Martin Chuzzlewit sweet and good, like her brother. At first she works as a governess to a wealthy family with several nasty brats. Later in the novel she and Tom set up housekeeping together. She falls in love with, and marries, Tom's friend John Westlock. Mark Tapley, the good-humoured employee of the Blue Dragon Inn and suitor of Mrs Lupin (the Dragon's owner), leaves that establishment to find work that's more of a credit to his character: that is, work sufficiently miserable that his cheerfulness will be more of a credit to him. He eventually joins Young Martin Chuzzlewit on his trip
The North and the South; or, Slavery and Its Contrasts line to the works of Charles Dickens in England, particularly his 1838 work "Nicholas Nickleby" (which featured a similar storyline), and the 1844 novel "Martin Chuzzlewit", which also featured criticisms of class society in the United States. The story centres on the wealthy and prosperous Harley family, consisting of: Frank (the father), Gazella (the mother), and their nine children. After a series of bad investments results in bankruptcy, the Harleys are forced into destitution, which in turn leads to Frank's untimely death from excessive drinking. Gazella continues life as a seamstress in order to provide for her children, two of