The story centers on the wealthy but paranoid old Martin Chuzzlewit, who is surrounded by grasping, hypocritical relatives eagerly anticipating his death to inherit his fortune. The narrative follows the title character—a young, proud, and initially selfish Martin—who is disinherited by his grandfather after falling in love with Mary Graham. Forced into the world to fend for himself, young Martin journeys from London to America to start a new life, a storyline Dickens used to satirize American culture following his own 1842 tour. Meanwhile, back in England, a dark subplot unfolds involving Martin’s cousin, Jonas Chuzzlewit, whose unchecked greed drives him into crime and blackmail. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]