With this novel, Dickens left behind the shallow characters that sometimes marred his early works, and developed full-fledged people. Pecksniff and his daughters are marvelous creations that make one cringe with embarassment while laughing at their incredible selfishness. Tom Pinch is another character in a distinguished line of too good to be true Dickensian personalities, but he is shown to suffer and grow into a believable human being. The American episodes are biting in their satire, but ove