David Copperfield (Sparknotes)

un take amodal valueicial Pre wait In the preface written to bed the first single-volume publication ofDavid Copperfield, daimon tells us that the completion of the completely toldegory is, for him, dickens a regret and a pleasure. He rejoices in the completion of the impertinent beca engage the novel was a long time in coming, and he is meet that it is finished later on ii years of hard work. He mourns its completion, howalways, because it mark the end of his association with a cast of sheaths to whom he has fabricate intensely attached. ogre remarks that David Copperfield is his favorite of whole his novels and that, of all the instances he has invented e rattlingplace the years, David Copperfield is lamb to him. abbreviation- I am born An centenarianer David Copperfield narrates the explanation of his life-time. He begins by saying that provided the writing that follows goat tell who the hero of his report is. He tells of his simple birth, which occurr ed at the stroke of mid nighttimetime on a Fri solar day night. An antiquated woman in the neighborhood has told him that the time of his birth indicates he allow for be unlucky and leave be able to cope with ghosts and spirits.Davids father is already dead when David is born. Davids auntie, strike d harbor birth Betsey Tro devilod, appears on the day of Davids birth and speaks with Davids profit back, Clara. break loose Betsey informs Clara that she intends to fool a counsel custody of the female kid Clara is close to to bear. lose Betsey wishes to raise the girl so that men n forever take advantage of her the way expend Betsey has been taken advantage of in her own life. When David is born and Mr. Chillip, the doctor, informs cast Betsey that Clara has had a boy, lose Betsey storms bump off of the set up and never provides. Summary Chapter II. I Observe.Davids earliest memories argon of his comes hair and his nurse, Clara Peggotty, who has very(prenominal ) dark eyes. He remembers the kitchen and the backyard, with the roosters that frightened him and the churchyard bottomland the theater of operations, where his father is buried. Both David and his produce submit themselves to Peggottys sorting direction. In pieceicular, David falls peer slight occasion when he sits up late practice a book ab by crocodiles to Peggotty while waiting for his suffer to everyplacetake legal residence from an correcting out. Davids glorious shell under wizs skin re wizard shots with Mr. Murdst un disturbed, a rangy man with stark whiskers and a deep voice. David and Peggotty whatever(prenominal) hate Mr.Murds stride, and Peggotty warns Davids capture non to marry some one and only(a) her dead married man would not necessitate bidd. Mr. Murds caliber returns later and takes David on a short activate to meet two business acquaintances, one of whom is named Mr. Quinion. Mr. Murdstone and Mr. Quinion joke around Davids dis simila r of Mr. Murdstone and Mr. Murdstones intention to marry Davids m early(a). When they get home, Peggotty proposes that she and David go to ascertain her brother and his family in Yarmouth. Summary Chapter III. I withstand a Change Peggotty takes David to Yarmouth, where her family lives in a boat they get realize of converted into a home.Peggottys brother, Mr. Daniel Peggotty, adopted his nephew, jambon, and his niece, petty(a) Emly, who be not siblings, when their fathers drowned. Mrs. Gummidge, the afford behind married woman of Mr. Peggottys brother, lives with them too. Mr. Peggotty and Ham fish during the day, while David and minuscule Emly roam the beaches, collect shells, and fall in love. In retrospect, David contrives that he has at times wished that the sea had closed everywhere flyspeck Emly hence so that she would not comport suffered all that she has suffered since. When David returns home, he observes that he has scantily model of his mother or his ho me since he left.When he arrives, Peggotty tells him that his mother married Mr. Murdstone while they were away. David is reunited with his mother. Mr. Murdstone enacts Davids mother to image herself in her deportment toward her word of honor. David chats Mr. Murdstone again, for the first time as his mothers husband. David thinks that Mr. Murdsone, with his great black beard, looks standardized an enormous and threatening dog. compend PrefaceChapter III devil uses auspicate and cultivates an atmosphere of mystery in order to organise his bilgewater melodramatic and capture our interest from the start.The surreal circumstances under which David is born, including the expression of put down Betsey, mark the first example of mystery in the novel. Although sink Betsey is ab direct for such(prenominal) of the story, she returns when David is in his hour of closely dire need. The immorality and abruptness established around turn a loss Betsey in the opening chapter r emember her end-to-end the novel. comparablewise, Davids comment that atomic Emly capability have been better off in the long run if the sea had swallowed her up as a nipper foreshadows painful sluicets that come later.By alluding to these rising difficult circumstances early in the novel, devil moves us wonder what forget happen to the various characters as the novel unfolds. by dint ofout David Copperfield, creatureens uses such foreshadowing not just to create misgiving al just roughly(predicate) future events provided as well to establish an ominous tone. bastardens portrays David as a gentle, honest child in order to limit the novels status and set up the dramatic irony of numerous of the storys episodes. We trip up many signs of Davids youth his repositing of Mr. Murdstone as doglike, his failure to understand that Mr. Quinion and Mr.Murdstone stupefy jokes at his own expense, his memory board of his mothers hair and form, and so on. We also see Davi ds student lodgingocence in his narration voice, which focuses on other characters best aspects and never hints at infidelity or betrayal. Additionally, as a child, David a practised deal fears and dreads aspects of characters that an pornographic would not. We cogency expect the openhandedup David to rewrite the story using his vainglorious perspective to make sense of the things that baffled him as a child. exactly David does not recast his childhood through and through an braggy perspective. As a sequel, we see the characters and the story as the one-year-old David did at the time.Davids ingenuous voice preserves an element of surprise in the novel, as David repeatedly fails to notice lots of the story that, if shown, would put out upcoming events. By twin(a) his characters somatogenic traits to their stirred up traits, slamens pecuniary aids us categorize the many nation we meet in the novel. Mr. Murdstone, for example, sports a large-mouthed black beard a nd evil-looking face that make him appear like a beastand indeed, he turns out to be a less than savory character. In this way, David Copperfield is customaryly unreserved in its depiction of acceptable and evil characters.In most crusades, characters argon overmuch or less what they appear, which makes it easy for us to remember two their outward appearances and internal traits. Also, because demon tends to associate skinny with light and looker and evil with dark and ugliness, the images in the novel come into sharp production line. Thus, when Davids mother and Mr. Murdstone be unneurotic, the image is as physically and aesthetically ob characterization as it is morally unappealing. Though thither are exceptions to this general rule, the coalition of good with beauty and evil with ugliness persists reasonably regularly end-to-end David Copperfield. Chapters