POST: Share a paragraph about David Copperfield

Based on your reading, share thoughts about a character, a key event, an important symbol, or a major idea found in this novel. Aim at a clear paragraph and post it here.

Mr. K

I think the deadly duo of Mr. and Miss Murdstone are going to be difficult adversaries for David Copperfield. Mr. Murdstone's appearance was innocent enough; he was simply dating David's mother. However, it became clear that David did not like the man, nor did Peggotty. After the couple gets married, Miss Murdstone randomly appears at the house to live with the new family. Her appearance is random and quite unexpected. However, she proves to be more "stern" and "firm" than her brother, which is no simple task when you account for Mr. Murdstone's firmness. Mr. Murdstone is portrayed as the villian, and Miss Murdstone as his evil sidekick. However, I believe that Miss Murdstone is going to be more cruel and wicked to David, as the story progresses. It is almost possible to believe that Mr. Murdstone has a tiny soft spot in his heart for David, because of the marriage to his mother, but Miss Murdstone has no such connection. I believe that that evil duo of the Murdstone siblings, is going to be a source of downfall for David Copperfield.

What I find about david is that he is much to trusting to act effectivly in the real world. First, he is tricked into giving much of his diner to the waiter at a resturant. Even though he is just a child, the book says he is sharp and I assume that he could have seen what the guy was doing. Also, he has the boy take his box to the cart, and then trusts the man with it. And once the guy realizes whats going on, he runs off with not only the box but the money as well. And after all of that, he just gives up trying to find the guy and starts walking toward Dover. This is kind of a pathetic child.

I find a lot of interesting parallels of Miss Jane Murdstone and species of birds. Miss Jane Murdstone reminds me of a magpie, the kind of bird known for collecting shiny objects. The first thing that she does when she arrives at the Copperfields' house is to take the keys. The two objects she is associated with are her prison-like purse and her metallic beads. She also reminds me of a crow, because she is nosy, suspiscious, and rude. She is firmly convinced that the servants are hiding a man in the house, and so whenever she opens a dark cupboard, she has to check to make sure no one is there. In another event, she rearranges the living room furniture without telling Clara, and then is offended when Clara confronts her. I also think that, like a crow, she is somewhat smart. While Charles Dickenson does not describe her as intelligent, I do think that she was smart enough to scheme with her brother against the Copperfields.

First of all, I think David Copperfield is really sweet. He's always nice to everyone. I think that one of the saddest parts so far is when he comes back from Yarmouth to shockingly find that his mother married Mr. Murdstone, and then he says thet he regretted leaving Little Emily for this harsh family.
Another really sad part was a little bit later on, when David bites Mr. Murdstone in attempt to defend himself, and he ends up getting sent off to boarding shool because he was supposedly a "wicked" boy- that was SERIOUSLY messed up!
I really loved the scene when Pegotty came to say goodbye to him through the keyhole, it was so cute and sappy in a really touching way.
I really felt bad for David from there on end, but boy are the characters cool! I really liked David (of course), Pegotty, Little Emily and the rest of Pegotty's strange family, the waiter, the old man who was taking him to the school and stopped for breakfeast, and I hope many more to come.
Over all the story made me laugh, ALMOST cry, and get really mad at MR. Murdstone and his mom- they were disgusting! Hoorray for Davy still being all young and amazed while all of this was hapening!

A main event in David Copperfield is when Mr. Murdstone tests David on Latin and math and beats him (in front of Clara) because he didn't know the correct answers. I think that this is an important scene because it shows us the motives of each character.

I feel sorry for Clara in this event because she receives a sudden pang of realization of what she's gotten herself into. She has to suffer and watch as her son is whipped by her new husband, and she isn't even allowed to help David because she has to be tough for the Murdstones (or who knows, she might even end up beaten herself). She is too much of a pushover and lets people do as they please with her. I honestly think that she is stupid and naive, but I can't help but feel sorry for her.

David is really a nice character in the book. He is very likeable and smart, however he is also very impressionable. An example of this would be when he thinks that he is the most evil person in the world for biting Mr Murdstone. Although he is impressionable, he is also observant and quick to notice that Mr Murdstone, when he first meets him, is not a good person.

He is an interesting character who constantly has bad things happen to him (Which all seem to stem from Mr Murdstone). His mom got married to Mr Murdstone, He got beat by Mr Murdstone, he didn't get to hang out with Peggoty becasue of Mr Murdstone, and he got sent to boarding school because of Mr Murdstone. This Mr Murdstone guy is not a very nice guy at all.

