Martin Chuzzlewit is Charles Dickens's broad comic novel about selfishness, family expectation, greed, and the possibility of moral correction. The story follows young Martin, old Martin, the scheming Pecksniff, and a large cast whose ambitions expose hypocrisy in domestic, professional, and social life. Dickens also sends part of the plot to America, using satire to test national ideals against human vanity.
Readers who enjoy Dickens at his most exuberant will find Martin Chuzzlewit full of verbal energy, grotesque comedy, and sharp moral patterning. The novel is especially memorable for Pecksniff, one of Dickens's great portraits of oily self-righteousness, and for its insistence that reform begins with seeing oneself clearly. Its comedy bites hardest when politeness disguises appetite.
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