The Role of Memory in David Copperfield
...the past’s reality as viewed through the eyes of a child. For instance Steerforth is “a person of great power”(84) “admired and loved”(89) by a young David. When David first meets Steerforth the narrator “recollects” that there was “no veiled future…upon him in the moonbeams…no shadowy picture of his footsteps” suggesting that perhaps there might something about Steerforth that is “veiled”, something that David’s innocence is unable to perceive. The adult David tells us about Steerforth tricking him into spending his money on wine and food for all the boys. David’s innocence is clearly expressed in David eager desire to readily comply with Steerforth’s “friendly suggestion” as he begs Steerforth to do the “honors” and “the favor of presiding”(82) over the feast. The readers experience David’s childlike admiration and awe but are also made aware of Steerforth’s deception and undeserved adoration. This technique is key in understanding David’s development and shapes our understanding and perceptions of the adult David. Later on as time progress and David matures, he too is “distress[ed] by the discovery of [Steerforth’s] unworthiness”(443). The adult David is clearly aware of the ability of distance to provide clarity and has discovered the wisdom that comes from time as well as age. It is often said that people learn from their past mistakes, and nowhere is that truer than in David Copperfield. David grows and develops into the man he becomes at the end of the novel as a direct result of the events and life circumstances that make up his journey to adulthood. David’s life exposes him to many extraordinary situations in which he is introduced to and influenced by an endless array of characters from all walks of life. His mind is strengthened and his heart “disciplined” by what he has learned and rememberes from his past experiences and yet David undergoes no radical changes. His development is that of a normal maturity shaped by growth and experience. However, because of David’s unusual and dramatic circumstances he was forced to grow up rather quickly and to learn the qualities “of a child [of] superior years”(66) at a young age. As a result David is forced to “pre-maturely change”(66), his “simple confidence of a child”(66) and innocence give way to an older “worldly wisdom”(66). David has “acquired experiences foreign to [his] age…as an ordinary little schoolboy”(222) but “is wiser now”(122) because of them. By exploring his past David is able relive the lessons life has taught him, he learns to take control of his own destiny and make changes for himself. The young David took it upon himself to change his life and its direction and left the misery of Murdstone and Grinby in search of his aunt. The results of that action dramatically improved David’s station in life. He learns from his “late experiences”(174) that there is no “going back”(174) only the inevitability of change carrying him forward. Now David must leave the pain of his childhood and his abandonment along with the misery of his first marriage and Dora’s death in the past in order to move forward. David believes that “on looking back, [he] [found] the source of [his] success”(590), but it is his ability to move forward that is the true triumph. The older, wiser David knows that “the man who reviews his own life”(590) must do so without dwelling on the “ many talents neglected [or] many opportunities wasted” (590) or he will find himself defeated. He must “learn to…live misfortune down”(485) and to listen to “the slumbering echoes in the caverns of Memory”(472) and what they can teach us. It is the lessons of his past that...