Name : Ghozi Fawwaz

NIM : 183211105

Character Development of David Copperfield

INTRODUCTION

David Copperfield, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, a novel by British

author Charles Dickens, was published in series in 1849–1950 and in book form in 1850. David
Copperfield became one of Dickens' most popular novels and was "his own favorite. "The work
is semiotobiographical, and, although the title character differs from its creator in many respects,
Dickens recounts early personal experiences that meant a lot to him - his work in factories,
schools and reading, and (more or less) his emergence from parliamentary reporting to successful
novel writing.

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DISCUSSION
PART I

David Copperfield's story begins with him telling the events he experienced, starting with
him being an orphan because his father died six months before his birth. Leaving David's young
mother, Clara, and her maid, Pegotty. Her aunt, Betsy Trotwood, who is the richest person in her
family hopes that David's mother will give birth to a daughter and will give him a good
education. However, after finding out that the baby was a boy, Miss Betsy finally disappeared
and did not appear again.

David's childhood was very happy, but it all ended when his mother, Clara, married Mr.
Murdstone when David and Pegotty visit the Pegotty family home in Yarmouth without David
knowing. Mr. Murdstone was very cruel and had the heart to beat David. Until finally Mr.'s
sister. Murdstone came and lived with them.

PART II
 David was sent to a boarding school in Yarmouth as punishment by Mr. Murdstone. He
left with Mr. Barkis, a train driver, headed for the hostel. David met with Mr. Mell, his teacher,
and escorted to his school, Salem House, which looks very bad. David wears a sign that says
"BE CAREFUL, HE BITES" which is disgraceful.

At the boarding school, the students were often beaten. The principal of the school, Mr.
Creakle, as cruel as Mr. Murdstone. But David Copperfield has good friends who are Tommy
Traddles and James Steerforth, boys who are older and respected by the other boys. After a few
months, David returned to his home. He was surprised to find that his mother had a new baby.

PART III

David hears the news of his mother's death. He realizes that he is an orphan now. He then
went to Peggoty's house who was married to Mr. Barkis. He met Ham and Emily and talked
about their experiences at Salem House, including telling of friends Traddles and Steerforth.

David was then sent by his stepfather to London to work in a bottle warehouse which was
terrible for a 10 year old like him. He lived in a room owned by the Micawber family. This
family is actually very poor, but is trying to cover it up with debt. In the end Mr. Micawber was
jailed for not being able to pay debts. Mr. Micawber told David that if a man earns twenty
pounds and spends nineteen pounds and nineteen shillings he has a happy ending, whereas if he
spends twenty pounds and one shilling he ends up in misery.

PART IV

David decided to go to Miss Betsey's place. He prepared his items and money from
Peggoty. But on the way, all his belongings were stolen by someone. He ended up walking alone
from London to Dover for six days. He sold his clothes for travel supplies. Until he finally met
Miss Betsey and Mr. Dick. They both decided to adopt David even though Mr. Murdstone had
slandered David as a bad and cruel boy.

Miss Betsey decides to send David to Canterbury. He lives in Canterbury with Mr.
Wickfield and daughter, Agnes. David also met Uriah Heep, Mr. assistant. Wickfield. Mr.
Wickfield and Agnes happily welcomed David into their home. Agnes is very kind, sometimes
she helps David to learn. At Canterbury, David can do well, Dr. Stone as the principal is very
kind and gentle, he never punishes his students. One day, Uriah took David to her house for tea.
David met Mr. Micawber is again surrounded by creditors.

Over the years, David learned all from Dr Strong and his teachers they could teach in
Canterbury. When he was seventeen, David decided to start traveling around the country.

PART V

After finishing school, David decided to stay in London first. He then met Steerforth and
invited him to visit Peggoty. Mr. Peggoty announced that Ham and Emily were getting engaged.
It made David feel good even though he still loved Emily. David and Steerforth spent a few days
at Peggoty's and then returned to London.

Miss Betsey met David in London and decided that David should choose a profession as
a lawyer. They then met with Mr. Spenlow. And David got the opportunity to do an internship at
Mr.'s firm. Spenlow.

David, who felt lonely then invited Steerforth to have a dinner party. He drank many
times until he was drunk. When drunk, David met Agnes at a theater. Agnes then asked David to
meet her. Agnes asks David to stay away from Steerforth, then she tells him about her poor
father being taken advantage of by Uriah Heep.

PART VI

David meets the cunning Uriah Heep. He was very upset when he heard Heep's cunning
plan to marry Agnes because he felt Heep did not deserve Agnes.

David has spent a year with Mr. Spenlow. Mr. Spenlow was very good with David. One
day David was invited to come to his house. There he met Mr.'s daughter. Spenlow, Dora. David
felt he was deeply in love with Dora. He really admired Dora's beauty. While traveling around
town and hoping to meet Dora, David meets Traddles, who turns out to be living in a room
belonging to the Micawbers family.