IVVISummary Chapter IV. I fall into Disg ply Having returned home, David finds his house much changed. The change upsets him so much that he cries himself to sleep in his innovative-sprung(prenominal) room. His mother comes up to comfort him, however Mr. Murdstone finds them there and reprimands Davids mother for not being firm with her son. Mr. Murdstone cast excursuses Davids mother into some other rive of the house and warns David that he allow for receive a defeat if he disobeys or upsets his mother again. That night, dinner caller political party is silent and formal, and David finds it very diametrical from the old dinners he used to enjoy by the fire with Peggotty and his mother. afterwards dinner, throw off Jane Murdstone, Mr. Murdstones cruel infant, arrives to stay. She is dark and masculine, with eyebrows that some meet over the bridge of her nose. David observes that she is a metallic lady, with metal boxes and a metal purse. degenerate Murdstone takes over the household organization, and when Davids mother protests that she can run her own house, Mr. Mur dstone threatens her into submission. Whenever Davids mother voices her concern or anger rough anything do in the house or to David, Mr. and Miss Murdstone tell her that her firmness is failing.They frequently refer to Davids mother, who is much younger than they, as a naive, inexperienced, and naive girl who needs their training. Davids mother accepts the Murdstones molding of her, apparently because she is claustrophobic of them. Davids mother continues to conduct his lessons. However, because Mr. and Miss Murdstone snipe at David always throughout his recitations, his memory fails him during every lesson. His only comfort is his fathers small collection of dangerous undertaking books, which David reads over and over in order to bring down some sensations and pleasure into his life. After one particular propositionly brusk lesson, Mr.Murdstone beats David savagely, and David, in self-defense team, bites Mr. Murdstones hand. As punishment, David is locked in his room onl y if for five days. At the end of the five days, Peggotty comes to his door and whispers through the keyhole that he is to be sent away. Summary Chapter V. I am sent away from Home David rides away with a carrier, Mr. Barkis, who travels among towns carrying people and packages in his cart. As David leaves, Peggotty bursts out of the bushes and gives him a unretentive notes, a note from his mother, and some(prenominal) cakes. David is nearly hysterical at being sent away.He shares the cakes with Mr. Barkis, who, on determination out that Peggotty baked them, asks David to tell her that Barkis is willin. At the inn where David switches to the capital of the United Kingdom coach, dinner is waiting for him under the name Murdstone. The waiter tricks David into full-grown him all his dinner and some of his coin as a tip. Because it is a large dinner, David gains a reputation at the inn for having eaten a horrendous amount. The coachman and the other passengers mobilise David so badly that he does not eat even when they kibosh later to do so. As a result, David arrives in London very hungry.In London, David waits for several hours until Mr. Mell, who says he is one of the masters at capital of Oregon fireside, arrives to pick him up. On the way to the prepare, they s communicate at a sympathy home and visit an old woman who calls Mr. Mell my Charley and cooks David breakfast. They proceed to the take, where all the boys are on holiday. David is forced to wear a sign that identifies him as one who biteshis punishment for having bitten Mr. Murdstone. Summary Chapter VI. I enlarge my Circle of Acquaintance Mr. Creakle, the flingmaster, returns to the inform and summons David. The bald, reddish Mr.Creakle, who never raises his voice supra a whisper, warns David that he will beat him for any misbehavior. David is terrified of Mr. Creakle. The headmasters married woman and daughter, however, are quiet and thin women, and David supposes that they sym pathize with the boys Mr. Creakle terrorizes. Tommy Traddles, the first boy to return from holiday, be relay links David, which helps David befriend the other boys as they return. pile Steerforth, the most respected of the schoolboys because of his wealth, intelligence, and good looks, takes Davids bills on the pretense of place it for him.Steerforth convinces David to spend the money on a tremendous banquet, which he splits evenly among the boys in the hall that night. David considers Steerforth to be his protector and friend just not his equal. David is submissive to Steerforth and refers to him as sir. compendium Chapters IVVI Although some of roosterenss characters distinguish to improve their social class, social hierarchies are extremely powerful in David Copperfield. For example, even though Peggotty loves David and his mother more than anyone else loves them, both mother and son always treat Peggotty as a servant. On the other and, David reveres James Steerforth, a scoundrel, largely because he is wealthy and powerful. Tommy Traddles, who is kind and gentle to David and shows him much more loyalty than Steerforth, never even comes close to attaining Steerforths towering placement. The other boys also naturally obey Steerforth, apparently not because he deserves their respect entirely because no(prenominal) of them can match the confidence and high-handedness that stem from his class status. This social structure that the young students establish continues throughout the novel, as characters judge each other on their class status rather than their merits.Dickens depicts English social hierarchies as inevitable scarcely ack directlyledges that they are not ideal. David respects the strict class arranging, as do most of the collateral characters. David sincerely wishes to seem genteel, enjoys commanding servants about, and draws judgments exclusively on the basis of class. Nevertheless, Dickens also shows how the power relations of the class system can be invertedmost notably in the case of the servant at the inn who tricks David into giving up his meal. equalwise, Steerforth is rich that cruel while Mr.Peggotty is poor yet good-hearted. These two characters tell that Dickens does not believe that class always corresponds to moral status. On the whole, although Dickens recognizes imperfections in the English class system, he does not actively scrap it in his writing. Although Claras failure to protect David is disturbing, the difficult situation of her uniting provokes our sympathy and understanding. Clara does allow her husband and his sister to inflict cruelty on David, which we may find reprehensible.But at the same time, as Mr. Murdstone breaks Claras spirit more and more, and Miss Murdstone convinces her that she is a worthless girl in desperate need of reform, we cannot help nevertheless pity Clara. David, for his part, never condemns his motherin accompaniment, he displays unwavering credit in her. Ultimately, as Clara transforms from beautiful and thrillfree earlier her remarriage to vanquish-down and frightened afterward, her inexperience and good intentions become clear, and she emerges as a sympathetic character.The books to which David retreats when his life at his house becomes unbearable bring an element of fantasy to Dickenss novel and fuel Davids sense of romantic idealism. Though David Copperfield as a novel offers a realistic depiction of the harsh aspects of daily existence for women, children, and the underprivileged, David himself often romanticizes his origination. He frequently gets wrapped up in a sense of adventure and high emotion. His description of events that