The vast cast of diverse characters includes, among many others, the hypocrite Mr. Pecksniff, the undertaker Mr. Mould, the jolly Mark Tapley, the gentle Tom Pinch, the nurse who enjoys her bottled comforts, Mrs. Gamp, and the lovely Mary Graham, over whom the disagreements of the young and old Martin Chuzzlewits cause the younger to go to America to seek his fortune. Dickens' depictions of the United States are amusing and scathing, to say the least!