Although there are various symbols of David's childhood there, is one everlasting symbol of the happy times of it. That symbol is the crocodile book. David had grown up with this book, which i suspect also includes information about alligators. David seemed to pass a lot of time reading the book to Peggotty when he was younger. The book gave David memories of the happy times of his life with only him, Peggotty, and his mother, because it is basicly a symbol of those times. Furthermore, the book reappears when David comes back from Salem House and has his final fleeting experience of that time. Unfortunetly after that, the book becomes a lasting symbol of fond memories for David in Peggotty's house.

I thought an important event in the David Copperfield story was afer Daved bit his evil stepfather, Mr Murdstone. Here David was locked away in his room for the span of a week. David was completely alone except for the comforting writings that had been kept since the living days of Mr. Copperfield, his father. Here with these intriguing stories, David had the oppertunity to stretch his imagination to all its lengths and beyond.
This was an important scene because David learned how to entertain himself, and here he found out he didn't need other people to full fill his dreams and life.

Clara Copperfild is a minor character, but a very memorable one. The reader can easily connect with her out of pity. After she marries Mr. Murdstone, and starts taking their side (against David) out of fear, the reader can do nothing but sympethize for her. We understand that David is in a dificult situation, and we wish that we could shake sense into Clara Copperfield, but still, we feel obliged to forgive her and pity her. We try to oppose her actions, but it is hard to dislike Clara Copperfiled because she is so innocent and naive, and the situations that she gets herself into are so pitiable that we can do nothing but feel sorry for her. In the end, it seem that Clara had brought about her own downfall. Because of her gullibility and her class-conscious nature, she ignored Peggotty's warning, and fell right into the Murdstones' trap. Ironically, her death is the final moment when she is at peace again; and although we pity David because he is now an orphan, the reader is at ease to know that Clara Copperfield's struggle has finally ended.

In Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield we are introduced to Jane Murdstone, a dark and cruel woman that enters young Davy's life in a flurry of black. Miss Murdstone is introduced with her ring of keys, shiny, metalic, clinking and clanking at her side. Readers can imagine her as a sinister witch dressed head-to-toe in stiff, dark fabrics. Her small, dark eyes dart around the room, overflowing with harsh criticizim and scrutiny when they light upon David's tiny figure. Miss Jane Murdstone composes herself with firmness, always firmness, and casts a dark spell over Davy's childhood and his close relationship with his mother in the begining of Charles Dickens' novel.

A key event in this novel so far is when David finds out that his mom, Clara, has died. This is important because it is an obstacle that chnages the course of the reader's thinking. Clara was a good and caring mother to David, and acted like a security blanket towards him. Life had'nt been going well for David overall, but the fact that one of the only sparks of hope and left left for David have been taken away, and a traumatic event like this can really ruin the mood of a novel for most people. Now, it seems like the only person left to comfort David and give him hope is Peggoty. Unfortunately, David probably wont see her a lot, which makes this even a huge turning point in David's early life. Also, Clara's death, along with the death of her new baby, kind of symbolizes the death of his childhood and is a wake up call to start moving on away from the bad in his life and to try and make everything better.

An important scene in the novel David Copperfield is when the school witnesses Steerforth embarrassing Mr. Mell. This moment shows how peer pressure can affect David. Since he saw that everyone else was supporting Steerforth, he had no other choice but to do the same for fear of being rejected. This shows that he is easily influenced by others, which can lead him into making bad decisions.

One of the scenes in David Copperfield that caught my attention is the scene where David got beaten by Mr. Murdstone. The scene caught my attention because I think that it's really harsh and it's the scene where everything changes in the book because it's a switching point of the book. Before Clara Copperfield married Mr.Murstone, David had a very happy and peaceful life, but after Clara got married, everything changes for David and nothing is the same for him again.

Have you ever noticed that in stories, the stepfather or stepmother always ends up as being the bad guy? In David Copperfeild, by Charles Dickens,the same situation applies. I don't understand or know what Clara Copperfeild had seen in Mr. Murdstone. He seemed very uptight, cold, and very stern. I guess she probably thought he would be a great addition to the family, and that he would do some good for David, who had lost his father long before he was born. Perhaps she thought that Mr. Murdstone would have been a great father figure for David to look up too. When Mr. Murdstone enters the family, only chaos, tragedy and distress happens to the family. I thought it was so sad how Mr. Murdstone and his sister, Jane Murdstone ( who will later appear) basically put Clara against her own child and Peggoty. It was really sad to see how David's happy childhood end. What was even more tragic, was when David's mom dies, and David is left as an orphan. Peggotty is forced to leave the house and has moved on with her life, while David is basically abandoned and left uncared for. I think this really forces David to grow up faster and his childhood to be shortened.