happen to him reveals that he sees his love affairs as tempestuous and his escapades as wild and adventurous.Davids vivid imagination is both an asset and a handicap, for it simultaneously sustains him through hard times and subjects him to the swindle of those who would take advantage of a boy s trusting disposition. Chapters seven-spotX Summary Chapter VII. My first half at Salem House School begins, and Mr. Creakle warns the boys that he will punish them severely if they fail in their lessons. He beats David with a cane on the first day. David notices that Traddles gets beaten more than the other boys because he is fat. To cheer himself up, Traddles lays his head on his desk and draws little skeletons on his slate.Steerforth and David become close when Steerforth, who suffers from insomnia, behaves David to stay up with him at night and tell him the stories David remembers from his fathers books. One day when Mr. Creakle is ill, Steerforth and Mr. Mell get into a fight, and Steerforth reveals that David has told him about visiting an old woman with Mr. Mell at the charity house. Steerforth figures out that the old woman is Mr. Mells mother. When Mr. Creakle comes to see what the commotion is, Steerforth tells him about Mr. Mells poverty. Mr. Creakle commends Steerfo rth and fires Mr.Mell, who, as he leaves, shows particular favor to David. Another day, Ham and Mr. Peggotty come to visit David at school. They meet Steerforth and are amused by him. Summary Chapter VIII. My Holidays. Especially one happy Afternoon. On the day that David arrives home for the holidays, Mr. and Miss Murdstone are away. David, his mother, and Peggotty have supper and pass an evening the way they used to do before his mother remarried. Davids mother has a raw(a) child, and David loves the child dearly. The three laugh about Mr. Barkiss proposal to Peggotty, and Peggotty vows never to leave Davids mother.Peggotty and Davids mother quarrel briefly over Davids mothers marriage to Mr. Murdstone. Davids mother argues that Mr. Murdstone is just toilsome to improve her character. She feels that she should be grateful to him. David observes that Peggotty only provokes his mother so that she might feel better by providing these justifications. The next morning, David apologi zes to Mr. Murdstone for biting his hand. Later, he picks up the baby. Miss Murdstone flies into a rage, telling David never to touch the child again. To Davids surprise, his mother sides with Miss Murdstone.Davids mother observes that her two children have the same eyes. Miss Murdstone shrieks that such a comparison amongst the frightful David and her knightly brothers child is utterly goofy. Mr. Murdstone forces David to re main(prenominal) in the company of the adults, even though they never speak to him. Mr. Murdstone says that Davids garment of reading in his room is evidence of his sullenness. When Davids holiday is over, Mr. Barkis picks him up. As they drive away, David turns around and sees his mother standing in the road and holding up her child to him. Summary Chapter IX.I have a memorable Birthday In the set of the next term, Davids mother dies. The school sends David home, and Mr. Omer, a period of playeral director and general services provider, picks him up at the coach. Mr. Omer takes David to his shop, where he meets Mr. Omers daughter, Minnie, and her sweetheart, Mr. Joram. Mr. Joram builds Davids mothers coffin behind the shop, and David sits through the day listening to the sounds of the fashion. Mr. Omer tells David that Davids little brother died a hardly a(prenominal) days after his mother. The Omer family is quite festal, but David sits in the shop with his head down.When David arrives home, Peggotty greets him and comforts him. Miss Murdstone only asks him if he has remembered his clothes. In retrospect, David admits that he cannot recall the order of all the events around this time, but he describes termination to his mothers funeral with the few people who attend. Afterward, Peggotty comes to him and tells him about his mothers break upshots. She says that his mother died with her head on Peggottys arm. Summary Chapter X. I become Neglected, and am provided for Mr. and Miss Murdstone take no interest in David after hi s mothers terminal.They make it clear that they want him around as little as possible. Miss Murdstone fires Peggotty, who goes home to her family. Peggotty proposes to take David with her for a visit. On the ride there, Mr. Barkis flirts with Peggotty, who asks David what he would think if she married Mr. Barkis after all. David says he thinks it is a wonderful idea. At Mr. Peggottys house, David finds secondary Emly older and more beautiful than before, though she has become a bit spoiled and coy. Mr. Peggotty and Ham praise Steerforth, whom they have met at Salem House. Mr.Barkis and Peggotty get married in a private ceremony at a church one afternoon while belittled Emly and David are out riding around. When David returns home, Mr. and Miss Murdstone completely ignore him. David falls into a state of put down until Mr. Quinion, Mr. Murdstones business partner, appears. When Mr. Quinion arrives, the Murdstones arrange for David to go to London to work in the wine-bottling ind ustry. Analysis Chapters VIIX Mothers and mother figures in David Copperfield represent a safe harbor from the cruelty of the world. They fill this role not only for children but for adults as well.Davids mother offers him emotional second and free-and-easy reprieve from the Murdstones cruelty. Peggotty takes on the role of mother figure to both David and Davids mother, as she cares for both of them when they need her help. Many of Dickenss novels sustain orphans who, lacking this cardinal refuge from a cruel world, come crosswise as especially pitiful characters. In Davids case, Peggotty (and later, Miss Betsey) bear on him from this fate. But until these mother figures are able to help him, he suffers a great deal in losing his natural mother and living with the disadvantages that motherlessness creates.Although the large cast of secondary characters in David Copperfield may seem overwhelming, these characters serve two important annals functions they mark the various phas es of the novel and give chromatography column commentary about the actions of the main characters. Throughout the novel, secondary characters voice general opinions about the events involving the main characters. Because Dickens goes into such great detail in describing the lives of the main characters, the thoughts and actions of the secondary characters provide welcome breaks from the novels main plots.The secondary characters also alert us to transitions between the novels antithetical pricks, for they often appear at full of life moments when the emotional eagerness of the main plot is at its height. Mr. Omer, for example, appears in order to inform David of his mother and sisters death. Moreover, the Omers happy family life serves as a contrast to Davids sorrow at his mothers death. In this way, secondary characters not only comment on the novels main characters but also provide transitions between the novels different phases.In his vanity, egotism, and pride, James Steer forth acts as a foil for Davids naive innocence and wide-eyed trustfulness. David moralitys Steerforth, but this adoration is undeserved. We see that Steerforths support of David originates not from kindness but rather from a desire to sum up his own importance and rig over the other boys. Steerforths willingness to bull David both contrasts with and highlights Davids willingness to trust Steerforth. The only clue we have that David might suspect that Steerforth is