The narrative is linear in appearance, as is usual in traditional first-person form | Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens |
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This sense of guilt leads him to drink | We should note when studying this novel that it is narrated in the first person, the story is an autobiography, the most difficult form of fiction in which to attain a close approach to realism |
Leech was an illustrator at , a satirical magazine, and the first illustrator for by Dickens in 1843 | She is present on the night of David's birth but leaves after hearing that Clara Copperfield's child is a boy instead of a girl, and is not seen again until David flees to her house in Dover from London |
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The name Mr Murdstone in David Copperfield conjures up twin allusions to "murder" and stony coldness; Strong is definitely not "strong"; Creakle "squeaks and grinds" | This did not prevent the novelist from criticizing his publisher, or providing an incomplete number, just "to see exactly where I am" and for his illustrator to have "some material to work on" |
"Will I be the hero of my own life? The wife of the keeper, returning David's money, deposits on his forehead a gift that has become extremely rare, a kiss, "Half admired and half compassionate", but above all full of kindness and femininity; at least, adds David, as a tender and precious reminder, "I am sure".