When returning to his room, David met Steerforth. Steerforth said he had met the
Peggoty family. He informed me that Barkis was sick. David also decided to visit Peggoty's
place. Barkis later died of his illness. Surprisingly Ham informed that Emily had fled with
Steerforth. Mr. Peggoty decided to look everywhere for Emily. And he had forgiven Emily.
PART VII

While in his office, David was invited by Mr. Spenlow to come to his daughter Dora's
birthday. David was very happy, he bought good clothes and rode a handsome horse. Dora also
loves David, and in the end they decide to get engaged without Mr. Spenlow.

While drinking tea with Peggoty, Traddles comes to see David. He informed him that he
had not rented Mr.'s room. Micawber. Mr. Micawber was already being chased by creditors and
he changed his name to Mortimer.

Then came Miss Betsey with Mr. Dick. They gave bad news, their belongings were lost,
fell in the River Thames. David was very disappointed. He thought he had to cancel the marriage
with Dora. Agnes then helped him land a part-time job as Dr Strong's secretary.

PART VIII

David works hard to earn money to help his aunt and raise money so he can marry Dora.
He works for Mr. Spenlow and Dr. Strong. David meets Dora at the Miss Mills house. He then
told him about his new life. he had to work hard to marry Dora, and David wanted her to work
hard too. But Dora didn't accept that, she didn't understand what David was saying.

One day Mr. Spenlow invites David into his room, he is surprised to see Miss Murdstone
there. Mr. Spenlow is angry when he learns of David's engagement to Dora, not wanting it.
David tries to explain how much he loves Dora. Mr. Spenlow asks not to talk about marriage.

Later, David was very surprised to hear the news of Mr. Spenlow. Dora was so sad, she
cried all day long. Dora finally went to live with her aunt in south London.

David then decided to visit the Wickfield family in Canterbury. There he met Mr.
Micawber who works for Uriah Heep. He then went to Agnes for advice. Agnes tells her that
David should write a letter to Dora's aunt asking David to meet with Dora. Uriah Heep looks
unhappy with David's arrival to meet Agnes. Uriah asked Mrs. Heep to keep an eye on them.

At one point Uriah Heep told Mr. Wickfield that he will marry Agnes. However Mr.
Wickfield turned it down.

PART IX
 David was delighted when he learned that Dora's aunt had allowed David to meet Dora.
He sometimes took Miss Betsey or Traddles to see Dora. David still works for Dr. Strong, his
writing skills helped him make money.

David was very happy when Dora's aunt agreed to marry Dora. He will live in a small
house. Miss Betsey and Mr. Dick lives nearby. Until finally David and Dora got married. They
live happily. However, marriage is not as easy as it seems. Because neither of them knows how
to take care of the house. At one point Dora fell ill. David becomes worried that he will not live
with Dora for long.

Until finally Mr. Peggoty comes to David and announces that he has found Emily, who
has been left by Steerforth. Mr. Peggoty and Emily decided to stay in Australia to start a new
life.

PART X

Once, Mr. Micawber dramatically exposed how Uriah Heep used fraud, forgery and
embezzlement to gain control of Mr. Wickfield. Micawber reveals that it was Heep who caused
Miss Betsey to lose her fortune. With Traddles legal assistance, Heep was brought to court and
Miss Betsey's property was restored. The Micawbers decided to move to Australia with Mr.
Peggotty and Emily.

Dora's illness worsens and she dies, but not before she tells David she knows she is too
young and silly to be a wife.

David puts off his grief and goes to Yarmouth to give Ham a farewell message from
Emily. A violent storm rages on and David witnesses Ham's attempt to save a man from a
sinking ship. Ham also died with the man who turned out to be Steerforth.

David goes abroad because his past is haunted. He gets a letter from Agnes and finally
realizes how much he has always loved Agnes. He returns to England and confesses his feelings
to her. Agnes also turns out to love David after all this time. David and Agnes married and had a
family. David became a well-known writer, and years later, he is grateful to know that all his
friends who are in Australia have found happiness in their new life

CONCLUSSION
 From the explanation above, it can be concluded that David experienced many conflicts
from the time he was not born until the end of the story.

The story of David Copperfield began when David was born, then lived with his
stepparent who was cruel and had to be left behind by the mother he loved most and only
Peggoty and Peggoty family cared for him. Then he met his new best friend at the very bad
Salem House boarding school. David then left his stepparents and met his aunt, Miss Betsey, for
a new life. David met Agnes and Mr. Wickfield in Canterbury. Then he fell in love with Dora
Spenlow while working with Mr. Spenlow after graduating from Dr. Strong's high school. But
David's love story runs into trouble after the loss of Miss Betsey's money. David eventually
married Dora, but it didn't last long because Dora died. David finally realized that Agnes loved
him too. And they finally got married.

REFERENCES

David Copperfield (n.d). Retrieved From https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/copperfield/

Taylor, J. Bourne (n.d). David Copperfield. Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/David-Copperfield-novel

http://englishonlineclub.com/pdf/Charles%20Dickens%20-%20David%20Copperfield
%20[EnglishOnlineClub.com].pdf