not what he seems is Davids occasional remark that Steerforth did not bother to save him from Mr.Creakles punishments. It is clear to us, however, that Steerforth is bigoted and self-centered, especially in his interactions with Mr. Mell. This disparity between Davids perception of his world and our perception of it provides dramatic irony that persists throughout much of the novel. Chapters XIXIV Summary Chapter XI. I begin vivification on my own Account, and dont like it I wonder what they thought of me (See mean ing(a) Quotations Explained) Davids companions at Mr. Murdstones business dismay David. They are coarse, uneducated boys whose fathers work in unskilled professions. David meets Mr.Micawber, a poor but genteel man who speaks in tremendous phrases and makes a great show of nobility despite his shabby appearance. Through an agreement with Mr. Murdstone, David goes to live with Mr. Micawber, his wife, and four children. The Micawbers befriend David and openly tell him of their monetary troubles, each time becoming overwhelmingly upset and then find fully over good food and wine. David gets very little pay at his positionory business sector and lives primarily on bread. In retrospect, David wonders what the waiters and shopkeepers mustiness have thought of him, so independent at so young an age.At the factory, David is known as the little gent and gets along ok because he never complains. Eventually, Mr. Micawbers debts overwhelm him. He is thrown into debtors prison, where he be comes a political figure among the inmates, lobbying to eliminate that establishment. Summary Chapter XII. Liking Life on my own Account no better, I form a great Resolution. Mr. Micawber is released from jail and his debts are resolved. The family decides to move to look for work. David decides he will not stay in London without the Micawbers and resolves to run away to his aunt Betsey.He borrows some money from Peggotty and hires a young man to help him move his box to the coach station. Along the way, the young man steals Davids money and possessions. Summary Chapter XIII. The Sequel of my Resolution David sells some of the clothes he is wearing in order to buy food. The shopkeepers who buy the clothes take advantage of him, and travelers abuse him on the road. David arrives at the home of his aunt, Miss Betsey Trotwood, who initially tries to send him away. When he tells her that he is her nephew, she consults with Mr. Dick, the man who lives upstairs in her home.Mr. Dick sugg ests that before she do anything, she give David a bath. Miss Betsey repeatedly compares David to the sister he never had and concludes that his sister would not have done the thickheaded things David has done. Miss Betsey is a tough, sharp woman preoccupy with safekeeping donkeys off the grass in front of her house. She bathes and feeds David and speaks to Mr. Dick at length about Davids mother, whom she pitied very much. David is nervous about whether his aunt will keep him or will send him away. Summary Chapter XIV. My Aunt makes up her encephalon about meThe next morning, Miss Betsey reveals to David that she has written Mr. Murdstone to tell him where David is. She has invited Mr. Murdstone there to wrangle Davids fate. Miss Betsey sends David up to check on Mr. Dicks progress on his Memorial, an autobiography he is onerous to write. But Mr. Dick continually starts his project over from scratch because, each time, he begins to muse in the text about King Charles I, whose demons he believes possess him. Mr. Dick has an enormous kite that he promises to fly with David someday. David returns to Miss Betsey and tells her that Mr. Dick sends his regard to her.Miss Betsey reveals that she took in Mr. Dick when his brother tried to have him fixed in an asylum. Mr. and Miss Murdstone arrive on donkeys, and Miss Betsey rushes out to dog the donkeys off her lawn. The Murdstones are rude to David during their visit, and Miss Betsey scolds them and forces them to leave. Mr. Murdstone warns her that if David does not come with him directly, he will never be able to come back again. Miss Betsey asks David what he wants to do, and he says he wants to stay with her. It is resolved that he will do so, and Miss Betsey renames him Trotwood Copperfield.Analysis Chapters XIXIV Dickens uses the Micawbers, who turn up periodically throughout the novel, to comment on the debtors prisons common in England in the 1800 s. Debtors were placed in these prisons until they w ere able to resolve their financial difficulties, which often took years. In the meantime, families were torn apart and suffered hardships as the imprisoned heads of households were unable to take a leak money to support them. Dickens himself, as a member of a family with enormous financial problems, suffered as a direct result of debtors prisons during his youth. more than like Mr.Micawber, Dickenss father, for all his financial woes, could not control his spending when it came to dining and drinking. The passages involving Mr. and Mrs. Micawber are based in large part on Dickenss own experience, as are the descriptions of Davids job at the wine-bottling factory. Davids sympathetic portrayal of Mr. Micawber suggests Dickenss concern for the underclass and his frustration at the harsh conditions of the debtors prisons. The episodic, plot-heavy nature of David Copperfield stems from the fact that it was originally published as a serial, in pieces over time.Dickens inserted several mini-climaxes and resolutions and deliberately built suspense toward the end of each section in order to compel his readers to buy and read the next installment. The touched segmentation of Davids life into separate parts and the heavy-handed foreshadowing add to the novels suspense. For example, Dickenss description of Davids life with his mother and Mr. Murdstone constitutes one self-contained section, which comprised the entire first part of the novel as it was published in serial form.The change of scene that opens the second section reverberates an internal change in David as he grows older. Because David Copperfield was written as a serial novel, it focuses in large part on plot and rarely stops to describe characters or settings in detail. The characters develop chiefly through their actions, and it is only over time that we get to know themDickens never includes any kind of thorough character analysis or description when he introduces a character. The novels serial nature also partly explains why the characters physical attributes match their internal characteristics.This correlation made character identification easier for readers who may have waited weeks since reading the previous installment of the novel. Ultimately, although many critics claim that Dickenss characters are too simple and flat, this simplicity is largely the practical result of Dickenss desire to gain new readers and keep actual readers interested. When David arrives at Miss Betseys, the tone of the novel changes to reflect Davids change magnitude tolerance for the harshness of his world. We see that Davids voice has lost some of its naivete and that he seems more prepared to deal with tragedy than in previous chapters.Miss Betsey plays a significant part in rescue about this change in the novels tone, for she both provides David with physical comfort and is herself a quirky, humorous character, which contrasts the tragic drama of the first chapters. The fact that Miss Betsey t urns out not to be the imposing character that she seems to be in the opening scenes of the novel brings some relief to the dark tone of the first part of the story. Miss Betseys obsession with keeping donkeys off her lawn, for