a foreboding for poor Mercy at his hands!

He is recommended by Dr Jobling to approach Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company regarding insuring Mercy’s life, having been turned down by other insurance companies. Tigg instead suggests to Jonas that he join the company, which Jonas likes the idea of as he’s keen to make money at other people’s cost and likes the distinction of being on the board of a company. He regularly hits Mercy, telling her he only married her in order to pay back the tricks and slights she dealt out to him when they were courting, and he tells her that he means to ‘break her spirit, bend her temper, and crush all her humours like so many nut-shells’ and even threatens to possibly kill her. She tries to placate him by speaking lovingly and submissively to him and begs him to be gentle with her, but he ignores her plea. Oh god, it’s horrible seeing him treat Mercy like this, he really is a brutal cruel man! I am glad he has become involved with Tigg who hopefully will con him, and will also hopefully take him down a peg or two as Jonas clearly views himself as such a clever person!

He becomes argumentative with Tigg, demanding more power and access to the company’s money. Tigg then whispers to Jonas that he knows Jonas’ secret, which terrifies Jonas and he then agrees to Tigg’s demands to get his father-in-law Pecksniff to invest in the business. He then tries to escape Tigg by boarding a boat to Antwerp with Mercy, but Tigg is there at the wharf and prevents him from leaving by instructing Nadgett to ask someone to take Jonas a note onboard the boat and Nadgett asks Tom to do this (with Tom having no knowledge of the contents of the note or the circumstances he is involved in) which causes Jonas to hurriedly disembark with Mercy. Jonas asks how Tigg knew to use Tom to stop him from leaving, for which Tigg doesn’t answer as he has no idea why Nadgett chose Tom, and Jonas asks Tigg if he can be allowed to deal with Tom for his hand in this, saying he already has a score to settle with Tom so this now makes it two scores (this score refers to an earlier time when Jonas tried to hit Tom with his stick but Tom managed to wrench the stick off him and while doing so accidentally struck Jonas with it). Jonas also asks Tigg who else knows his secret, and Tigg tells him that no-one else knows. Oh god, I fear for Tigg, with him telling Jonas that it’s only him who knows his secret. And what can the secret be? Though I imagine it is that Jonas killed his father.

Jonas promises Tigg that he will attempt to convince Pecksniff to invest in their company but says it will require Tigg too to help convince Pecksniff, Tigg is reluctant to travel alone with Jonas to Pecksniff’s home but finally agrees. Jonas then drinks with Jobling, admiring and asking questions about his medic tools and what cuts they can make. Jonas and Tigg travel to Wiltshire, with Bailey sitting outside the coach, and when the coach crashes during a storm Jonas takes the chance to try and kill Tigg with the horses while he is unconscious on the ground, but the driver intervenes and Tigg is saved and Jonas covers up his actions. He knows Tigg is scared of him and enjoys taunting him. Omg, Jonas really is such a bully, he really thrives on people being scared of him, like all cowards do. But I really feel that he will try again to kill Tigg, I don’t think Tigg will survive this journey, eeek! 

After they have convinced Pecksniff to invest money, Jonas is told by Tigg that he can return home as Tigg will travel home by himself in a few days’ time. Jonas goes home and finds Tom there waiting to explain about the incident at the wharf, but he threatens violence to Tom and refuses to listen to him. He tells Mercy that he is tired after his journey home and will therefore sleep in the room downstairs for the next couple of nights and days and that she isn’t to disturb him. He then secretly leaves the room that night and lies in wait for Tigg in a wood, knowing Tigg will head through that wood on horseback on his way home, and Jonas then murders Tigg. Having dreamt about the murder in great detail beforehand, he afterwards keeps seeing it re-enacted in his head as he travels home and he also fears that he’ll see Tigg waiting for him when he returns home, and he is also very anxious that his absence may have been noticed by the household but is relieved to find out that it hasn’t. Omg, he has killed Tigg! I was fairly certain that he would do it, but it still feels a bit of a shock to actually have him do it and in such a violent brutal way too, although clearly Jonas is a nasty brutal man. But it’s interesting how he seems to be falling to pieces afterwards, when he always seemed such a self-confident man without any conscience. I wonder if these dreams will be his undoing. And it served him right when he refused to listen to Tom’s explanation, as if he had listened then he would have discovered Nadgett’s involvement and perhaps guessed that he was being spied upon by that man.

When it is announced that Tigg is missing, he goes to the Lord Mayor and states that Tigg and Crimple had swindled him and he has just discovered that their Anglo-Bengalee company is a con and that Crimple has gone off with the company’s money and that ‘Tigg’ wasn’t that man’s real name, in order to avoid being made culpable for the company’s stealing of people’s money. Jonas is constantly suspicious that Tigg’s body has been discovered, and imagines that people can tell in his face and manner that he is guilty of Tigg’s death and are staring at him and talking about him, and these fears begin to consume him. Chuzzlewit Snr and some others accuse Jonas of murdering Anthony, however Chuffey says that Anthony was aware that Jonas was trying to poison him so decided to pretend to take the poison in the hope Jonas would repent but Jonas didn’t repent so Anthony ended up dying of a broken heart. Jonas is relieved to find he didn’t kill his father and can’t be accused of doing so, though he is angry that he has therefore murdered Tigg and risked himself for no reason. Oh, so Jonas didn’t actually kill his father, I wonder why Dickens wrote it this way, but I guess it’s a good surprise and twist that he is actually innocent of this crime after I’d presumed he was guilty, even though he intended to do it and believed he had done it.  

