Can We Blame the Grandfather? William Wells College

Charles Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel in which each prominent character’s moral standing is clearly defined and changes little throughout the duration of the work. The immoral characters, such as Daniel Quilp and the Brasses, remain corrupt throughout the entirety of the work and are punished accordingly by the end. Similarly, the virtuous characters, like Nell, Mrs. Jarley, the Schoolmaster, and the Nubbles family, remain steadfast in their moral convictions despite their unique pitiful positions. Even Dick Swiveller, who is for a time presented as morally ambiguous, is soon revealed to be a good person who was merely swept along with the more sinister characters. The only exception to this dichotomy between good and evil main characters can be found in Nell’s grandfather, and to understand the old man’s position as a complex moral outlier in the text, we must examine his deteriorating mental state as well as the conceptions of problem gambling in the Victorian period that led to it.

The character arc of Nell’s grandfather is, by and large, one of decline. Although for the most part this decline is steady and gradual, there are several key instances in the novel worth mentioning as they notably expedite his...