Dickens, His Parables, and His Reader

313 Pages·2012·1.52 MB·English

by  Linda M. Lewis

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His Parables, and His Reader
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His Parables, and His Reader
Linda M. Lewis
University of Missouri Press Columbia and London
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Copyright © 2011 by
The Curators of the University of Missouri
University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri 65201
Printed and bound in the United States of America
All rights reserved
5 4 3 2 1 15 14 13 12 11
Cataloging-in-Publication data available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-8262-1947-3
This paper meets the requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48, 1984.
Design and composition: Jennifer Cropp
Printing and binding: Integrated Book Technology, Inc.
Typefaces: Minion, Pepita, and Bernhard
For
Franklin Lee Lewis
friend, partner, lover, husband, pal

ontents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations for Works by Charles Dickens xi
Introduction C 1
hapter
The Child as Christian Pilgrim in Oliver Twist and The Old Curiosity Shop 22
hapter
The Mortal and Immortal Houses of Dombey and Son 57
C 1
hapter
Prodigal Children and Tearful Reunions in David Copperfield 88
C 2
hapter
Casting the First Stone: Judgment Day in Bleak House 120
C 3
hapter
“Forgive our Debts as We Forgive our Debtors”: Indebtedness in Little Dorrit 153
C 4
hapter
Allegory of the Martyred Savior in Hard Times and A Tale of Two Cities 184
C 5
hapter
The Good and Faithful Servant of Our Mutual Friend 215
C 6
Afterword 247
Notes 251
C 7
Bibliography 277
Index 291

cknowledgments
For their critical readings of various chapters of this book, I express my sin-
cere gratitude to Antje Anderson, Sean Grass, Aubrey Streit Krug, Majkin Holm-
quist, Trudy Lewis, Kristin VanTassel, Cody Whetstone, and Naomi Wood. I
also acknowledge and thanAk two anonymous readers who reviewed the manu-
script for the University of Missouri Press. I follow these statements of grati-
tude with the typical caveat that while the assistance was exceptional, the errors
are all my own.
For access to research materials, I thank the Dickens Project, University of
California at Santa Cruz, and John O. Jordan, Director. The pleasant months I
spent on the Santa Cruz campus were made all the more pleasant by the hos-
pitality of JoAnna Rottke, Project Coordinator, to whom I am much indebted.
The library staff of Bethany College, where I teach, has also been consistently
and extraordinarily helpful. I am grateful to Denise Carson, Library Director,
and her staff, in particular Mary Foster and Brittany Torres. For a sabbatical
leave, I thank Bethany College for the opportunity to spend a year absorbed in
Dickens studies.
A version of parts of Chapter 7 appeared in my article, “The Private Servant,
the Public Servant, and the ‘Good and Faithful Servant’ in Dickens’s Our Mu-
tual Friend,” published in Forum on Public Policy. I gratefully acknowledge that
journal’s permission to use the material in this book.
Collaborating with the University of Missouri Press is invariably a pleasant
experience. I gratefully acknowledge Editor-in-Chief Clair Willcox, for his sup-
port of my scholarly endeavors and for his good advice. Additionally, I thank
Sara Davis and Tim Fox, copy editors; Beth Chandler, marketing; and LynDell
Smith, publicity.
I am fortunate to have married a life partner who gives me unflagging sup-
port, and I fondly dedicate this book to him. For their love and encouragement,
I also thank my terrific family: Trudy Lewis, Terry Hall, Mike Barrett, Thom-
as Hall, and all the grandchildren—Jude, Eddie, Madeline, Nicholas, Lauren,
Cliff, and Sylvia.