Sam Weller (character)

Sam Weller is a fictional character in The Pickwick Papers (1837), the first novel by Charles Dickens, and is the character that made Dickens famous.[1] Weller first appeared in the tenth serialised episode.[1] Previously the monthly parts of the book had been doing badly—the humour of the character transformed the book into a publishing phenomenon. Weller's way of quoting people has led to the Wellerism, often a type of proverb.[2] Although Dickens does not explicitly spell it out, there may be good reason to suppose that Sam and his Father are intended to be portrayed as Jewish; their surname, along with Sam's first name, might support the thesis, as does their "east end" mode of speech, ie substituting "V"s for "W"s and vice versa. In chapter 10 of the novel, the eponymous hero of the novel, Mr. Pickwick, meets Sam Weller working at the White Hart Inn in The Borough and soon takes him on as a personal servant and companion on his travels. The relationship between the idealistic and unworldly Pickwick and the astute cockney Weller has been likened to that between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.[3]

Sam Weller by 'Kyd'