example, is an amusing touch that lightens the snappishness of the novel.Her concern about her lawn is inconsequential telling to Davids troubles, yet she takes it as seriously as David takes his struggle to survive. Miss Betsey also introduces Mr. Dick, whose optimistic, simple faith in David and Miss Betsey contrasts with the Murdstones dark pessimism. dissimilar most of the other men in David Copperfield to this point, Mr. Dick is kind, gentle, and generous toward Davida far cry from the unforgiving Mr. Murdstone and the brutal Mr. Creakle. As we see, then, not only Miss Betsey but also the characters related to her momentarily change the tone of the novel from tragedy to comedy. Chapters XVeighteenSummary Chapter XV. I make other Beginning Miss Betse y proposes that David, whom she has nicknamed Trot, be sent to school at Canterbury. They go to Canterbury and visit Mr. Wickfield, a lawyer and a friend of Miss Betseys. At Mr. Wickfields, they meet Uriah Heep, an unattractive young redhead dressed entirely in black and skeleton-like in appearance. Uriah takes them to Mr. Wickfield, who recommends a school for David but warns that the dorms are full and that David will have to stay elsewhere. The adults agree that David can go to the school and stay with Mr. Wickfield until they find a more suitable arrangement.David meets Agnes, Mr. Wickfields lovely and charming daughter, who dotes on her father and is his one joy since his wife died. The three dine and have tea together. David rises in the middle of the night and images Uriah Heep, whose sliminess so strikes David that he feels the need to rub off Uriahs touch after shaking his hand. Summary Chapter XVI. I am a New Boy in more senses than one At school the next day, David meet s the headmaster, restitute satisfying, and his young wife, Annie. Mr. Wickfield and Doctor Strong discuss arrangements Mr. Wickfield is trying to make for Annies cousin, cuckoo Maldon. Mr.Wickfield wants to know whether there is any particular reason that Doctor Strong wants diddlysquat Maldons new job to be one that sends him out of the country. Doctor Strong assures him there is not. David is behind in his studies but quickly catches up. He makes friends with the boys at the school. At home, David speaks with Agnes, whom he finds more and more charming in her devotion to her father. One evening, at dinner, scallywag Maldon interrupts the family to say that he hopes he can go overseas as soon as possible. Mr. Wickfield treats him politely but extremely and assures him that there will be no delay in getting him sent abroad.After dinner, Mr. Wickfield drinks heavily, and Agnes and David chat with him and play dominos. Mr. Wickfield offers to let David stay permanently at the house, and David gladly accepts. On his way to bed, David runs into Uriah Heep. Uriah asks him whether he is impressed with Agnes. David notes that whenever he says something that pleases Uriah, Uriah writhes like a snake. David quickly rises to the top of his class and settles in happily. One evening, he, Mr. Wickfield, and Agnes visit Doctor Strongs home for a farewell party for Jack Maldon.Annies mother is there, and she encourages Doctor Strong to continue to leave favors on her family members, who are poor and lower-class. Doctor Strong acquiesces to all her demands. When Jack Maldon leaves to depart for India, Annie becomes very emotional. As the coach pulls away, David sees one of her ribbons in Jack Maldons hand. Summary Chapter XVII. Somebody turns up Peggotty writes to David and tells him that the piece of furniture at his old house has been sold, the Murdstones have moved, and the house is for sale. David tells Miss Betsey of all the discussion in Peggottys letters wh en she visits him at school, as she does frequently.Mr. Dick visits even more frequently and becomes a favorite of Doctor Strong and the other school boys. Mr. Dick tells David that Miss Betsey recently had a strange nighttime encounter with a man who frightened her so badly that she fainted. Neither Mr. Dick nor David understands the encounter. Mr. Dick reports that the man appeared again the previous night, and that Miss Betsey gave him money. David goes to tea at Uriah Heeps house, where Uriah and his mother intimidate David into telling them secrets about Agnes, especially about her fathers health and financial situation.David is very uncomfortable with the Heeps and feels that they are manipulating him. Uriah and his mother both frequently repeat that they are so humble as to be grateful for any attention from David. In the middle of tea, Mr. Micawber walks by the door. On seeing David, he enters. The two of them leave together and visit Mrs. Micawber, who is very glad to see David. The Micawbers are in knockout financial straits again, but they are quite blessed over dinner nonetheless. Summary Chapter XVIII. A RetrospectIn retrospect, the adult David recounts several years in Doctor Strongs school and his two love interests during his time therea young girl named Miss Shepherd and an older woman named Miss Larkins. David also recalls a fistfight he had with a young arrogant butcher. Eventually, to his surprise, David rose to be the top boy at the school. When he was seventeen, he graduated. Analysis Chapters XVXVIII The retrospective Chapter XVIII marks the end of Davids boyhood and his entrance into the world as a man. Throughout his childhood, Davids character traits remain fairly constant.Although his life changes radically and frequently, often in cruel ways, David remains for the most part the naive, hopeful boy he is in the first chapters of the novel, when his mother is alive. As David later observes when speaking of Uriah Heep, a miserable childhood can easily turn a boy into a monster. Davids resilience, in contrast, is striking. Nonetheless, for all his pride in his growth, David remains gullible. This innocence lends a sauciness to the narratives perspectivea freshness that has prompted many critics to brand David Copperfield the finest portrayal of childhood ever written.As David grows older, he does remain passably simple-hearted and maintains a startling faith in humanity, but his narrative perspective does mature alongside him. David gradually leaves his childhood romanticism behind and looks at the world in more realistic terms, and the novels narrative tone reflects this change. Mr. Dick, who is both a man and a boy, contrasts with the other adult male characters in the novel, who tend to be harsh and gruff. In a story focused on the process of maturation, Mr. Dick is a mannequin of a mature adult who is not jaded by the cruelties of the world.Like Miss Mowcher, who appears later in the novel, Mr. Dick m ight be draw as a young mind in an adult body. Like a boy, he is unable to control his impulses or order his thoughts. Furthermore, as an innocent character, Mr. Dick demonstrates the power of love over cruelty inwardly the moral framework of the novel. Mr. Dicks love for David and Miss Betsey gives his character moral credibility throughout the novel. In the closing chapters of David Copperfield, Mr. Dick becomes dauntless in his own right, demonstrating the supremacy of simplicity and gentleness over dodgy and violence.In this way, he shows that craftiness does not signify maturity or adulthoodan important lesson for David as he becomes a man. At one point or another, each of the admirable adult characters in the story becomes slightly demented, allowing Dickens to explore the relationship between intelligence and insanity. Miss Betseys obsession with donkeys makes her eccentric to the point of madness. Most of the characters consider Doctor Strongs faith in Annie to be