Martin Chuzzlewit

Abstract

The most of Dickens' novels is set in England, here the writer changed the plot to the United States. He satirized the country as a place filled with self-promoting hucksters, eager to sell land sight unseen. The main theme of the novel, according to Dickens's preface, is selfishness, portrayed in a satirical fashion using all the members of the Chuzzlewit family. The novel is also notable for two of Dickens's great villains, Seth Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit. Dickens introduced the first private detective character in this novel.