James Steerforth at the school do, and a friendship begins to develop between the two. As Steerforth is several years older, David looks up to him as a sort of protector. Steerforth is said to be the only boy at the school bold enough to stand up to Mr Creakle, the school's strict headmaster, and to make Mr Creakle feel intimidated. Several years later, after moving to London, David encounters Steerforth, and the two resume their friendship. Steerforth takes David to his home in Highgate and introduces him to his mother, Mrs Steerforth, and her companion, Miss Rosa Dartle, an eccentric young
Charles Dickens Dickens expressed a distaste for certain aspects of organized religion. In 1836, in a pamphlet titled "Sunday Under Three Heads", he defended the people's right to pleasure, opposing a plan to prohibit games on Sundays. "Look into your churches- diminished congregations and scanty attendance. People have grown sullen and obstinate, and are becoming disgusted with the faith which condemns them to such a day as this, once in every seven. They display their feeling by staying away [from church]. Turn into the streets [on a Sunday] and mark the rigid gloom that reigns over everything around" Dickens honoured the figure