Characters From Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (1812-1870), pen name 'Boz', was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era. The popularity of Dickens's novels and short stories has meant they have never gone out of print. One of the delights of Dickens's writings was the wonderful names he gave to his characters. Here we recall some of those characters with a short note as to who they were.

URIAH HEEP (David Copperfield) - A hypocritical clerk of Mr Wickfields who is continually citing his humbleness. He deviously plans to ruin Wickfield but is later undone by Mister Micawber.

FAGIN (Oliver Twist) - A crafty old Jew who runs a thieves school near Field Lane in Saffron Hill. Oliver falls in with Fagin's band when he runs away from the undertaker Sowerberry.

FEZZIWIG (A Christmas Carol) - Scrooge was apprenticed to 'Old Fezziwig' in his youth. Scrooge visits his old employer with the 'Ghost of Christmas Past' and is reminded what a kind generous man he was.

MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT (Martin Chuzzlewit) - Grandson of Martin Sr. he has a falling out with his grandfather over his love for Mary Graham. Becomes a pupil of Pecksniff who, because of pressure from the grandfather throws young Martin out.

SETH PECKSNIFF (Martin Chuzzlewit) - Sanctimonious surveyor and architect, who has not designed or built anything, and one of the biggest hypocrites in fiction. Father of daughters Mercy and Charity.

Footnote
According to John R. Greenfield in his 'Dictionary of British Literary Characters', Dickens created 989 named characters during his career.

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Anjana

The third picture in our series about Anjana, a chimp who acted as surrogate mom to two white tigers, separated from their mother during hurricane Hannah. Anjana and her adopted children are in the 'Tigers' animal reserve in South Carolina.

Brainteaser - Thursday's Answer

Yesterday's brainteaser was one simple, or maybe not so simple, question. The question asked was 'When did the mechanic fit the new dynamo?'

The answer was ....... Monday (Anagram of Dynamo)

Well done if you spotted the clue!

Amazing Lorry Art

Our fifth European truck with it's sides and back painted. This one is of an aquarium with fish swimming in it.

Today's Smile

Looking Back - IRA Bomb Devastates London

On this day in 1967, a massive bomb ripped through the heart of London, killing one and injuring 40.
The home-made bomb, containing about a ton of fertilizer, was the second to go off in the same area within a year. The first bomb devastated the Baltic Exchange in the Bishopsgate area. Repairs to the Exchange had just been completed, and the building re-opened, when the same banks were damaged again in the second attack. Two churches in the area were destroyed, the medieval church of St Ethelburga's collapsed; another church and Liverpool Street underground station were wrecked.
Following a coded warning, police were still evacuating the area when the bomb went off. Among the injured were security guards, builders, maintenance staff and office workers. The bomb had been hidden in the back of a blue tipper truck.
The damage caused by the Bishopsgate bomb cost £350m to repair. Huge insurance pay-outs contributed to a crisis in the industry and brought about the near-collapse of the worlds leading insurance market, Lloyds of London.