Slyme, and his fellow police officers, arrest Jonas for the murder of Tigg, as Tigg’s body has now been discovered and Nadgett leads the police to Jonas as Nadgett had been following Jonas for some time so saw him leave the room of his house and then on his return saw him throw his clothes into the river which were discovered on their retrieval to be bloodstained, and various coach drivers remembered dropping Jonas off and picking him up from near the spot where Tigg’s body was found. When alone with Slyme, Jonas reminds him that they are relatives and begs for five minutes alone to commit suicide saying that he has something he can take, and offering Slyme money for his agreement. Slyme reluctantly agrees to this, but when Slyme waits until a suitable time has passed and then goes to the room to ‘find’ Jonas’ body, Jonas is still alive as he was too scared to kill himself. He then takes the poison in the coach on the way to the police station and dies. Phew, well, that’s the end of Jonas! I was quite surprised he committed suicide as with his blustering self-confident manner I’d have presumed he’d have felt he could talk his way out of things believing he was far cleverer than everyone else, but I suppose he was perhaps worn down with the guilt of what he had done and his worry that people were suspecting him. It was still a sneaky twist of Dickens though to make us think he first of all wasn’t capable of committing suicide and then suddenly doing it in the coach! And the description of Jonas perfectly sums up his character, that ‘there was nothing in his person, conduct, character, or accomplishments to command respect (and) he was greedy of power’, and I loved how Dickens makes it clear that Jonas’ confident bluster was immediately seen through by Tigg as Jonas ‘thought himself rolled up hedgehog fashion with his sharpest points towards them (when) he was in fact betraying all his vulnerable parts to their unwinking watchfulness’, tee hee, what a wonderful use of words!

Mr Chuffey

He is Anthony Chuzzlewit’s faithful clerk, very old and feeble, and is frequently mocked by Jonas. He genuinely mourns Anthony when he dies, but then seems to be gradually losing his mind and keeps going upstairs to look for Anthony. Jonas asks Mrs Gamp to nurse him but to restrain him and treat him like a lunatic. He is kind and caring to Mercy when she arrives at the house as Jonas’ wife, and she is also kind and caring to him. Oh dear, poor faithful Chuffey, and my heart sinks at Mrs Gamp being asked to ‘nurse’ him, and I presume Jonas does this to try and restrict the amount of people Chuffey can speak to about Anthony’s death and if he does speak to anyone then Jonas can shrug this off as the words of a madman, poor poor Chuffey, and it always makes me shudder to think about how people with mental health problems (or just suspected of having these) were treated then. But it’s lovely that he shows kindness to poor Mercy, and she to him, both being victimised by Jonas.

Chuffey keeps his promise to Anthony not to tell people that Jonas had intended to poison him, but when faced with how much Chuzzlewit Snr and the others know about Jonas he then admits to this. This leads to them accusing Jonas of murdering Anthony, but Chuffey then announces that Jonas didn’t actually kill his father as Anthony had discovered that Jonas was trying to poison him so he pretended to take the poison in the hope that Jonas would repent, and then when Jonas didn’t show any signs of repenting Anthony then died of a broken heart. He later keeps Mercy company at Todgers’ Boarding House when she is widowed. Awww, what a lovely man, but what a surprising twist that someone who seemed so feeble actually held enormous power as he alone knew what had actually happened regarding Anthony’s death and Jonas’ part in this, and he ended up demonstrating that the accusation of Jonas murdering his father was actually false! Wow, I wasn’t even close to guessing that, as I had just presumed that Jonas was guilty!

Mark Tapley

He works at the Blue Dragon Inn and is very popular, and he and Mrs Lupin (the landlady of the Blue Dragon Inn) have feelings for each other. He has a desire to test how jolly he can be in adversity so is continually looking for difficulties in order to try and display his jolliness, even deciding to leave the Blue Dragon Inn in order to take a job such as a grave-digger or tax-gatherer. Hmmm, I struggle to understand Mark really, why would you deliberately seek out hardships and difficult situations, particularly as he has a lovely life in the village with being so popular and his loving relationship with Mrs Lupin, silly man!

After he leaves the Blue Dragon Inn and travels to London, he meets Chuzzlewit Snr and offers to work for him as he realises that working for such a selfish and demanding man would certainly be an opportunity to test his jolliness, but Chuzzlewit Snr declines saying he is now unable to trust anyone, even Mark. He meets Martin Jnr and learns about his aim to seek his fortune in America, so offers to accompany Martin Jnr abroad as an unpaid valet as he thinks that this would give him the perfect opportunity of trying to be jolly in adversity. Martin Jnr speaks to Mark about his love for Mary, and as Mark had already met Mary when he spoke to Chuzzlewit Snr he arranges a meeting between Martin Jnr and Mary, and Mark then witnesses more examples of Martin Jnr’s selfish character with the way he speaks to Mary. Mark gives his savings to Martin Jnr so a plot can be bought in Eden in America. Mark sees through Scadder (a property speculator selling plots in Eden) with his blusterings and false promises about Eden, but when he tries to hint of these suspicions to Martin Jnr he is hushed and not listened to. Sigh, again I just feel that Mark is such a silly man to have this obsession about searching out adversity! Though it was interesting that he witnessed Martin Jnr’s selfishness when he was talking with Mary, as I was beginning to feel that I was the only one who saw Martin Jnr for what he actually was! And I worry that this American adventure will be a disaster!

Just as the ship sets sail for Eden and it is too late to change their minds, Mark is told that no-one has ever come back alive from Eden. They both feel despair when they arrive at Eden, which is a desolate swamp, but Mark is determined not to give way to that despair and tries to cheer Martin Jnr by placing their possessions in their cabin and erecting the sign advertising their architecture business on the door. When Martin Jnr becomes ill from the local fever which is prevalent in the region, he cares for Martin Jnr whilst also working hard every day to improve their land and cabin. He discovers that the wife he had met on the ship to America is also at Eden, with her young children who Mark had helped care for on the journey, as she has joined her husband there who had been trying to eke out a survival before the rest of the family joined him. One of her children dies of the fever, shortly followed by all the other children. Oh god, Eden sounds such an awful awful desperate place! Where on earth is it in America, I wonder, and do people live there now, has it ever been made habitable, are there still these wildernesses in America today? And also it’s so alarming to think that people then were heading off to places like this believing they’d have a wonderful successful life there. Or did Dickens exaggerate how awful the place was, I wonder? It is described as ‘rain, heat, foul slime, and noxious vapour, with all the ills and filthy things they breed, prevailed. The earth, the air, the vegetation, and the water that they drank, all teemed with deadly properties…drooping trees, the stagnant morning mist, and red sun…the vapour rising up from land and river, the quick stream making the loathsome banks it washed more flat and dull’, omg, it’s just terrible! Mark is certainly getting his wish for adversity, and then some, I don’t imagine he ever envisaged life being this hard and I wonder what he thinks now of his enthusiasm for adversity! Oooh, I’ve just googled and apparently Dickens based Eden on Cairo in Illinois as he had visited there and not been impressed at that time, and I see Cairo was one of the ‘failed boomtowns’ of that time! Reading further on the wonderful Wikipedia, it sounds like Cairo later became a successful place however, and it’s fascinating how the builders developed strategies to counteract the nearby River Ohio and River Mississippi with the low-lying level of the town making it at risk of flooding and dampness, as they built levees (which I see are elevated ridges) and floodwalls surrounding the city, and houses had double-walls with ten-inch airspace to keep out the dampness, although tragically it sounds like the residents have still had to be evacuated at times when the river water rose. Cairo sounds a very interesting and unusual place, and I imagine Dickens would have been impressed with how the land’s difficulties were overcome.

