What happens in Chapter 6 of David Copperfield?
In Chapter 6, young David Copperfield's life opens up significantly beyond the limits of Blunderstone Rookery and the Murdstone household. While riding back to school in Yarmouth with Mr. Barkis on the carrier's cart, David engages in a casual, one-sided conversation with the quiet driver, who skillfully gathers details about Peggotty's domestic skills—especially her cooking—with little effort. Barkis's well-known statement that "Barkis is willin'" is made with a studied casualness, hiding a marriage proposal that David is asked to relay to Peggotty. Upon arriving at Salem House, David faces the dreary atmosphere of the school under the oppressive Mr. Creakle, but the chapter's emotional focus shifts to his developing friendships. He meets the charming, older James Steerforth, who quickly takes over David's tuck-box snacks and assumes a protective, almost regal role over him. He also meets the kind-hearted, unlucky Tommy Traddles, whose cheerful determination in the face of Creakle's punishments is depicted with gentle humor. These three relationships—the opportunistic Barkis, the captivating Steerforth, and the good-natured Traddles—are introduced in this chapter, laying the foundation for the novel's entire network of relationships.
Analysis
Dickens orchestrates this chapter as a study in contrasting influences, with each new acquaintance pulling on the impressionable David in different ways. Barkis is portrayed through comic deflation—his speech is so monosyllabic it borders on parody, yet beneath this facade lies a calculating pragmatism. The repetition of "Barkis is willin'" acts like a verbal tic that also serves as a romantic declaration—Dickens uses bathos to humanize what could easily be seen as pure opportunism.
The move to Salem House brings in a darker tone. Creakle's school becomes a stage for petty cruelty, and Dickens captures it through the eyes of a child, providing enough detail—the smell of the dormitory, the placard taped to David's back—to make the institutional menace feel immediate rather than abstract.
Steerforth’s introduction is the chapter’s most meticulous crafting. He has all the traits of a romantic hero—tall, charming, and eloquent—but Dickens subtly hints at his predatory nature right from their first encounter: he takes David’s money, claiming he’s just protecting it, and David feels grateful. The narrator's retrospective irony is already at play; the adult David finds it hard (or chooses not) to rethink the enchantment he felt as a boy.
In contrast, Traddles is introduced through his physicality: always being caned and always drawing skeletons in his copybook for comfort. This physical comedy conveys a moral truth—Traddles endures punishment and keeps going, providing a structural counterbalance to Steerforth's allure that the novel will honor throughout.
Key quotes from Chapter 6
“Barkis is willin'.”
Barkis delivers this laconic marriage proposal to David on the carrier's cart, asking him to relay the message to Peggotty—one of Victorian fiction's most celebrated instances of indirect courtship.
“I was a junior boy, and Steerforth was a senior boy; and he was a handsome fellow, with a fine voice, and I admired him greatly.”
David's first impression of Steerforth at Salem House establishes the hero-worship that will shadow—and ultimately damage—his adult life.
“Traddles was the merriest and most miserable of all the boys. He was always being caned—I think he was caned every day that half-year.”
Dickens introduces Traddles through paradox, yoking cheerfulness to suffering in a way that immediately distinguishes him as the novel's emblem of resilient, unglamorous goodness.