Micawber reunites with David in Canterbury

Micawber reunites with David in Canterbury when an unexpected encounter interrupts David Copperfield’s visit to Uriah Heep and Mrs. Heep. The meeting renews a friendship formed during David’s childhood hardship, while Mr. Micawber’s account of his family’s recent travels shows that release from debt imprisonment has not brought them lasting security. Their greeting is warm, but the reunion also opens onto another episode of precarious employment, borrowed time, and hope that circumstances may change.

Circumstances of the Meeting

The encounter follows a Thursday morning meeting between David Copperfield and Uriah Heep. David was about to walk with Mr. Dick from their hotel to the coach office before returning to school, where the day began with an hour of lessons before breakfast. Uriah reminded David of his promise to take tea with Uriah and Mrs. Heep. David had not yet decided whether he liked or disliked Uriah, but, unwilling to seem proud, he said he had simply been waiting for an invitation. Uriah again framed the invitation around the Heeps’ supposed humility and their awareness of their social position.

At the Heeps’ house, conversation turned from David’s earlier experiences to Mr. Wickfield, Agnes, the extent of Mr. Wickfield’s business and resources, and his drinking. Uriah and Mrs. Heep alternated questions and comments so that David found himself disclosing information about matters he had not intended to discuss. As the visit made him increasingly uncomfortable, someone passing the open door looked in, walked into the room, and recognized him. The unexpected arrival changed the course of the evening: David’s old friend had appeared in the middle of a conversation that had been drawing information from him.

The Reunion

The visitor was Mr. Micawber, recognizable by his eye-glass, walking-stick, shirt-collar, and genteel manner. He greeted David with conspicuous pleasure and described the coincidence in terms of human uncertainty and the possibility that something might turn up. For Mr. Micawber, meeting David was especially meaningful because David was connected with what he called the most eventful period of his life. The reunion was not simply a chance encounter between acquaintances; it brought back a friendship formed when David had witnessed Mr. Micawber’s difficulties at close quarters.

David’s response carried both surprise and affection. He could not say that he was glad to find Mr. Micawber in the Heeps’ house, yet he was glad to see him and shook hands with him warmly. He immediately asked after Mrs. Micawber. Mr. Micawber said that she was recovering, that their children had been weaned, and that she was travelling with him. When David suggested that they go and see her, his practical purpose was to get Mr. Micawber away from the Heeps’ company. Mr. Micawber agreed, and David accompanied him to the small inn where the family was staying.

Mrs. Micawber was pleased to see David, and the two greeted each other affectionately. Mr. Micawber introduced him as a pupil of Doctor Strong, a detail he remembered as an appropriate description even though he was often confused about David’s age and standing. The introduction quietly marked the distance travelled since their earlier acquaintance: the former child friend was now a school pupil, while Mr. Micawber’s household was still seeking a secure foothold.

The Micawbers’ Recent Journey

At the inn, Mrs. Micawber explained the route that had brought the family to Canterbury. They had gone to Plymouth hoping that Mr. Micawber might find employment at the Custom House through her family’s local influence. According to her account, the effort failed, and the relatives did not receive Mr. Micawber and his family as warmly as he had expected after his release from prison. She reported that those relatives then urged him to turn his attention to the coal trade.

The Micawbers travelled to the Medway to investigate that possibility. Mrs. Micawber’s conclusion was that the trade might require talent, which her husband possessed, but certainly required capital, which he did not. They therefore came on to Canterbury, both to see its cathedral and because Mr. Micawber thought that a cathedral town might offer some opportunity. By the time David met them, they had been in Canterbury for three days. No opportunity had yet appeared, and they were waiting for a remittance from London to meet their obligations at the inn. Mrs. Micawber said that the delay had left her separated from the family’s lodgings in Pentonville and from the children there.

Debt, Friendship, and the Event’s Significance

The family’s immediate uncertainty recalls the earlier crisis that had made David and Mr. Micawber friends. When Mr. Micawber’s difficulties reached a crisis, he was arrested and taken to the King’s Bench Prison. David visited him there, shared a meal with him, and heard his rule that a person living on twenty pounds a year could be happy by spending slightly less than that sum, but miserable by spending more. Mr. Micawber borrowed a shilling from David for porter and gave him a written order on Mrs. Micawber for repayment. After Mr. Micawber’s petition was heard, he was ordered discharged under the Act, though formalities and fees delayed his actual release. The Canterbury reunion therefore makes plain that release from prison had ended one immediate episode without resolving the household’s underlying financial instability.

Mr. Micawber again spoke openly of pecuniary difficulty, and David expressed sympathy, wishing he had enough money to lend. Mr. Micawber answered with a joking reference to the help a friend might offer when matters became desperate; Mrs. Micawber embraced him and urged him to remain calm. He recovered sufficiently to order breakfast for the following morning. The movement from visible alarm to an ordinary plan for a meal recalls the mixture of genuine distress, theatrical expression, and practical improvisation that marks his earlier encounters with David.

The scene also places two different kinds of exchange side by side. At the Heeps’ home, David is drawn into revealing personal and family information through Uriah and Mrs. Heep’s questioning. With the Micawbers, conversation instead renews an established bond: David asks after Mrs. Micawber, visits her, listens to the family’s circumstances, and offers what help he can. The chance meeting does not solve the Micawbers’ financial problems, but it restores contact with someone who knows their history and responds to their present need with sympathy. Its emotional force lies in that continuity: the boy who once visited Mr. Micawber in prison now encounters him again as a school pupil, while Mr. Micawber’s characteristic hope for a turn in fortune remains intact.