Mark becomes ill with fever himself but gradually recovers, and is surprised to find Martin Jnr seems to have undergone a change of character in this time and is now much less selfish and much more appreciative of Mark’s efforts and qualities. They manage to leave Eden after their appeal for money is met by Bevan. Well, I’m very very pleased they have managed to escape that awful place (awful at that time), though I am surprised that Mark leaves behind the tragic husband and wife who have lost all their children, poor things, I’d kind of presumed he’d use some of the money from Bevan to buy their passage too, but perhaps it really was just enough for their own passage. 

He is part of the group who go with Chuzzlewit Snr to speak with Chuffey and accuse Jonas of murder. He also bravely explains to Chuzzlewit Snr that Martin Jnr’s earlier characteristics of thoughtlessness and selfishness were actually encouraged by Chuzzlewit Snr himself. He is invited by Chuzzlewit Snr to be present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff, and he also announces at the gathering that he is to marry Mrs Lupin and the Blue Dragon Inn will be renamed The Jolly Tapley. He is overjoyed to spot the husband and wife from Eden now returned to England as they walk by him in London and he introduces them to Chuzzlewit Snr who is also delighted to see them, and Mark tells the couple that they must come and live with him and his future wife at The Jolly Tapley. Awww, I’m overjoyed that there is a happy ending for that tragic couple, phew! Though obviously it is a hugely corny coincidence with them bumping into Mark in the huge metropolis of London, tee hee, but I love Dickens’ corniness when he wants to create a happy ending, bless him! They were always in my mind, as I was so surprised that Mark had left them there in Eden, and I wondered why he hadn’t promised or planned to send money to them for their passage when he and Martin Jnr arrived safely in London. And my personal feeling (not to criticise wonderful Dickens at all, but just a harmless suggestion!) is that it might have read better (and been less of a corny coincidence!) if Mark and Martin Jnr had told Chuzzlewit Snr about the tragic couple still trapped in Eden and that gentleman had then sent money over to them for their escape so they had then sought out Chuzzlewit Snr on their arrival in London to thank him, as this would then given a believable reason why they were in that part of London as they had gone there to seek Chuzzlewit Snr and then bumped into Mark. And yay, I’m so pleased that Mark is eventually content to be happy with Mrs Lupin instead of further seeking out adversity! And Mark became quite an important person really, opening Chuzzlewit Snr’s eyes to how he had encouraged the selfishness in Martin Jnr, which also then encouraged Chuzzlewit Snr to see his own behaviours clearly too!

Martin Chuzzlewit Jnr (I’ve referred to him as Martin Jnr, for ease)

He is Chuzzlewit Snr’s grandson, and his heir. Both his parents are dead. He is in love with Mary but Chuzzlewit Snr is angry at this and demands that he give up Mary, which he refuses to do and so therefore leaves the guardianship of Chuzzlewit Snr and tries to make his own fortune. When passing through Salisbury, he sees Pecksniff’s advert for architecture students and decides to study with him, knowing Pecksniff is a relative of the family and being interested in the subject. He is dismissive and thoughtless towards Tom. Hmmm, I don’t like his careless attitude towards Tom, I am thinking he seems to be a selfish person and negligent of other people’s needs, admittedly not a deliberately cruel person like some in this book but I can imagine his selfish actions cause pain to others even though he may not intend that. 

He is accused by Pecksniff of lying and concealing his true nature and of cruelty to Chuzzlewit Snr, but he realises that Pecksniff is only saying this in order to ingratiate himself further with Chuzzlewit Snr, who Martin Jnr can see believes that Pecksniff is a good person with kindly intentions though Martin Jnr knows him to be very different to this. He accuses Pecksniff of being two-faced and leaves the house in a temper saying he will go to America and use his architectural skills to make his fortune there. Tom runs after him to give him some money,  which is Tom’s savings. Oh no, Tom, he doesn’t deserve your savings after the thoughtless way he has treated you, and he won’t appreciate your sacrifice either, sigh!

He struggles in London to find a job to fund his passage to America and soon runs out of money and has to pawn his things, and he bumps into Tigg in a pawnshop. He is then sent some money anonymously. He bumps into Mark, who offers to come with him to America as an unpaid valet, which Martin Jnr agrees to, and he treats Mark in the same patronising and thoughtless way that he treated Tom. Mark arranges for Martin Jnr and Mary to meet so they can bid farewell to each other before they go to America, but Martin Jnr only talks to her of his excitement at the opportunities he believes he will find in America and has no appreciation of Mary’s anxiety about him, he also reminds Mary that he has sacrificed the regard of his grandfather due to his love for Mary, not thinking of any of the sacrifices she has made for him. He writes a letter to Tom returning his money, and asks Tom to look after Mary and to be a go-between for their letters. Well, I’m pleased he has thought to return Tom’s savings, that’s a point in his favour, but oh dear it will be difficult for poor Tom to be a go-between for Martin Jnr and Mary, given his adoration of Mary, bless him. And grrr, I did grind my teeth at his inconsiderate and selfish manner with poor Mary! And I wonder who sent the money to him anonymously?

