Martin Chuzzlewit

a novel by Charles Dickens, produced in twenty monthly installments, 1843-1844, and published in book form in 1844. The central ideas of the story are hypocrisy and selfishness, and these characteristics are exemplified in Mr. Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit. Dickens himself said of the book that it was intended "to show how selfishness propagates itself, and to what a grim giant it may grow from small beginnings." The scene of the story is laid partly in America, exhibiting that side of American character which appealed to the author as ludicrous. Land "booming" and mushroom cities come in for a share of attention. Martin Chuzzlewit is ranked by some critics as Dickens' best novel. It is certain that some of its characters, such as Pecksniff, Mark Tapley, Sarah Gamp, and Betsy Prig are among his most vivid delineations. To the average reader, however, the story is not equal to David Copperfield, nor to Bleak House; and, in the opinion of many, falls below Our Mutual Friend and Nicholas Nickleby.