Dealings With the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation is the initial title of this book. It was later published as "Dombey and Son."


I enjoyed this book a lot as I found it more psychologically adaptable to any era. The story has a complicated plot and exquisite characterization. Arranged marriages for financial gain, child-parent relationships, children finding parent substitutes, pride of wealth and status, the author’s bringing together from different social ranks and having them clash, money and power controlling relationships, managers backstabbing owners, the overseas reach of the empire, and the hint at the growth of railways and steam engines fascinated me.

I especially liked the strength of the negative values of the main character in the beginning and the painful arc his change followed. I felt Paul Dombey’s daughter Florence was too much of an angelic character, who showed little to no change but was an important element of the story, nevertheless.

Mr. Carker, the manager of Dombey’s firm, is deceptive and creepy, and while kowtowing to his superior, he works against his interests. He gets what he deserves in his end. I found him quite interesting.

There are several symbols in the story such as Dombey’s lavish house, which loses its furnishings and allure toward the end, to resemble Paul Dombey. The sea is possibly alluding to death as there are several implications of it and Paul junior talks about it while dying. With Florence, however, it means the love she feels for her original family and the later family she forms in adult life.

As to the story, its main character is an opinionated man, Paul Dombey, probably in his forties who is biased toward wealth, fortune, success, fame, and standing in the society. He is haughty, demanding, and self-important, and his views possibly reflect the values of the times, as he values boy children over girls. When his wife Fanny, after having a little girl, Florence (Floy), several years ago, gives birth to a boy, Dombey is delighted, as his dream of naming his company Dombey and Son is being realized. His delight is short-lived, however, as his wife dies due to the complication of birthing the boy.

On his sister Louisa Dombey Chick’s urging, to take care of the infant, Dombey hires a wet nurse, Mrs. Toodle, whom he calls Richards as to make the name more worthy of his standing. Mrs. Richards has three other children.

Dombey’s daughter Florence has a nanny-maid named Susan Nipper. Susan and Mrs. Richards become friends. One day, without asking for permission, they visit Mrs. Richards’ home in the lower-class part of town as Mrs. Richards’ oldest boy is being sent away to school by Dombey and her mother wants to say good-bye.

During this outing, Florence is lost and is kidnapped and her clothes, shoes, and hat are taken from her. Florence manages to escape to an area near Dombey and Son’s offices where she is found and helped by Walter Gay, a young employee of Mr. Dombey, who first takes her to his uncle Solomon Gill’s navigation-instruments shop. Walter and Florence feel close to each other from this point on, with hints in the story about a romance for years later.

After this incident, Dombey discharges Richards, not because of what happened to Florence, since he doesn’t even regard Florence as his child, but because he was crossed and his wishes were disregarded.

Dombey’s son also named Paul is a sickly child who adores his sister Florence, but his mental, emotional, and physical health worries his father. On the advice of Louisa Chick’s friend Miss Lucretia Tox, who has her eye on Dombey, Paul and Florence are sent to Brighton to stay in Mrs. Pipchin’s lodge. Since Paul’s health improves there, on Dombey’s orders, he begins his education in Dr. and Mrs. Blimber's school under Lucretia Tox’s guardianship.

Soon, however, little Paul Dombey’s health declines and the boy eventually dies. Up to here is one-third of the plot. Following it, many turns and twists and an overabundance of characters fill the story. The questions from this point on will be: Will Paul Dombey marry again? What will happen to his company? Who will backstab Paul Dombey from inside his company? What will become of Florence and Walter Gay? Will Paul Dombey realize the value of his daughter and ask for her forgiveness? Will Florence be happy? What will happen to all the secondary and supporting characters?

The story is told from the point of view of the third person, an omniscient narrator but not an impartial one as he can describe everything from his perspective, sometimes making fun of things and other times trying to manipulate the readers’ opinions.

This is not an easy book to read due to the complicated plot and storytelling, but well-worth one’s time. Dickens’s use of the language with long passages of exposition and descriptions, however seeming weighty for our time and light-weight for his time, is still understandable, and In fact, the author seems to have fun with his characters and events, while at times, injecting humor into especially the secondary and supporting characters and incidents.

the way the characters changed through the story.

is Charles Dickens,(1812 - 1870), who was an author, journalist, editor, illustrator and social commentator. His most famous books include Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities.

I liked it a lot; however, because it was written in an earlier time, it may not be easy to get into for a novice reader; however, one adapts to it very quickly. So if you wish to read Dickens, don't give up easily.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Dealings With the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation   from Amazon.Com!

Created Aug 30, 2020 at 12:27pm • Submit your own review...