He is very seasick on the ship over to America, like everyone else, but only has thoughts for his own sufferings and doesn’t attempt to help any of the others (even though Mark helps others). When they arrive in New York, they board with Major Pawkins. They meet Colonel Diver and Jefferson Brick, who own and write for the New York Rowdy Journal, as well as several other Americans who are keen to voice their opinion of America’s superiority over England, such as Mr La Fayette Kettle and General Choke who are members of the Watertoast Sympathisers and produce the Watertoast Gazette which criticises England’s ways and they regularly send this publication to Queen Victoria. A fellow boarder at Pawkins is Bevan, who Martin Jnr views as more genuine than the other Americans they have met and who chats about his country’s problems. Martin Jnr’s first impressions of American people are not at all favourable and he is critical of what he perceives as their faults and the country’s faults, and he is soon despondent of success there if he stays in New York. He is tempted by Scadder (a property developer) to invest in land in a place called Eden and accepts Mark’s offer of his savings towards this scheme, and because Mark’s contribution of money is much larger than Martin Jnr’s (even after he has sold the ring which Mary gave him), he therefore suggests that Mark becomes an equal partner in the business venture, though still frequently ignores Mark’s suggestions and considers Mark as inferior, even ignoring Mark’s suspicions that Scadder’s elaborate descriptions of Eden and his promises of the opportunities in Eden are false. Omg, I was really uncomfortable reading Martin Jnr’s view (presumably this is Dickens’ view) of America and his criticism of the people, it did seem extremely harsh, I kind of felt like just by reading it I was becoming unintentionally complicit in these views! And Martin Jnr thinks he is so much cleverer than the American people he scorns, and yet he falls for Scadder’s tall tales of the seemingly wonderful Eden, which I suspect isn’t wonderful at all, and he’s dragging Mark along with him and has put all of their money into this scheme, sigh! But I love the names of the Americans, one of the things I most adore with Dickens’ books are his elaborately named characters, and his love of this seems no different when the scenes are set in America as when they are set in England, thankfully.

They arrive at Eden and are horrified to find it is a slimy swamp, a complete contrast to Scadder’s tales of it being a thriving city with grand buildings and banks and churches and factories and hotels and theatres and even a newspaper called the Eden Stinger. Instead there is just a collection of basic cabins of which many are in ruins, the inhabitants are ill with fever and many have died, the air is poisonous, the weather is extremely hot, and the land is covered in a forest of trees growing in putrid matter. He gives way to despair and soon becomes weak and ill with fever, but Mark determinedly cares for him and tries to bolster his spirits. Mark then becomes sick himself, and while Martin Jnr in turn cares for Mark he gradually begins to realise what a selfish person he has been and vows to change. To Martin Jnr’s huge relief, Mark recovers and Martin Jnr then writes to Bevan asking to borrow money for their passage back to England, vowing to pay him back. He receives this money, and he and Mark leave Eden and return to England a year after they left it. Phew, thank goodness they have escaped Eden, and thank goodness that Martin Jnr is now aware of his faults and determined to be a better person.

On their return he is angry to discover that Pecksniff has stolen his design for a grammar school and has received praise and recognition for this. He goes to his grandfather (who is staying with Pecksniff) and asks to speak to him privately but Pecksniff refuses to leave them alone. Martin Jnr apologises to his grandfather for his hastiness and lack of respect and says that the hard life abroad and nearly dying has made him review his behavior and he now realises that he had acted wrongly and selfishly, he says he wants to be close to his grandfather again and asks for his forgiveness and begs for his grandfather not to reject him and adds that the only help he’d appreciate from his grandfather is to help him find honest work to support himself. He states that his feelings towards Mary haven’t changed and have instead strengthened but that he hopes his grandfather is able to respect this continuing loyalty towards Mary, and adds that he wishes he had been more open and trusting with his grandfather regarding his feelings for Mary and more considerate of how his grandfather might have felt on the matter. He praises Mark and says that he would have died if it wasn’t for his friend. He admits to his grandfather that he had to borrow money from Bevan to get home, and his grandfather immediately says that he will pay this money back to Bevan. Throughout all of Martin Jnr’s speech, Pecksniff constantly interrupts and challenges him and speaks for Chuzzlewit Snr, but Martin Jnr doesn’t rise to this or retaliate and just ignores Pecksniff, maintaining his calm and polite and respectful tone to his grandfather. He speaks to Mary, who tells him that Pecksniff is trying to marry her and that Chuzzlewit Snr seems to be entirely under Pecksniff’s control, but that she doesn’t think Chuzzlewit Snr will force her into marriage with Pecksniff and that the old man has remained consistently kind to her. Martin Jnr tells her he will go to London and that he hopes to do great things there, and will ask Tom to teach him how to earn his living. Wow, what a turnaround for a person, huge huge credit to him! He really has learnt the error of his ways, even realising that Tom can advise him, and I am sad that his grandfather doesn’t appear to believe him and instead believes all of Pecksniff’s lies, sigh! 

Later in London, he learns of Lewsome’s confession of supplying drugs to Jonas and the fear these were used to kill Anthony, and he plans with John to approach Chuffey via Mrs Gamp for more information. He is also eager to explain to John that he is aware he didn’t value Tom before, but that he does now. He finds accommodation for himself and Mark, and takes satisfaction in knowing how he has saved Mark trouble by doing this and how pleased Mark will be. He writes to the trustees of the grammar school stating the design for the school was his, not Pecksniff’s. He later believes that Tom has betrayed him and is extremely hurt by this, but doesn’t explain to Tom why he is offended and hurt, just saying that it is clear to him that Tom has chosen wealth and favour over friendship and stating that whilst he doesn’t blame Tom for this choice he does blame him for not being honest enough to tell him of his choice and to pretend to feel friendship with him and invite him to share confidences. Phew, that’s quite some accusation towards Tom, with no details so poor Tom can even attempt to defend himself, and I was so hopeful that he had seen the error of his ways with this treatment of Tom and was determined to make amends for this! 

