ABSTRACT
For most of my life I have found the greatest pleasure and delight in the works of Charles Dickens. Whether he was exploiting all of the sentiment of Christmas in A Christmas Carol or ranting against the evils of the English courts, the English school system or England’s prisons, Dickens always spoke out loud and clear, bringing squarely into view the shortcomings of his society. Now, with at least a fair share of those evils eliminated or at least ameliorated, the true wonder of his writing is becoming visible. No longer need his works be read as social tracts. Instead they may be seen for what they are—marvelously intricate narratives, in which innumerable threads and themes intertwine, back and forth through the warp of each novel and create a wholly satisfying and elegant pattern.
