Charles Dickens' The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a picaresque novel which Dickens thought to be his best work. While working on the novel Dickens changed the plot to send the title character to America allowing him to portray the United States satirically as a near wilderness with pockets of civilization filled with deceptive and self-promoting hucksters.
The main theme of The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is selfishness, portrayed in a satirical fashion using all the members of the Chuzzlewit family. It is also notable for two of Dickens' great villains, Seth Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit.