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Summary on David Copperfield chapter 9th Heep Creates Trouble

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David Copperfield

   

by Charles Dickens

David Copperfield Brief Summary

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DAVID COPPERFIELD SUMMARY

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How It All Goes Down

(By the way, we're doing our best to make this summary brief – which, with a 900-page novel, isn't easy – so we can't include every single subplot here; if you want to know more about Miss Rosa Dartle, Mrs. Annie Strong, Martha Endell, Julia Mills, or Sophy Crewler, check out our character analyses or read our chapter-by-chapter summary.) 

David Copperfield's life starts where all of our lives start: birth. He's born on a Friday, at 12:00 am, in Blunderstone, Suffolk. David comes into the world soon after his mother loses her husband, David's father. As a widow with basically no money, Mrs. Copperfield has some hope that David's great aunt, Miss Betsey Trotwood, will step in and look after David financially. Unfortunately, Miss Betsey (who is about as stubborn and opinionated a character as you'll find anywhere in literature) is so disappointed that David is a boy and not a girl that she refuses to have anything to do with the family. Mrs. Copperfield is left on her own, with no one but her housekeeper, Peggotty, to help her raise David.

When David is around six, Mrs. Copperfield begins seeing Mr. Murdstone. Mr. Murdstone is a stern, cruel man who flatters the sweet, young Mrs. Copperfield until she agrees to marry him. Once Mrs. Copperfield finally marries Mr. Murdstone, he and his sister Jane both move into Mrs. Copperfield's house (which used to belong to David's father). Together, the two of them bully Mrs. Copperfield until she becomes too afraid to say anything to protest the Murdstones' verbal and physical abuse of David. One night, Mr. Murdstone whips David with a switch. In a blind panic, David bites Mr. Murdstone's hand. Mr. Murdstone uses this bite as an excuse to send David away to a boarding school called Salem House, run by Mr. Creakle.

Before David goes away to school, he is allowed to visit the hometown of his mother's housekeeper, Peggotty. Peggotty is from the coastal village of Yarmouth. Her brother is still a fisherman there. He owns a boat that he has converted to a house on shore. Mr. Peggotty's boat house shelters three needy people: two orphans, Ham and Emily, and Mrs. Gummidge, the widow of his former business partner. Mr. Peggotty is a generous man, and David loves the two weeks he spends at Yarmouth. He also gets a giant crush on little Emily, who is a pretty and kind-hearted child. 

Once David arrives at his new school, Salem House, he finds that the headmaster, Mr. Creakle, has been warned that David is a bad kid. Mr. Creakle makes it his personal duty in life to beat David (and all of the other boys at Salem House) as often as possible. The only good thing about David's life at school is David's new hero, James Steerforth, a handsome and accomplished boy who manages to charm everyone, including Mr. Creakle. 

David spends two terms at Salem House learning what he can and trying to avoid being beaten by Mr. Creakle. He makes friends not only with Steerforth, but also with Tommy Traddles, a good-natured boy who likes to draw skeletons whenever he gets upset. But one day, David hears terrible news from home: his mother and his baby brother have both died. David is completely torn apart, and rushes back to Suffolk for the funeral. 

Mr. Murdstone is experiencing financial troubles and no longer wants to bother with his unloved stepson. Mr. Murdstone decides to send David into London to work at his wine bottling factory (when David is only ten years old!). David goes to work in London without any family to protect him.

Fortunately, David winds up making true friends out of his new landlords, the Micawbers. Mr. Micawber and his wife are both on the edge of financial ruin, but they don't let it get their spirits down too much. The Micawbers keep looking for new jobs or ventures for Mr. Micawber, but nothing ever turns up – so they get deeper and deeper into debt. They each tell David all about their marital and money troubles, which makes David think they have forgotten exactly how old he is. He enjoys their company very much. He's really disappointed when Mr. Micawber is finally arrested and sent to debtors' prison (which is a Victorian thing – for more on debtors' prison, check out our detailed summary of Chapter 11