He is invited by Chuzzlewit Snr to be present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff. Chuzzlewit Snr tells Martin Jnr that he was the one who earlier sent him the anonymous bank note, explaining that he had knowledge of Martin Jnr’s situation because he had employed Tigg to provide him with updates, and that he had sent the money because he’d hoped that Martin Jnr would then be grateful and humbled and come back to him. Chuzzlewit Snr further explains that at that time he hadn’t realised that this wouldn’t happen until he had changed his own ways, but that he now realises that the selfishness that he despised in others was also present in himself and that his own selfishness had often contributed to other people’s selfishness and driven people away. Martin Jnr asks Tom’s forgiveness for doubting his loyalty and honesty, explaining that he had seen Tom entering the library where he worked and knew the property belonged to Chuzzlewit Snr so he had jumped to the conclusion that Tom was in collaboration with Chuzzlewit Snr. Tom instantly forgives him. Chuzzlewit Snr blesses Martin Jnr’s and Mary’s love, saying he had always hoped they would end up together. Well, that’s all very heartening, with everyone having apologised and been forgiven! And I’m relieved that Martin Jnr really does seem to now be a changed man and much more appreciative of people like Tom and Mary and Mark. I liked the passage referring to Martin Jnr’s altered attitude to Mark and the value he derives from his friend, ‘although he might sometimes profess to make light of his partner’s inexhaustible cheerfulness…he was always sensible of the effect of his example in rousing him to hopefulness and courage’, which is a stark contrast to the example earlier in the book of his attitude towards Tom, ‘for so long as the one party found a pleasure in patronising, and the other in being patronised, it was of all possible events among the least probable that the twin demons Envy and Pride would ever arise between them’, wow, Dickens just creates such beautifully expressed sentences, I am just in awe of him! 

Mrs Todgers

She runs a boarding house in London, where the Pecksniffs often stay and Mr Pecksniff flirts with her. Charity stays with her when she leaves her family home, and this is where she meets Augustus and plans to marry him. Mercy also stays with her after Jonas has died, and Mrs Todgers encourages Mercy to accept Chuzzlewit Snr’s suggestion to live with him, even though she adds that she will greatly miss her. Awww, another lovely woman, like Mrs Lupin, solid and dependable but also loving and kind. I loved this description of her, both humorous but also very touching, ‘a little worn by cares of gravy and other such solicitudes arising out of her establishment (but) in some odd nook in Mrs Todgers’ breast, up a great many steps and in a corner easy to be overlooked, there was a secret door with “woman” written on the spring which…had flown wide open and admitted her (Mercy) for shelter’, so beautifully and cleverly written!

Benjamin Bailey (‘Young Bailey’)

He is a bootboy at Todgers’ Boarding House when the Pecksniffs stay there. He adopts a manner of speech which implies he is a great deal older than he actually is. He leaves Mrs Todgers’ employment and is employed by Tigg as a groom at the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company, and he is very pleased with this new employment as he is dressed in fine clothes and has an opportunity to talk knowledgeably about horses. Tee hee, I do find Bailey amusing with him speaking like he is much much older than he really is and his huge amount of self-confidence! I guess it is tragic that such a young boy is needing to seek employment and I wonder where he comes from and what happened to his parents and family, but he very much seems a product of London at that time and shows enormous confidence when walking through its streets and talking to his fellow inhabitants. 

He knows Poll Sweedlepipe, and goes along with Sweedlepipe to meet Mrs Gamp on her return home with Jonas and Mercy as a married couple, particularly as he is curious to see Mercy as he knew her from Todgers’ Boarding House. He is instructed to accompany Tigg and Jonas to Wiltshire to see Pecksniff, but travels outside the coach and when the coach crashes he is severely injured. Tigg calls a doctor when they reach an inn who says it is unlikely that Bailey will live, and Sweedlepipe hears back in London that Bailey has died. Later however, to Sweedlepipe’s delight, Bailey has not died, and Sweedlepipe declares that Bailey will go into business with him and can look after the birds while Sweedlepipe does the barbering. 

Poll Sweedlepipe

He is Mrs Gamp’s landlord, and is also a barber and a bird trader. He is friends with Bailey and is very upset at the news of Bailey’s apparent death. However, when he learns that Bailey has survived, he suggests having Bailey join him in business. He is present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff, organised by Chuzzlewit Snr, who instructs him to make sure that Mrs Gamp follows the advice of consuming less alcohol and showing more humanity and regard for her patients and less for herself and of being more honest, and he is to report to Chuzzlewit Snr if she does otherwise. I loved the description of Sweedlepipe as having ‘something of the bird in his nature’ with the examples of how he is similar to several birds, such as like a sparrow he ‘inclines to human company’, like a dove he is ‘peaceful’, like a raven he is ‘very inquisitive’, and like a pigeon he ‘strutted’ in his walk and has ‘prosiness and…monotony’ of speech like the cooing of a pigeon, tee hee, it’s just so cleverly written, Dickens has such imagination! 

Ruth Pinch

She is Tom’s sister. She is a governess at a house in London, and the Pecksniffs visit her while they are in London, mostly in order to patronise her and show off. Tom rescues her from her employment as a governess and from the rudeness she endures there. They rent some rooms together in Islington, and she is very happy being housekeeper to Tom. Awww, she seems a very likely person to be Tom’s sister, and I hope they always stay together as they seem quite vulnerable when on their own but stronger when they are together.

John meets her and greatly admires her, and she seems to admire him too. She shows great sympathy and kindness to Mercy, who is grateful to her. She tells Tom that she has guessed his secret love for Mary and she urges him to believe that marriage with Mary could be a possibility, however Tom tells her that there is no chance of this but assures her that he can still be happy in life and not let regrets overwhelm him or make him bitter. Awww again, they are both such lovely selfless good-hearted people full of human kindness, which is very admirable but it makes me a little sad that they don’t consider their own needs at all.

She is invited by Chuzzlewit Snr to be present at the gathering to shame Pecksniff. John proposes to her and she happily accepts him. They both tell Tom that they want him to live with them, and they delight in sharing their future plans with him. Awww (and I’m aware I’ve not begun a comment regarding Ruth without using the word ‘awww’!), I’m so pleased at this happy ending, I was wanting Ruth and John to be together but I was concerned for Tom then being alone, but this is a perfect outcome, yay!

Lewsome

He is a man of unknown identity suffering from fever who Mrs Gamp and Betsey Prigg are asked to nurse at the inn. He talks in his fevered sleep about concerns with people drinking too much from a fountain, and he counts 530 men passing through the door all dressed alike and with the same distortion on their faces and with black crepe on their arms and flag, and he also shouts out the name ‘Jonas Chuzzlewit’ and the word ‘no’. Oooh, this all sounds very interesting, a mysterious man! And he seems to know something suspicious about Jonas! 