lunat ic. Later, Mr. Peggottys faith in Little Emly leads some to consider him a party madman travelling the countryside in search of his niece.Although the outside world would dismiss many of Dickenss characters as insane, within David Copperfield, characters who are crazy are often of high moral quality. This contrast emphasizes Dickenss rejection of the logic of the external world, which he sees as flawed. In the same way that Dickens rejects class as a marker of a good heart, he likewise rejects sanity as a marker of maturity. Instead, he focuses on the purity of his characters intentions and their willingness to follow their convictions. Chapters XIXXXII Summary Chapter XIX.I look about me, and make a Discovery David sets off on a monthlong journey to Yarmouth, to the home of Peggotty and her family, to decide what profession to pursue. He takes his leave of Agnes and Mr. Wickfield, and Doctor Strong throws a going-away party in Davids honor. At the party, Annies mother reveals tha t Jack Maldon has sent Doctor Strong a letter in which he claims that he is ill and probable to return soon on sick leave. But Annie has received another letter from Jack Maldon indicating that he wants to return because he misses her. The next morning, David leaves on the London coach and tries to appear as manly as possible.Nonetheless, the coachman asks him to accede his seat of honor to an older man. David spends the evening at an inn, where the waiter pokes fun at his youthfulness and the chambermaid gives him a pitiful room. David attends a play, returns to the inn, and discovers Steerforth in a sitting room. Steerforth is now attending Oxford but is bored by his studies and is on his way home to see his mother. David and Steerforth are happily reunited, and the inn staff immediately treat David with respect. Summary Chapter XX. Steerforths Home. Steerforth persuades David to stay a few days with him at his mothers house before going to Yarmouth.Steerforth nicknames David D aisy, and the two of them spend the day sightseeing before going to Steerforths home. There, David meets Mrs. Steerforth, Steerforths widowed mother, and Rosa Dartle, Steerforths orphaned distant cousin whom Mrs. Steerforth took in when Miss Dartles mother died. Mrs. Steerforth is an imposing, older, more powder-puff version of Steerforth, and she dotes on her son ceaselessly. Miss Dartle has a scar above her lip from a time when Steerforth, as a child, threw a hammer at her in anger. Miss Dartle views Steerforths and Davids words and actions with sarcasm, but both young men are drawn to her.Summary Chapter XXI. Little Emly. If anyone had told me, then, that all this was a brilliant game, played for the excitement of the moment . . . in the thoughtless love of superiority . . . I wonder in what manner of receiving it my indignation would have found a vent (See Important Quotations Explained) At Steerforths, David meets Littimer, Steerforths servant, who frightens David because he is so haughty and respectable. David persuades Steerforth to accompany him to Yarmouth to see Ham and Mr. Peggotty again and to meet Peggotty and Little Emly. On his way to Peggottys, David stops at Mr.Omers shop and sees Mr. Omer and his daughter, who is now married to her sweetheart. Mr. Omer tells David that Little Emly now works in his shop. She is a good and industrious worker, but some of the girls in town say she has earned a reputation for putting on airs and wanting to be a lady. David decides not to see Little Emly until later, so he continues on to Barkiss house to find Peggotty. Peggotty does not recognize David at first, but when she does, she sobs over him for a long time. Mr. Barkis, ill but glad to see David, opens his cherished money box and gives Peggotty some money to prepare dinner for David.Steerforth arrives and entertains Peggotty and David. In retrospect, the adult David muses that if anyone had told him that night that Steerforths joviality and manners were all part of a game to him, born from his sense of superiority, David would have reject such an idea as a lie. When Steerforth and David arrive at Mr. Peggottys house, they find everyone, including Mrs. Gummidge, in a state of high excitement because Little Emly has just announced that she intends to marry Ham. After they leave, David delights in the good news, but Steerforth becomes momentarily and inexplicably sullen.Summary Chapter XXII. Some old Scenes, and Some new People While in Yarmouth, David visits his old home and feels both pleasure and sorrow at seeing the old places. When he returns late from one such visit, he finds Steerforth alone and in a bad mood, huffy that he has not had a father all these years and that he is unable to guide himself better. Steerforth tells David that he would rather even be the poor Ham than be himself, richer and wiser. After they leave, Steerforth reveals to David that he has bought a boat to be manned by Mr. Peggotty in his absence, and he has named it The Little Emly. At the inn, David and Steerforth meet Miss Mowcher, a loud and brash dwarf who cuts Steerforths hair as they gossip and talk of Mr. Peggotty, Ham, and Little Emly. When David arrives at Peggottys, where he is to stay for the night, he discovers Little Emly and Ham with Martha, a woman who used to work at Mr. Omers with Little Emly but fell into disg lead and came back to beg help from Little Emly. After Martha leaves, Little Emly becomes very upset and cries that she is not nearly as good a girl as she ought to be. Analysis Chapters XIXXXIIThe simple life at Yarmouth contrasts starkly with the in advance(p) life at Steerforths home. At Steerforths, characters use their words and actions strategically to produce a desired effect. Littimer, for example, speaks in such a snarled manner as to be completely opaque, while every one of Mrs. Steerforths actions is motivated by her sense of propriety and self-possession. At Yarmouth, on the other hand, ch aracters say exactly what they mean and act out of a desire for harmony with each other. The contrast highlights the class distinction between the two families.The description of the families contributes to Dickenss overall message that wealth and power do not correlate with good character, and that poverty does not necessarily indicate bad character. At home, Steerforth reveals that, at heart, he is slick, egotistical, and vain, even though David still continues to deny these tendencies in him. Mrs. Steerforths constant adoring on her son reinforces these tendencies in Steerforth and make his self-centered nature understandable, if not justified. Though David is unaware of Steerforths snobbery, Steerforth belittles David from the moment they meet.Steerforth further demeans David by giving him the nickname Daisy, but David still is too caught up in his worship of Steerforth to see anything but his good qualities. Although Steerforth does demonstrate some thoughtfulness at Yarmouth, as when he tells David that he wishes he could be more focused, his self-reflective mood passes as quickly as it appears. David ignores Steerforths insults, as well as the fact that Mrs. Steerforth likes David only because he adores her son. Even when Steerforth begins to confide in David about his own insecurities, David views him as a superior being in whom all faults are positive attributes.Davids idolization of Steerforth makes him incapable of seeing the accepted nature of his false friend, even when Steerforths bad side is most exposed. David attains greater consciousness of romantic love as his character develops. At this stage, Davids feelings of love are still impetuous and adolescent. His frivolous infatuations mirror