The Old Curiosity Shop is considered to be one of the lesser known Dickens novels, but for Dickens’ earlier novels, it has all the elements for which he is known for: the caricatural characters, the innocence of the young, men blinded by their vice, an array of lower class characters who are comical as they are enigmatic, and the dirty sprawling England evolving daily — and not necessarily for the better. This is quintessential Dickens.
It’s hard to put any Dickens book in some sort of spectrum. The characters are colourful, with different attitudes and mannerisms and yet, this pattern is alike in each of his books. But there are some elements from each of a Dickens novel that sets it apart from others. For me, part of it has to do with who I think is the true villain of the book — the Grandfather. The scenes when he relapsed to his gambling habits are truly terrifying.
Quilp, you can argue is the villain, but he is too extreme to be believable. He is an ugly dwarf with a beautiful wife that he treats like a cesspool, as he treats others who he interacts with. His actions directly leads to the adversity of others. But I don’t understand his motivations. He is evil for the sake of committing evil. Does he truly enjoy it? Is it his grotesque physique that turns him into a sadist? Ironically, I think I’d find Quilp more believable if his figure is nothing more than an ordinary man — a feller that looks like an accountant. Then again, other readers find the portrayal of Quilp mesmerising.
It is the grandfather’s gambling habits which ultimately killed Nell — that he was forced to borrow on the conviction that he will finally make his money back. The loss of his shop forced his flight with Nell, and during the trip once he became indebted to tricksters after Nell found a steady job, they were forced to flee again. This flight led to Nell’s sickness that led to her premature death. The book is more poignant for it, but geez, I really wished that she made it out.
The Old Curiosity Shop is divided into two strains after Nell’s flight from the shop. One strain is of the flight itself, and the other is what happens back in London with the other side characters, where Kit became a quasi-protagonist. These two strains do not remerge until the final pages of the book. This structure made the book better as it gave Dickens more freedom to explore the characters. We get to know Dick Swiveller, the Brasses, the single gentleman, the Marchioness. These characters add so much colour to the book wonderfully.
However, the more engaging characters are the ones who Nell encountered in her flight. The title is a misnomer, as we don’t stick too long in the Old Curiosity Shop, but the characters in this journey are a good substitute of the items in the curiosity shop.
I enjoyed the novel more than I enjoyed other Dickens novels. There is a direct charm and readability in his earlier writings than he had in his later works. It is inconsistent at times — for example, the narrator downright abandoned the reader after the third chapter, but the flaws took none of the charm off the book.