John is contacted to visit the man, as paperwork with John’s name on it has been found in the unknown man’s pocket. John identifies the man as Lewsome and says they were friends in childhood but adds that he hasn’t seen him for years so has no idea why Lewsome would have John’s name in his pocket. However, John pays for Lewsome’s care at the inn. When he has recovered slightly and is judged well enough to be able to travel, he goes home to Hertfordshire, Mrs Gamp accompanying him on the journey, where his care will be taken over by a nurse there. He says to John, just as he is leaving for Hertfordshire, that he has something he needs to tell him, something frightful and unnatural and cruel that he helped in, but that he is too weak to tell John this now and will write to him. Later he explains to John that he is a doctor and he knew Jonas due to them gambling together and that he owed Jonas money. He says that Jonas asked him for drugs to kill an animal, and he admits that he felt suspicious but supplied the drugs as Jonas said his debt would then be cleared. However, this has haunted him ever since and he is worried that Jonas killed Anthony. He signs a document to this effect, and goes with Chuzzlewit Snr to speak with Chuffey and then explains his story infront of Jonas and the others and they accuse Jonas of murdering Anthony. Wow, so this mysterious man was actually quite crucial to the plot of this book! And although we now know that Anthony didn’t actually take Jonas’ poison, Lewsome’s testimony proves that it was Jonas’ intention to kill his father.

Mrs Gamp

She is a midwife and nurse/watcher for the dead. She is an alcoholic, and always puts her needs above the needs of the patient she is supposed to be caring for, eg taking their pillow for herself during nightwatches, and making up a fire to keep herself warm even though the doctor has advised that the patient’s room be kept cool. She offers her views on subjects by relating conversations with her friend, Mrs Harris, but people suspect that Mrs Harris doesn’t actually exist. Hmmm, she does phrase things in a very amusing way and I presume she has been written by Dickens as an amusing character, but I feel very uncomfortable and distressed at how she treats her patients!

She is employed, along with her friend and colleague Betsey Prigg, to care for the unknown Lewsome, although she tells Mr Mould (the undertaker) that Lewsome may be coming his way and promises to recommend Mould’s services if this is the case, and she later accompanies Lewsome on his journey home to Hertfordshire when he is well enough to travel. She goes to the wharf to see Mercy off to Antwerp with Jonas, seeming to feel caringly towards Mercy. She has been employed a few times by Jonas to take care of Chuffey, and on this current occasion she informs Jonas that Chuffey seems to be wandering in his mind and that he talks about someone dead upstairs and goes looking for Anthony. Jonas tells her to treat Chuffey as if he is a lunatic and to restrain him, whilst also taking care of his needs, and she asks Betsey Prigg to help her in this task but then falls out with Betsey when that lady states that Mrs Harris doesn’t exist. She allows Chuzzlewit Snr and John and Mark to speak to Chuffey about Anthony’s death. Chuzzlewit Snr later advises Mrs Gamp to take less alcohol, to show more humanity and regard for her patients and less for herself, and to be more honest, otherwise he will report her, and he ensures Sweedlepipe is present for this lecture so he can make sure she follows his advice. Phew, I am very relieved that Mrs Gamp was made (by Chuzzlewit Snr) to improve her behaviour and attitude towards her patients, as the book was nearing to a close and I was worried that this would go unchallenged and she would continue in her terrible ways. As I say, I appreciate she was a humorous character in the book and she did have some fantastic lines but my enjoyment of her passages in the book were frequently spoiled by my discomfort with her treatment of her patients so I feel I can enjoy her humorous passages more now! And her speech is certainly amusing, being frequently being made up of words said slightly incorrectly, such as when she listed events that may affect the date that a woman gives birth, being ‘a Punch’s show, a chimbley sweep, a newfundlandog, or a drunkin man a-comin round the corner sharp’, tee hee, these all seem so random! And I chuckled at her calling a cucumber a ‘cowcumber’ (although interestingly I see on google that it did indeed used to be called this and came from a belief that the food was only fit for cows, wow, I didn’t realise that) and words such as ‘dispoged’ rather than disposed! Her and Betsey Prig’s focus on good food was also amusing (not just the cowcumbers!) and especially the occasion when Betsey Prig ‘with an air of surly triumph drew forth either the oldest of lettuces or the youngest of cabbages, but at any rate, a green vegetable of an expansive nature’, and that this love of food takes priority even over an argument ‘for a quarrel can be taken up at any time, but a limited quantity of salmon cannot’, tee hee, just wonderful! I also loved Dickens’ description of Mrs Gamp as it being ‘difficult to enjoy her society without becoming conscious of a smell of spirits…a peculiar fragrance was borne upon the breeze, as if a passing fairy had hiccoughed and had previously been to a wine-vaults’, that really made me chuckle, Mrs Gamp certainly is one of Dickens’ most memorable characters. 

Well, phew, what a book! Such a lot going on and such amazingly well-written characters, and some surprising twists and turns that really kept me gripped, Dickens certainly is a wonderfully clever and imaginative writer! But what do I think of this book now that I’ve read it again? I definitely enjoyed reading it far more than I did the first time I read it and I will definitely read it again and I appreciate it far more now too, but I think it still doesn’t rank up there with my personal favourite books of Dickens’. I think one of the main reasons for this was the relentless criticism of Americans and their country! I know he often includes some criticism of an organisation in his novels (such as his dry sarcasm of the Circumlocution Office in Our Mutual Friend) and indeed this is often amusing to read, but in this Martin Chuzzlewit book the criticism of America just went on and on and on and seemed to be very bitter and personal and I didn’t feel amused by it, I don’t even think he intended to make it amusing, it felt more like he wanted an opportunity to vent! I know it was a different time, and perhaps because of the lack of travel opportunities compared to today and with America being so far away from England then I can imagine that that country and its inhabitants could have been misunderstood by English people at that time, but I honestly felt quite shocked and uncomfortable at his tone and strength of language, such as him declaring that Americans ‘avow themselves to be as senseless to the high principles on which America sprang…no more capable of feeling, or of caring if they did feel, that by reducing their own country to the ebb of honest men’s contempt, they put in hazard the rights of nations yet unborn and every progress of the human race…that Republic, but yesterday let loose upon her noble course, and but today so maimed and lame, so full of sores and ulcers, foul to the eye and almost hopeless to the sense, that her best friends turn from the loathsome creature with disgust’. Phew, deep deep outbreath! That was very very strong overpowering criticism and very difficult to read, and I also felt it detracted from the otherwise wonderfully written plot too, almost like he was determined to shoe-horn his rant in whether it fitted with the scene or not! However, I’m pleased to note that there is an addition from Dickens at the end of my copy of the book, written a few decades later, stating that his view of America has now altered, so credit to him for stating that and for being open-minded enough (eventually!) to have his view revised, and I think I read somewhere that there was an issue between Dickens and the copyright of his books in America so perhaps this added to his bitterness at the time he wrote this book. I definitely preferred the passages and characters set in London though, which were more full of Dickens’ usual dry humorous observations and which felt more like Dickens’ traditional writing which I love. 

