What is the role of family in David Copperfield?

Answer 1

"Mothers and mother figures in David Copperfield represent a safe harbor from the cruelty of the world. They fill this role not only for children but for adults as well. David’s mother offers him emotional support and occasional reprieve from the Murdstones’ cruelty. Peggotty takes on the role of mother figure to both David and David’s mother, as she cares for both of them when they need her help. Many of Dickens’s novels feature orphans who, lacking this important refuge from a cruel world, come across as especially pitiful characters. In David’s case, Peggotty (and later, Miss Betsey) save him from this fate. But until these mother figures are able to help him, he suffers a great deal in losing his natural mother and living with the disadvantages that motherlessness creates.
Although the large cast of secondary characters in David Copperfield may seem overwhelming, these characters serve two important narrative functions: they mark the different phases of the novel and give editorial commentary about the actions of the main characters. Throughout the novel, secondary characters voice general opinions about the events involving the main characters. Because Dickens goes into such great detail in describing the lives of the main characters, the thoughts and actions of the secondary characters provide welcome breaks from the novel’s main plots. The secondary characters also alert us to transitions between the novel’s different sections, for they often appear at critical moments when the emotional intensity of the main plot is at its height. Mr. Omer, for example, appears in order to inform David of his mother and sister’s death. Moreover, the Omers’ happy family life serves as a contrast to David’s sorrow at his mother’s death. In this way, secondary characters not only comment on the novel’s main characters but also provide transitions between the novel’s different phases."

"For David Copperfield, the two most important developmental constants of childhood, home and family, are subject to repeated change. At first, David, his widowed mother, and nurse form a close-knit family. However, their loving, supportive household changes drastically when David's mother remarries and his new father becomes abusive. When David's mother dies, his father sends David to work at his London warehouse. Another home...another family. In London, he lodges with the Micawbers. Mr. Micawber, though always in debt, has a heart of gold. When the Micawbers must flee their creditors, David searches for another family. This time, he sets off on a long and dangerous journey to find his Aunt Betsey, miles away in Dover. In a humorous, yet gripping scene, Aunt Betsey decides to raise David. To complete his education, she sends him to school in Canterbury, where he stays with yet another family, the Wickfields."