The story in one page
Elder Martin Chuzzlewit is rich, paranoid, and surrounded by predatory relatives. To test their sincerity, he feigns mental decline and moves in with Seth Pecksniff, a hypocritical architect who uses moral platitudes to mask his avarice. Meanwhile, his namesake grandson is cast out for loving the wrong woman. Seeking independence, Young Martin sails to America with the relentlessly cheerful Mark Tapley, only to find the ‘Eden’ they bought is a malarial wasteland. Back in England, the sinister Jonas Chuzzlewit schemes to speed up his father’s death, leading to a dark spiral of blackmail and murder before the elder Martin drops his act to settle the family accounts.
Who's who
- Seth Pecksniff
A professional hypocrite and architect who steals his students' designs.
- Young Martin Chuzzlewit
An arrogant young man who must endure American hardship to learn humility.
- Tom Pinch
A gentle, organ-playing assistant who refuses to see Pecksniff's true nature.
- Jonas Chuzzlewit
A brutal, miserly cousin who eventually descends into murder.
- Mrs. Gamp
A gin-drinking nurse who constantly quotes a fictional friend, Mrs. Harris.
- Mark Tapley
An optimist who seeks out misery just to prove he can stay jolly.
What it's really about
- Selfishness
- The central vice driving every Chuzzlewit except the reformed Martin.
- Hypocrisy
- Pecksniff embodies the use of moral language to hide greed.
Why it's memorable
- The butcher artistically slapping a steak before Tom and Ruth Pinch cook a steak pudding.
- Jonas Chuzzlewit’s practical joke of taking a hackney coach for a shilling to its absolute limit.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
After the elder Martin exposes the family’s treachery, Pecksniff is reduced to a drunken beggar, while Tom Pinch finds peace playing his organ, surrounded by the children of the friends he loves.
For your book club
- Does the American chapters' harsh satire reflect Dickens's actual travel disappointments or narrative necessity?
- Is Tom Pinch's radical innocence a virtue or a dangerous form of blindness?