I think another reason why this isn’t one of my favourite books is Martin Jnr himself, as for most of the book I just plain didn’t like him, which was a shame considering he was the main character! He was just so selfish and inconsiderate of others, and even though he realised his mistakes and amended them, by that point I was slightly past trying to like him and to care about what happened to him. And while I’m thinking about characters I struggled to like, I’m sorry to say that I found Mark Tapley a little annoying at times too! I know he was lovely with his kindness and positivity, but I was annoyed at him for not appreciating the good life he had and for being willing to throw this good life away in order to live a difficult life which he perceived to be of more value, and I even found his determined cheerfulness a little wearying at times and possibly even a little contrived (although I feel bad saying that, as he is a nice character, bless him!). 

And I think another reason why this isn’t one of my favourite books is that the villain in the book, Jonas, just isn’t quite villain enough for me, compared to some of Dickens’ really memorable villains that are always lodged in my mind! The villains who are so memorable and sinister for me and who make me shiver to think about them, are people like Compeyson in Great Expectations, Rigaud in Little Dorrit, Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop, Bradley Headstone in Our Mutual Friend, and Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist, and they instantly come to my mind when I think about a Dickens’ villain, whereas Jonas just doesn’t! Obviously he is a villain as he plotted to kill his father and he killed Tigg (and was horrible to Mercy), but although he was sinister and threatening whilst he was doing those things he then seemed to become a bit of a sad and pathetic figure when he was torturing himself about the murder, and so to then lack the usual self-confidence and self-belief of Dickens’ other villains. He also seemed to bring about a certain amount of his own punishment by torturing himself and also finally punished himself by committing suicide, rather than blustering with self-confidence right to the end and believing his cleverness would allow him to escape justice as Dickens’ other villains do (admittedly Bradley Headstone may also not quite fit that usual villain picture of blustering self-confidence as he seemed to struggle with the balance of his mind and indeed became almost like a split personality with him maintaining his image of a respectable schoolteacher whilst inside being driven by jealousy and violence, but this still seems different to Jonas’ imaginings of the dead Tigg appearing to him). I do find it interesting that Dickens decided to have Jonas act like this (both the torturing of himself and the killing of himself), and I think it affects my personal ranking of him up there with the memorable villains!   

But, as I said above, even though it’s not one of my favourite books of Dickens, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it and am full of admiration for how clever and involving it is, and I would still favour it over many many other books written by other authors. There were so many things I loved in the book, mainly all the happy endings in this book (as there are in most of Dickens’ books, he is so generous with a happy ending, bless him!) with Martin Jnr and Mary to be married, Ruth and John to be married, Mark and Mrs Lupin to be married, and Tom valued by all and made to feel such an important person after he had been treated so dismissively by the Pecksniffs and their students for such a long time, and it seemed very fitting that the book ended with an older Tom playing the organ whilst Mary’s child sat adoring him and Ruth coming to sit next to him on the organ seat, bless him (I still feel a little sad for Tom that he didn’t get together with Mary who he loyally loved for so long, and part of me wonders if Tom may have suited her better than Martin Jnr, but I guess I must be generous and recognise how Martin Jnr has changed and is now a much better person and far more deserving of Mary’s love). And of course, there were the happy endings of many people changing their selfish and thoughtless ways, which was very satisfying. And I also loved all of Dickens’ wonderfully humorous descriptions of the characters, particularly the hangers-on of the Chuzzlewit family when he really excelled himself with the dry sarcastic humour used to describe them and their weaknesses and failings!