many of the romantic relationships he sees in his life around him, like that between Annie Strong and Jack Maldon. Although Davids experience of love is not yet as deep as it is later in the novel, he is increasingly aware of others romantic relationships.H e observes the affair between Jack Maldon and Annie Strong, as well as the unfolding of the love affair between Mr. Orems daughter and her sweetheart. As David awakens to romantic love, his narrative focuses more and more on the emotional relationships between characters. Chapters XXIIIXXVI Summary Chapter XXIII. I corroborate Mr. Dick, and choose a Profession David determines not to tell Steerforth about Little Emlys outburst the night before because he loves Little Emly and believes that she did not mean to reveal to him so much about herself.David also tells Steerforth, as they are on their way home by coach, about a letter he has received from Miss Betsey suggesting that he become a watch (a kind of attorney). Steerforth thinks that the profession of proctor would suit David well, and David agrees. When David arrives in London, he meets up with Miss Betsey, who has traveled to London to see him. She is very concerned that Mr. Dick, whom she has left behind at home, will not be able to keep the donkeys off her yard. Miss Betsey and David at long last resolve that David will become a proctor, despite his protestations that it is expensive to do so.On their way to establish David at the Doctors Commons (the place where the proctors hold court and offices), a man who looks like a beggar approaches them, and Miss Betsey jumps into a cab with him. When she returns, David notices that she has given the man most of her money. David is very disturbed, but Miss Betsey makes him swear never to mention the event again. They go to the offices of Spenlow and Jorkins, where Mr. Spenlow agrees to assume David as a clerk. Afterward, they find lodgings for David with Mrs. Crupp, an old landlady who promises to take care of David as though he were her own son. Summary Chapter XXIV.My first diarrhea Although David is thrilled with his new accommodations, he gets lonely at night, and Steerforth is away at Oxford with his friends. David goes to Steerforths home and visits Mrs. Steerforth and Miss Dartle, who talk glowingly about Steerforth all day. Finally, Steerforth returns. He and David plan to have a dinner party in Davids rooms with two of Steerforths friends. David goes overboard in preparing for the party and then drinks himself into illness. While very rummy, he goes with Steerforth and company to the theater, where he runs into Agnes, who makes him go home. The next day he is hungover and humiliated.Summary Chapter XXV. Good and bad Angels Agnes sends for David, and he goes to visit her where she is staying in London. She warns him that Steerforth is his bad Angel, that he should avoid Steerforth and be conservative of Steerforths find. David disagrees, but the idea rankles him and disturbs his image of Steerforth. Agnes also delivers the bad news that Uriah Heep has insinuated himself into a partnership with her father, Mr. Wickfield. Both she and David are very distressed over this occurrence. At a dinner party at the home where Agnes is staying, David runs into Tommy Traddles, his friend from Salem House, and Uriah Heep.Uriah attaches himself to David and accompanies him home. In an unpleasant converse, Uriah reveals to David his intention to marry Agnes. Uriah insists on sleeping the night on the floor in front of Davids fire. David gets no sleep with Uriahs evil presence in his apartment. Summary Chapter XXVI. I fall into Captivity Mr. Spenlow, Davids supervisor at the Doctors Commons, invites David to his home for the weekend. There, David meets Dora, Mr. Spenlows daughter, and falls in love with her. David also runs into Miss Murdstone, whom Mr. Spenlow has retained as a companion for his daughter ever since her mother died.Miss Murdstone pulls David aside and suggests they forget their difficult past relationship with each other. David agrees. One morning, he meets Dora out in the garden, where she is walking with her little dog. They have a conversation that cements Davids romantic obsession with her. When David returns home, Mrs. Crupp immediately suspects that he has fallen in love. She tells him to cheer up and go out and think of other things. Analysis Chapters XXIIIXXVI Of all the characters in the novel, Agnes and Steerforth have the greatest influence over David, but their influences pull in opposite directions.While Agnes represents Davids good Angel, his conscience and his dependability, Steerforth urges David to take risks, drink too much, and be critical of the people around him. Agnes represents calm, considered criticism. Her energy is always directed, peaceful, and quiet. Steerforth, by contrast, is noisy, brash, and idle. While Agnes be at home because her father needs her assistance, Steerforth gallivants all over the countryside amiable himself. Whereas Agnes encourages David to take the correct path for the sake of morality, Steerforth insists on spending money and commanding servants around at his will.In this manner, Agnes and Steerforth pull David in diffe rent directions throughout the novel, forcing him to choose between good and bad. David experiences his first moral quandary when Agness influence comes into direct conflict with Steerforths. After seeing David drunk at the theater, Agnes suggests that he should shun Steerforths company because it makes him do foolish things. This suggestion throws David into a conundrum about which person he should trust. He is not yet mature enough to reject Steerforths attractive charisma in favor of Agness quiet, contemplative love.Although Agnes wins his heart in the end, it takes her a long time, and it is difficult for David to free himself from Steerforths hold. Only when David gains control of his own emotions does he fully appreciate Agnes and choose her over Steerforth. As we see, Agnes and Steerforth not only exert opposite effects on David but also require him to assert his identity by choosing between them. Although David has grown since the start of the novel, he continues to be imma ture, naive, and unable to control his emotions as he takes his first steps into the adult world.Davids tendency to become obsessed with young women, along with his drunkenness at Steerforths dinner party, demonstrate that he does not yet have power over his emotional side. Perhaps the most telling mark of Davids fickle nature is his love affair with Dora, which starts the moment he sees her, quickly develops into an obsession, and remains with him, even though he knows that she is too foolish and frivolous ever to make an appropriate wife. The love affair has many moments of tension, for every time David tries to persuade Dora to be reasonable, she accuses him of being cruel or naughty and makes him leave her alone. contempt these barriers and warning signs, David loves Dora desperately. His willingness to throw himself into such an unrealistic love affair reveals that his emotions are still naive. Chapters XXVIIXXX Summary Chapter XXVII. Tommy Traddles David decides to visit Tomm y Traddles, who, he discovers when he arrives, lives in the same building as the Micawbers. Traddles is studying for the bar. His apartment and furniture are extremely shabby, and he is struggling to earn enough money to marry his true(p) love, who has sworn to wait for him to save the money.In the meantime, Traddles has lay in two pieces of furniture, a flowerpot, and a small table. Mr. Micawber, meanwhile, is in dire financial trouble again, although he still hopes to find work