nger generation of today needs to develop a "moral imagination." When reading episodes from Dickens's stories it is easy to get to know his characters more intimately than neighbors. The experience of life along with his characters is something that the readers feel. Feelings arouse for them as the characters struggle in difficult situations (Andreola 2). In Terry W. Glaspey's Great Books of the Christian Tradition, he says, "Dickens could sometimes be faulted for being overlong and sentimental, but his novels seem to lodge in the memory long after they are read. His ability to create a multitude of memorable characters gave us the adjective 'Dickensian.' His staunch Victorian morality is a pleasant contrast to our modern sense of moral drift." And what wonderful characters they are! His heroes are people of everyday life who supply readers with a vision of goodness (Andreola 3) Clearly without the writing of Charles Dickens the literary world of today would be suffering a great loss. Dickens thought his many years of life experiences was able to use his talents as a writer to express to the everyday reader what the true meaning of life is. Charles Dickens did for the literary world what stories like that of small town basketball sensation, Larry Bird, did for small town athletes around the United States. Dickens helped readers understand themselves, those who are the common folk. Middle to lower class....