I think the overall theme of the book is the contrast between selfishness and selflessness. Dickens demonstrates that selfish people struggle to recognise their own selfishness, and how their selfishness often breeds selfishness in others, and that they also struggle to recognise selflessness in others and often suspect other people of similar traits of selfishness as themselves. And of course he also demonstrates how selfish people can learn the error of their ways and become selfless (though not all of them!). I found it interesting to consider the main characters and how they fit these demonstrations. Martin Jnr and Chuzzlewit Snr seem to most accurately fit the demonstration, as they were both selfish at the start of the book and oblivious to the effect of this on others, and yet also both eventually acknowledged this selfishness in themselves and the damage it had done to their relationships with others and how they had misjudged others, and they admirably altered their ways and became more selfless. Anthony and Jonas Chuzzlewit fit the demonstration to a degree as they were certainly both selfish with their greed and love of money at the start of the book, and both ended up feeling a (kind of) regret for this and perhaps would have made an attempt to alter if they had time, but I feel their potential alterations (or beginnings of alterations) were perhaps just another version of selfishness really, being the selfishness of self-preservation, with Anthony’s regrets of bringing Jonas up to revere selfishness only happening when he realised Jonas’ wish to harm him, and with Jonas’ regrets of his selfish violent action in murdering Tigg only happening due to his concerns about avoiding being caught. Mercy Pecksniff also fitted the demonstration to a degree, as she was selfish at the start of the book and not able to recognise selflessness in others, and she did demonstrate that she had altered by showing care towards Chuffey and with her likely care of Chuzzlewit Snr as he aged in the future, but I wonder if this alteration could perhaps be attributed more to circumstances shaping her view of life rather than her realising the error of her ways and seeking to alter? Pecksniff obviously fits perfectly the first part of Dickens’ demonstration, as he was certainly selfish at the start of the book and he continued this way throughout the entire book, he certainly didn’t recognise this trait in himself and he often mistakenly judged others’ motives as being selfish, and he certainly damaged his relationship with his daughters through his selfishness, but he doesn’t even come close to fitting the demonstration of the second part as he didn’t ever regret his actions or learn from them, even when they were blatantly pointed out to him and when he suffered in later life due to this trait (becoming a drunk beggar). And then of course, when considering the topic of selflessness, there is the contrast of the selfless people who don’t display any selfishness at all, and Mary and Tom and Mark and Ruth all spring to mind with this description, and I think too that Dickens demonstrates that selflessness wins the day by having them all rewarded by marrying the people they loved (apart from Tom, sob) and having the completely selfless Tom as the character who effectively finished the book with him being loved and valued by all. Though I then entertained myself wondering if Dickens also demonstrates too that being a completely innocently selfless person can actually be a disadvantage and that it is perhaps better to employ more of a self-aware selfless nature, with Tom being far too innocent in his selflessness which led to him being frequently taken advantage of when he tried to help and support people, whereas I think Mark displayed more of a self-aware selflessness as he saw people’s faults and identified their true characters but still decided to be selfless and help and support them meaning that he wasn’t taken advantage of. Mary was perhaps more similar to Tom in her innocent selflessness with her being loyal to the selfish men in her life (Chuzzlewit Snr and Martin Jnr) and trying to see the best in them which led to her being taken advantage of by them, but she wasn’t taken advantage of to the extent that Tom was so I think she displayed some self-awareness in her selflessness as she was perhaps aware to a degree of these men’s selfishness but chose to still believe in them and be loyal to them (and of course she was paid to be loyal to Chuzzlewit Snr as this was her employment!). I wonder if Ruth is the ideal mix of innocent selflessness and self-aware selflessness with her having to be selfless and put up with abuse and be taken advantage of by her employer because she was paid to do so (whilst, I’m sure, being inwardly aware of their bad behaviour and criticising them in her mind), and she then demonstrated selfless love and loyalty to Tom but she was self-aware enough to know that he was a good person who deserved this and wouldn’t take advantage of her. But I’m thinking again about Mark and actually whether his adversity-seeking selflessness was actually a kind of selfishness because he undertook those difficulties in the hope he would gain by feeling good about himself afterwards by testing how jolly he could be in adversity! Omg, I do love how there is so much depth in Dickens’ books and how I can amuse myself for hours afterwards analysing the characters and analysing his possible intentions of how they are perceived by the reader! 

I think another theme of the book is how people in the story could (or could not) influence others and what type of influence this was. The older generation (Chuzzlewit Snr and Anthony) were a bad influence on the younger generation (Martin Jnr and Jonas), but there was then the example of a younger person being a good influence on an older person (Mark being a good influence on Chuzzlewit Snr). Mark also influenced Martin Jnr to be more positive and grateful and to be a better friendlier person by demonstrating positivity and generosity, but I also wonder if Martin Jnr unconsciously influenced Mark to settle down and marry Mrs Lupin by demonstrating his contentment with the idea of being settled and married to Mary. Tom obviously influenced many people in the town by demonstrating kindness and selflessness, but I feel John deserves credit for influencing Tom to begin valuing himself more by demonstrating his belief and reliance for Tom. I wondered at Mary’s seeming lack of influence with some people, as it was Mark who influenced both Martin Jnr’s and Chuzzlewit Snr’s alteration of characters although she had spent a lot of time with both and she no doubt demonstrated admirable qualities that could have influenced them, but perhaps her influence had an unconscious effect which then paved the way to them being more receptive to Mark’s more blatant influencing, and of course she did influence Tom enormously by enabling him to eventually see Pecksniff’s true character. I do wonder who influenced Slyme to encourage him to change into a responsible and professional man from the lazy one he was, could it have been Tigg himself perhaps with his own determination to make his way in the world (although fraudulently!) and with his seeming abandonment of Slyme which possibly forced Slyme to have to fend for himself, even though Slyme chose an honorable profession in comparison to Tigg’s dishonest profession (I do have a soft spot for Tigg so part of me would like to imagine he was the unintentional influence on Slyme doing good in the world by becoming a police officer, even though I imagine Tigg himself would probably have been horrified at Slyme’s choice of profession!)? And obviously there is the twist of Pecksniff believing he is influencing Chuzzlewit Snr into leaving money to him by demonstrating care and admiration of that gentleman (false though this was) but that gentleman actually saw through Pecksniff and was inwardly resisting his perceived influence, and also the irony of Pecksniff still refusing to be influenced for the better by anyone at the end of the story even though his inability to do this makes life harder for him as he ends up a drunk beggar, so Pecksniff can neither influence anyone or be receptive to anyone else’s influence! 

As ever, I adore Dickens’ descriptive way of expression and I noted these when I was doing each character summary above, but I also loved his descriptions of nature in this book too and some of my favourites nature quotes from him are below:  

‘And now the morning grew so fair, and all things were so wide awake and gay, that the sun seeming to say “I can’t stand it any longer, I must have a look” streamed out in radiant majesty’. It always makes me smile to imagine the sun being just unable to resist coming out and joining in with the beautiful day!

‘The morning which was clad in the least engaging of the 365 dresses in the wardrobe of the year’. I love this clever and yet convoluted way (!) of representing the 365 days of the year by associating them with dresses!

‘Church towers humming with the faint vibration of their own tongues, but newly resting from the ghostly preachment “one!”’. It took me a while to realise Dickens just means here that the clock struck one, what a beautifully involving way to say that simple fact!

And finally, realising that by re-reading this book I now like and appreciate it much better, I will also do the same for Dickens’ Hard Times which again I’ve only read once and isn’t one of my favourites of his books. I am tempted to re-read one of my favourites of his though, Our Mutual Friend, as this wonderful novel was put in my mind with Chuzzlewit Snr pretending to be unaware of Pecksniff’s duplicitous nature just as Boffin pretended to be unaware of Silas Wegg’s duplicitous nature. I also have some Dickens-related books on my shelves waiting to be read and which I am keen to begin, Dickens on Railways which is a collection of his writings on railways edited by Tony Williams, and Walking Dickens’ London by Lee Jackson.

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