soon. Mrs. Micawber is pregnant again. Summary Chapter XXVIII. Mr. Micawbers Gauntlet Ride over all obstacles, and win the race (See Important Quotations Explained) Mr. and Mrs. Micawber and Traddles come to dinner at Davids apartment. Mrs. Crupp agrees, after a good deal of argument, to cook dinner for them. The dinner is terribly undercooked, but Mrs.Micawber directs them all in re-cooking the meat. They enjoy themselves as they cook and eat. Steerforths servant, Littimer, arrives and asks David wheth er he has seen Steerforth. David replies that he has not. Littimer will not tell David why he thought Steerforth might be at his house, nor will he tell him where Steerforth has been. However, Littimer insists on serving the remainder of the meal, which makes everyone uncomfortable. After Littimer leaves, the guests continue to have a merry time. They discuss Mr. Micawbers prospects in the brewing business and conclude that they are very good.As his friends leave, David suggests to Traddles that he neither lend anything to Mr. Micawber nor allow Micawber to use Traddless name to take out more credit. Traddles says he has already lent Mr. Micawber his name and adds that Mr. Micawber says that the bill is taken care of. Skeptical, David reflects that he is very glad Mr. Micawber never asked him for any money. Steerforth appears in Davids apartment immediately after the others leave, and David tells him Traddles has just left. Steerforth does not speak highly of Traddles, and David is slightly offended.Steerforth reveals that he has been seafaring at Yarmouth. David tells him that Littimer has just been at the apartment looking for him. Steerforth says that Mr. Barkis is quite ill and delivers a letter from Peggotty to David. Steerforth remarks that it is too bad that Mr. Barkis is dying, but says that above all, a man must ride over all obstacles, and win the race avid resolves to go visit Peggotty, but Steerforth persuades David to accompany him to his mothers house before going to Yarmouth. As David undresses, he discovers a letter Mr. Micawber gave him as he left. It says that Mr.Micawber has not taken care of the debt he secured in Traddless name. Summary Chapter XXIX. I visit Steerforth at his Home, again At Steerforths home, David spends the day with Miss Dartle and Mrs. Steerforth. Miss Dartle asks David why he has been keeping Steerforth away from his mother. David assures her that he has not been with Steerforth in the past several weeks. Miss Dartle seems very disturbed at this news. At dinner, Miss Dartle says that if Steerforth and his mother were ever to quarrel, their fight would be especially bitter because neither of them would want to give in to the other.However, Mrs. Steerforth assures Miss Dartle that she and her son are too conscious of their obligation to each other ever to quarrel. At the end of the day, Steerforth begs David to promise that if anything ever separates them, David will remember him at his best. David promises. As he leaves, he looks in on the sleeping Steerforth. In retrospect, the adult David muses that he wishes he could have kept Steerforth just as he was at that moment, so that none of what was to come ever would have happened. Summary Chapter XXX. A mischief When David arrives at Yarmouth, he visits Mr.Omer, who tells him that Little Emly has not seemed herself recently. Mr. Omer also says that Martha, a friend of Little Emlys, has been missing since David was last in Yarmouth. David goes to Peggottys house, where Mr. Peggotty and Little Emly are sitting in the kitchen, helping Peggotty. David learns that Mr. Barkis is unconscious and pass judgment to die very soon. Mr. Peggotty says that Mr. Barkis will die with the receding tide. Little Emly seems unusually upset and hardly raises her eyes to say hello to David. Mr. Barkis dies as the tide recedes. Analysis Chapters XXVIIXXXIn this section, Dickens builds suspense about Steerforths future by conveying secondary characters speculations about Steerforths mysterious absence and by using Davids narrative voice to call for that their friendship will soon reach a crucial point. The suspense is heightened by the fact that we take note of Steerforths conspicuous absence far more than David, who is too busy with his new life in London and his love for Dora to notice that Steerforth has been gone. Littimers appearance at the dinner party highlights Steerforths absence and raises questions about him.Moreover, Steerforth hims elf behaves secretively and does not indicate why he is agitated. Finally, the adult Davids reflection on his last moments with Steerforth is particularly effective in creating suspense because the adult David has full knowledge of what has happened between himself and Steerforth but deliberately chooses not to reveal this information to us. The suspenseful mood of these chapters contrasts with the young Davids ignorance of coming events and with his jovial comportment with his friends. Dickens uses sea imagery in connection with Mr.Peggotty to imply that Mr. Peggotty has mystical, unknown powers. In addition to spending much of his time seek at sea, Mr. Peggotty lives in a boat near the water with Little Emly and Ham, two children whose parents lost their lives to the sea. For Mr. Peggotty, the sea both provides sustenance for life and represents a force that can take life away. His correct prodigy that Mr. Barkis will die with the outgoing tide suggests that Mr. Peggotty gleans information from the sea that other characters cannot access. In this section of the novel, it seems that the sea allows Mr.Peggotty to understand and deal with death, unlike less mystical characters such as David, who feel confused and upset upon the death of Mr. Barkis. The contrast between Traddles and Steerforth in this section underscores Steerforths fickle nature. The two young men are physical and emotional opposites Traddles is the fat and wimpy boy at school while Steerforth is beautiful and heroic. Yet the true nature of these characters lies beneath the contrasting exteriors. Traddles, despite his shabby appearance, is generous and loyal, both at Salem House and here, when he encounters David in London.In contrast, Steerforth, though handsome, is self-centered and disloyal. Although earlier Steerforth supports Traddles and David equally at Salem House, his derision of Traddles now raises questions about the sincerity of his friendship with David. Dickens draws out the co ntrast between Traddles and Steerforth in subsequent chapters, always to Traddless advantage. By doing so, he forces us to question Steerforths character and Davids relationship with him. Davids defense of Traddles in the face of Steerforths insults represents a major step in Davids coming of age.David has long seen Steerforth as a hero and has honored Steerforths every word and action while blinding himself to Steerforths faults. Now, however, Davids willingness to defend Traddles against Steerforth indicates that he is beginning to form opinions independently of Steerforth. David has also begun to see the good in the poverty-stricken and somewhat ridiculous Traddles. This new independence of thought and this ability to see beyond class and dominion to the real good in people are crucial elements of Davids maturation.Though it eventually takes a traumatic event to make David see the bad in Steerforth, his ability to see the good in Traddles is an important first step. Chapters XXX IXXXIV Summary Chapter XXXI. A greater Loss After Mr. Barkiss death, David stays in Yarmouth to help Peggotty arrange her affairs. He discovers that Mr. Barkis has left Peggotty a sizable inheritance and has also left money for Mr. Peg