David Copperfield - a review

My AP Literature class just finished reading David Copperfield and it was fantastic! My only complaint is that the sheer weight of the book was a tad cumbersome when lugging it around, but perhaps that was just part of the David Copperfield experience. Nonetheless I highly recommend it. Above you will see part one of the timeline I created of all the different plots as the story progresses. The numbers at the bottom are the chapter numbers and the colors correspond to the different plots. Please note the following literary critique/review does contain some spoilers. 

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If you were to bite into a cookie that was unpleasantly bitter, your face would most likely contort itself into an expression of disgust, and you would not finish the cookie. Similarly, if David Copperfield did not have the humor that it does, it wouldn't have been nearly as successful. Without humor, David Copperfield is a depressing story about a poor orphan boy and how terrible his life is. Thankfully, while this may be the bare bones of David Copperfield, Dickens' interwoven humor allows this book to become much more. 

Charles Dickens David Copperfield is a 1000 piece puzzle thats full image is slowly revealed chapter by chapter as the plot lines develop. His strategic use of diction doles out only a small piece of the puzzle and leaves the reader begging for more throughout the entire novel.  The intricate manner in which Dickens pieces together the world of David Copperfield quenches a thirst that is both satisfying and addicting.

From the very beginning of the novel, Dickens' over the top characterizations forms a highly amusing picture. In the opening chapter, "I Am Born," the image of Aunt Betsy shamelessly stuffing dental cotton into her ears does well to lighten the otherwise boring scene David's birth. This along with Aunt Betsy's reaction to finding out that "it's a boy" sets the state for the next 600 or so pages that have already grasped the reader's curiosity. 

Dicken's larger than life descriptions glues the readers eyes to the page and forces them to understand what Dickens wanted them to understand, as well as empathizing some of the absurdities within David Copperfield to things within their own life. Whether it is Miss Mudstones purse closing with a "bite" or Uriah's "sliminess," the reader is able to find solace in a buffet of characters that acknowledges and puts a voice to the readers politically incorrect thoughts that are so often thought, but never said. 

The use of humor throughout a book that lacks puns capitalizes on our humility and our ability to laugh at our own mistakes. While it may seem absurd to rent out your spare bedroom to an 8 year old, Dickens uses the Micawbers relationship with David as a way to highlight the absurdities of child labor laws that were highly relevant at the time and places the reader in a situation where they are able to see the blatantly backwards societal norms that still exist today. Although it may seem obvious that Agnes is in love with David and that he shouldn't marry Dora, David is oblivious to this just as so many others are within todays society. #friendzone. This odd feeling of deja vu gives the reader no other option but to laugh, either nervously because it seems familiar to them, or pointedly at humanity and how naive the world is.

It is in this way that Dickens makes the reader feel perfectly sanely insane by pointing out the vastness of the absurdities around them, leaving the reader with a bitter-sweet taste instead of a bitter one, and allowing them to finish the cookie.