Once more, I enjoyed this story probably because only Dickens could write it with perfect storytelling, interesting characters, a sense of humor, and irony. Other than that, since the subject is heavy, in the hands of a lesser writer, the story could end up being dull and gloomy.

Social prejudice, bureaucracy, rampant imprisonment, the contrast between poverty and wealth, pride for status and reputation among those in social ranks, deceit, the connection or the lack of it between parents and children, and relationship issues, good and bad, are some of the motifs and themes in the story. The only coherent tie among everything so abundantly added to the story is the relationship between Little Dorritt and Arthur Clennam which gives the novel its positive ending.

Although the novel opens in a jail in Marseille, this is like an introduction to the core story. Inside the novel are two prisoners, Cavaletto and Rigaud, who later show up in the story, as do the party of English, who are quarantined close by in France and a few of whom are primary or secondary characters.

The main plot’s setting is in London, partly in another jail for the debtors, called Marshalsea where Little Dorritt was born while her father was incarcerated. It was commonplace in those times to have the family live with the prisoner inside the prison. Other than Little Amy Dorritt the family has two other children and their father Mr. Doritt, an important main character, is mostly referred to during the telling of the story as the Father of the Marshalsea since he was there for so long and became an important person in the prison.

The plot is complicated with many characters, and it twists and turns unceasingly. The Clennam family, on the other hand, have a higher social rank, but Arthur first notices Little Dorritt (Amy) in his mother’s house where she is employed as a seamstress. Arthur’s family is dysfunctional, but Arthur is a better person than them. When he decides to leave the family business, he attracts his mother’s wrath on himself. There are also nicer people in the story as secondary characters like the Meagles family.

Dickens brings up myriad moral and socio-political issues while he tells the story, which is possibly based upon the time when Dickens’s own father was imprisoned at Marshalsea when he was a boy.

The author is also partial to Little Dorritt (Amy) who is kind and helpful to everyone around her, beginning with her own siblings.

The thing is, here, Dickens tells the whole story with its ins and outs through his own eyes, injecting his own views on issues, be it moral, social, or political. This is a style that wouldn’t hold in our time, but Dickens does it so well and he weaves his multitude of subplots around the main plot so effectively that as I read the book, I didn’t feel inconvenienced by the author’s constant intrusion. In fact, I even enjoyed it. If it weren’t for his explanations, how in the world could I stomach all those unusual rules, regulations, events, and people!

not only enjoying well=constructed story, but gaining a glimpse of a time in the history of London.

I found it entertaining and educating but it is a long book and not too easy to read if it is the first book you read by Dickens. If you are familiar with the way he writes, you'll probably enjoy it.

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Created Sep 04, 2020 at 6:35pm • Submit your own review...