I think that Dickens put so much detail and thought into every single character in this book, so I thought it would only be appropriate to analyze one, for his sake. I am going to look at John Jarndyce, one character that seemed so static throughout the novel. He is a very admirable man that we never have a negative feeling towards in the novel. Although we have been trained as readers to distrust the good guy in the beginning, Dickens stays true with Jarndyce to the end. Jarndyce is initially seen as a joyful, giving and rich man when Esther first meets him formally. As we can see this with how he treats and takes care of the kids, the way he interacts with Skimpole also shows the depth of his wanting to help others. When Skimpole is doing something childish, we see Jarndyce smiling at him, with that parental proud look of their child's silliness. Like I said in class, he comes across as the "Cool Uncle" that is there to have fun for a short time.
This in contrast to the very end of the novel with his love towards Esther shows his development as a character. When he breaks the news of her marrying Woodcourt, his affection has changed. As the children have matured, so has his love. With tears in his eyes, he kissed her softly and asked for her forgiveness for him proposing to her (737). This interaction is very different, in a fatherly way, but more mature than the beginning of the book. Instead of taking her for himself—guaranteeing happiness on both parts—he gives her to Woodcourt, knowing she'd be happier. This selfless act shows his matured love, sprouting out of his "money equals happiness" way of giving. He seemed giving at first, due to his way of donating money and such, but that wasn’t much of a sacrifice. For someone with that much wealth, it didn’t seem like a sacrifice to him because it truly wasn’t. He became selfless when he gave up the only thing he truly loved that he could never buy: Esther. Handing her over to Woodcourt in the end just showed his true character giving in a different way. As a bachelor, he has been doing just fine without the love specifically from a wife. He can continue on without that love, but enjoy the love of friendships from Ada, Esther, Allen, etc.
We can see this fatherly care again in the novel when Esther figures out Lady Dedlock is her mother. While she is in pain, believing she caused such misery to others with her birth, he speaks “tenderly and wisely” to her, kissing her goodnight at the door (541). He was willing to listen to her, stating she could “not be more ready to speak” than he was to hear from her (539). This is a different sort of characteristic we would find towards a man who was passionately in love with a girl. He comes off as more of a loving father than someone who wants to court Esther. Although it appears in different forms, we see this fatherly love develop and change throughout the novel.
I agree that John Jarndyce is truly a good guy but I think that in his goodness he gets walked all over. I think it is sad for someone like him because he has few true friends that are there because of him and not because of his money. Skimpole for example obviously hangs around because he knows that Jarndyce will always bail him out of whatever trouble he gets into. Which isn't fair to Jarndyce; he deserves REAL friends. I think that Jarndyce needed Ester and Ada and Richard just as much as they needed him. He took them in as a father figure that they needed and in return he got loving children like he deserved. The only thing that I thought was bad about John Jarndyce's character was that he always avoided problems which I think is part of the reasons he had so many losers following him. He obviously could not handle disappointing people and in return he end up surrounded by people that were not the best of characters but the only person this realy hurt was himself and if he didn't mind I guess there is no problem with it.
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