Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens I find Dickens at times great and at others kind of syrupy, predictable and a bit socialist. The characters that are in need are a bit too needy, vulnerable and surreal. The villains are too mean and despicable. Next week I may feel otherwise.

 Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens


I find Dickens at times great and at others kind of syrupy, predictable and a bit socialist. The characters that are in need are a bit too needy, vulnerable and surreal. The villains are too mean and despicable.  Next week I may feel otherwise.

 

What would be the lessons learned from Little Dorrit?

Fortune does not make you happy…maybe?

On the one hand some characters become rich and that makes them less satisfied, at times even miserable.

On the other, Mr. Dorrit is in prison because he could not pay his debts. At that time, bankruptcy was a kind of serious offence, punishable with a jail sentence. And we could then conclude that not having money is terrible.

Dickens once said something like:

-          Let us say that you have 20 guineas (or another currency, I am not sure)

-          If you spend 19 guineas and 50 pennies, the result is satisfaction

-          When you spend 20 guineas and one penny the result is misery and imprisonment

I was very impressed by that statement and kept in mind and tried to apply it in practice. In fact, I am known as stingy and have regular arguments over the need to spend more (sometimes even beyond what we can)

There are some clear villains and good personages in The Little Dorrit; even if at times there are some ups and downs. For instance, when Mr. Dorrit finds out that he is free to walk out of jail.

His behavior was despicable and made me think of a pompous ass. Mr. Dorrit is actually a strange presence. You can feel compassion for him since he is imprisoned by fraud. He did pay his debts, but due to a miscarriage of justice, false papers and cheating on the part of his business partners, Dorrit had ended up in gaol.

But even in prison, Mr. Dorrit is showing off- prisoners come to me for advice, people give me gifts. He makes me think of a character in Le Prophet and also the wise guys in Good Fellas. It might be a defense mechanism- Mr. Dorrit is uncomfortable and humiliated deep inside, but on the outside he wants to project an image of pride and contentment.

Once he learns that he is not only free to go, but he inherits a big fortune, Dorrit acts like a parvenu. He is quick to assume the position of a superior, arrogant man. He says to a friend who had helped him something like

-          We will not see each other from now on; we will be in different circles.

Sure, right! The big pompous jail bird is now rich and will not see his former buddies any more. Why? This is because he will socialize with the mighty and not with those who had helped. I even wondered –

-          Why on Earth would help some who acts like that?

-          Positive psychology has the answer: it does good for You, if you help another- no matter how ungrateful, arrogant he or she is.

Mr. Dorrit is quick to remember a postcard or something like that, where a king is out on the balcony, talking to his subjects. Maybe this is proof that he lost it, jail time had brought him on the edge and now he is really hallucinating. Anyway, he asks for the windows to be opened and then he addresses his subjects, regretting there is no balcony in prison-

-          I am leaving you, but I offer you a banquet, with sausages, pork, beer and wine…

Or words to that effect. The fact that he acts like the Prince of Wales can be perceived as funny, I for one felt somewhat annoyed by this behavior. Even if, this is in a way a more believable character and perhaps this is why I kind of insisted upon him, rather than on the stars of the show: Little Dorrit and her romantic interest.

I find Dickens at times great and at others kind of syrupy, predictable and a bit socialist. The characters that are in need are a bit too needy, vulnerable and surreal. The villains are too mean and despicable.  Next week I may feel otherwise.

However, with Great Expectations, Dickens is included in the great gallery of authors. Great Expectations is included among the best 100 books ever written. You find the whole list at the Guardian site.

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