From the beginning of the book, David Copperfield always had something bad about to happen to him. And, as always Peggotty was there to cheer him up. For example, in the beginning of the story, when his mother and Mr. Murdstone were together, David disliked the man the moment he laid eyes on him. Later, his sister, Jane Murdstone arrives. Also, David abhors her. Then one night Mr.Murdstone beats David. Nothing at all seems to go in Davids favor. Even though it seems as if nothing can get any worse than it already has, it did. On his birthday even. He is informed that his mother and brother have died. Everytime he started crying, Peggotty was with him to calm him to sleep, even when he was locked up in his room. Peggotty whispered to him on the other side of the door. The one thing that he has enjoyed the most was his stay at Yarmouth and when he meets Emily whom he loves very much the first time they met. David is very lucky to have Peggotty by his side.

So far in the book, David Copperfield, my favorite character is Mr. Dick. HE brings alot of positive pionts into the book with him being so happy all the time. At the begining I got the feeling that Ms. Trotwood, David's Aunt, was going to be a mean character towards David because when he was born she said that she hated boys and men. But, when David escaped and ran away to her house, she treated him very nicely along with Mr. Dick. I realized BEtsey's love for David after she duked it out with Miss and Mr Murdstone. She really stood up for him and did whatever it took to keep him away from those two. Everything up to that point when he arrived at his aunt's house has been negative though. That is really the only thing i don't like about that book, but i do believe that it will get better so I am looking forward to read more.

I have noticed that the book seems to be going rather quickly, i mean i look back at the number of chapters and pages read and im amazed by how it has gone by. Also I notice that the characters in the book have aged around chapter 20 and up. Mr. Omer has a whezzing problem and his daughter has a child and husband, Mr. Barkis is old and feeble, David is a young man, so is Steerforth, Em'ly is now a woman, and pretty much every one is older

I think that two very interesting characters in the story are Mr. and Mrs. Micawber. Charles Dickens based Mr. Micawber on his father, as Mr. Micawber also goes to Debtors Prison in the story. It is interesting how devoted Mrs. Micawber is to Mr Micawber, saying that she will never desert him. Mr. Micawber also gives David Copperfield great advice, but he doesn't seem to use it himself.

An important scene was when Mrs. Betsy Trotwood barged into the Copperfield house when Clara was just about to give birth to David. Betsy Trotworth is somewhat like Jane Murdstone because they both believe that their nephews are better than the other. However, David dissapoints both Betsy and Jane because he is the son of Mr. Copperfield. Being a boy upsets Betsy and being the son of Mr. Copperfield makes Jane Murdstone dislike him. When David tries to pick up Mr. Murdstone's baby, David is repremanded and told that he does not deserve to touch the king-like baby of Mr. Murstone.

The scene that most intersted me, was when someone stole David's possesions and his money. i thought that this scene sighnified the hardships of life. it inferred to the reader that life is not that all easy. seeing David trying to sell his his belongings to earn some money tells me, as a reader, that life is something that can only be spent by working hard and having strenght, knowledge, and courage

I found it very interesting that Copperfield somehow bumps into both his old friends Steerforth, and Micawber. David, who really had very little relations throughout his life, and having traveled to many different places reall had a low chance of running into even 1 good friend of his life. I found it really interesting how improbable it is that David would find his old friends, and probably the most prominent ones of his older life and meet with them. As an author however, I see that many of the readers may have wondered about David's old friends, and having them meet later in life is a great writing technique to really catch up with some characters. These events also were a great surprise that really caught me off gaurd, but definitely filled in my curiosities about what happened with such prominent characters in the book.

One of the most important scenes in the book is when Clara Copperfield married Edward Murdstone. Edward Murdstone is a huge influence in the bok because he teaches Clara to be strict to Dvid. After Clara dies Mr. Murdstone ignores David. Because of Mr. Murdstone David is is sent to the Salem and is beaten. He is also sen tto the wine factory, and lives in horrible conditions. David runs away and sadly has his possessions stolen. He is forced to sell his jacked and coat. In addition to being cold, David also has to walk numerous miles to get to Dover where his Aunt lives. All of these events would have never happened if Clara hadn't have married Mr. Murstone, which is why this event is such a turning point in the book. I also noticed that Dickens has many cause and effect events in the book. Because one event happens, something else happens, just like Clara marrying Mr. Murdstone, and David suffering.

I found it interesting that even in a private school, Salem House, David was still whipped and cruelly treated. Now, I know that the concept of of getting whipped, belted, paddled, etc. was not that uncommon back in the 1800's, but I still find it odd that it would take place in a private school. A government funded school/public school yes, but not a private school. I expected it would be more like the Doctor Strong's school that David/Trotwood eventually gets enrolled in by his Aunt, which treats its kids nicely rather than harshly. Anyways, that's just my opinion.