This is a late celebration of Charles Dickens' 200th birthday, which passed early this month.
David Copperfield and Great Expectations are two of the best novels from Charles Dickens, and possibly two of the best Bildungsromans. They illustrate different aspects of human natures.
Great Expectations contains many twisted personalities. The protagonist Pip was actually trapped. He did not realized this completely even in the end of the current version of the novel, which is a bad story. In Dickens' original version, Pip got out from the trap in the end, a correct one for a Bildungsroman.
David Copperfield is about healthy development. There are three successful couples in the novel: Copperfields, Strongs, and Traddleses.
Betsey Trotwood is a close family member. After David came, her life started to flow and became meaningful.
Clara Peggotty is a very special friend.
Letting children be aware of twisted characters is equally important as healthy development. Charles Dickens actually wrote Great Expectations a decade later after David Copperfield, with deeper thinking. It would be good to be cautious and prevent your children from being twisted and caught in traps.
