Dickens is a master at sagaciously creating meetings between seemingly unrelated characters that foreshadow future events and interactions. Not only do meetings such as these serve to strengthen the often lengthy plots of the model Dickens’ novel, but also are usually incredibly didactic in nature and allude to biblical teachings. Two of Dickens’ novels, Dombey and Son, and The Old Curiosity Shop showcase his ability to intertwine the lives of his characters in this fashion. Habitual meetings in the above two novels involve helpless innocence being accosted by various forms of insincerity, hypocrisy, and deception. While encounters of this sort can sometimes puzzle or even anger the typical reader at first, Dickens has a definitive reason for creating these interactions and that is to educate the reader on his ever optimistic belief that fate will ensure that good always conquers evil, which is apparent by the end of the novels.
In Dombey and Son a fateful meeting takes place between Florence and Mrs. Brown, which seemingly occurs due to random chance and bad luck on the part of Florence. After getting lost in the bustle of a street fight Florence is helplessly wandering in search of Susan when the woman who calls herself Good Mrs. Brown captures her. Florence is completely deceived by the wretched Mrs. Brown and even “sheds tears of delight” that she has been found and is going to be taken care of by such a good person. Mrs. Brown manipulates her into accompanying her to the shack that she lives in then proceeds to steal her expensive clothes, and almost (if it were not for what a good person she were) cut off Florence’s beautiful hair to sell.
The deception of Mrs. Brown is painfully evident to the reader; as the reader sadly watches Florence, the heroine of the novel, suffer as she finally realizes the situation she is in. The death threat Mrs. Brown accosts Florence with, the hypocrisy of her nature as she praises herself for not cutting...