Dickens was too kind-hearted to sneer, but his mocking humor was quite as effective. He won the hearts of high and low alike, and the sale of his novels was phenomenal.
In addition to rollicking humor, touches of satire and a pronounced tendency toward exaggerated pathos appear in his work, the latter quality especially in "The Old Curiosity Shop" and "Dombey and Son."
His creative powers were immense, the numbers of his characters running into the hundreds. Though some of these serve the purpose of lay figures, yet they are redeemed from mere puppetry by some whimsical oddity that stamps the character indelibly on one's mind. "David Copperfield," "Bleak House," and "Pickwick Papers" are usually held to be the best of his work.
THE MAN
1. Where did Dickens receive his education? Compare it with that of other novelists.
2. Give the sources of his intimate acquaintance with conditions among the lower class.
3. What moral characteristic of the man took the sting out of his satire?
4. What great quality will ever endear him to the public?
5. Where did Dickens make his home after his reputation had become established? V, 220.