Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel written by the English author Charles Dickens. It was published in monthly installments during 1843 and 1844 and appeared in one volume in 1844. Dickens intended Martin Chuzzlewit to be a study of many forms of selfishness. But it is best known for its unflattering picture of American manners and for its comic characters. See Dickens, Charles.
Martin Chuzzlewit, a wealthy gentleman, has a grandson, also named Martin, who is the hero of the novel. The elder Chuzzlewit avoids his family because they expect him to give them money. He is looked after by Mary Graham, a young orphan girl, whom he has raised. Young Martin Chuzzlewit falls in love with Mary, but his grandfather mistrusts him, suspecting him of selfishness, and plots to prevent him from marrying her. To this end, the elder Chuzzlewit gets Martin dismissed from his position as a trainee architect with Mr. Pecksniff.
Martin then goes to the United States to seek his fortune and gets a job as an architect with the Eden Land Corporation in the swamps of Florida. The company proves to be fraudulent. Martin loses his money and almost dies of a fever. Martin’s unpleasant but sometimes comic experiences in America leave him a changed person. He returns to England and finds that the elder Chuzzlewit and Mary have moved in with Pecksniff. The elder Chuzzlewit discovers Pecksniff’s hypocritical and treacherous character when Pecksniff tries to bully Mary into marriage with him. Martin is brought back into his grandfather’s favor, and he finally marries Mary.
The characters in Martin Chuzzlewit are typically Dickensian in their representation of the light and dark sides of humanity. Jonas Chuzzlewit, the elder Martin’s nephew, may have murdered his own father. He treats his wife with great brutality, later murders a company director who blackmailed him, and finally poisons himself. In contrast, there are a number of minor characters who display gentleness and warmth: Pecksniff’s daughters, Charity and Mercy; Sarah Gamp, a drunken midwife; and the saintly Tom Pinch, Pecksniff’s assistant. The word Pecksniffian has entered the English language as a term for oily hypocrisy.
