as arrested for nonpayment of debt and placed in the Marshalsea Prison (Monod, 10).
Fred Kaplan (35-37) states that the experience of serving, however briefly, as a menial laborer, coupled with the family debt and his fatherÆs imprisonment was an important influence on DickensÆ life and art. Constantly underfed, Charles Dickens experienced first-hand many of the deprivations that appear in his novels. Kaplan (43-44) also commented that Dickens was influenced by his fatherÆs ability to reinvent himself and to bounce back from his own misfortunes. However, Kaplan (45) does point out that from a very early age, Charles Dickens assumed some of the responsibilities normally undertaken by a parent such as finding his schools, determining upon a career that would make him financially stable, and seeking out employment situations that would augment the family income.
Overall, Monod (11) believes that John DickensÆ imprisonment was one of the key events in the young Charles Dickens life that shaped his later literary work. Charles Dickens had an emotional involvement and a serious interest in the subject of prisons and death that went far beyond his regard for literary tradition. Further, though Charles Dickens worked in various settings, including law firms, it was always his dream to find a career in either the theater or the literary world and many of his youthful experiences would serve him well (Monod, 16-17).
Charles Dickens did not attend a university in England (Johnson, 44). His familyÆs precarious financial situation made this impossible. However, he did attend Wellington House Academy for 2 + years where he rose to be one of the senior boys. This occurred after he worked i
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