One thing that I have noticed from reading is that David is always meeting new people, but also running into and being reunited with the same people from his childhood. I think that all of these people in his life have an influence on him in one way or another. Women, in particular, have a huge impact on David.
Little Em'ly has an emotional breakdown in chapter 22 that David witnesses. She kept going on about how she is "not as good a girl as I ought to be." When she finally calms down, Ham and David are soothing her and he said that he saw her do something that he has never seen her do before; "kiss her chosen husband on the cheek and creep close to his bluff form as if it were her best support." I think David sees these couples around him and is envious of what they have which is why he seems to fall in love with every girl that crosses his path. I think that he craves any type of womanly affection because he had such a close relationship with his mother that he no longer has.
This is a really good point, Briana. Dickens is known for his coincidences. Have you noticed that David tends to run into people he knows in London (multiply Mr. Micawber) although it's probably just as likely that you would run into someone you know in NYC--how often does that happen? I wonder if any of you feel troubled by these coincidences? Surely, Dickens knew that it wasn't realistic that Miss Murdstone would be the companion to David's future fiancee? Why does he have these coincidences? If this novel isn't realism, then what is it?
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