Dickens' pen of satire strikes again, both at parents' abuse of their children and the class structure of society. Mrs. Pocket is useless, ornamental, and absorbed in reading about her grandfather's "almost" title. She is oblivious to caring for her children, who fall on their heads, swallow pins, and endure other almost calamities. Mrs. Pocket is put out when a neighbor writes that the nurse was striking the baby and wishes the neighbors would mind their own business. Mr. Pocket alternates between wondering why his children are there and melting into giving them all money. His children just sort of "happened" and he is not in control enough to meet any of their emotional needs.
In contrast to Mrs. Pocket with her upper-class concerns and useless trivia is Wemmick, who is trying to support himself and his father on a meager income. Struggling to get by, he is, out of necessity, very interested in any "portable property" he can acquire. He is not greedy, but is realistic about his finances. Dickens shows that Wemmick is a creative and sensitive man who is stuck in the drudgery and soul-killing job of a law clerk. He has no choice because of his financial needs, so to keep from being emotionally crushed by the crime he has to deal with every day, Wemmick survives by keeping his home and office lives completely separate.
The characterizations emphasized here are Wemmick's "post-office mouth," a sure sign he is in his "London" personality, and the comparison of Bentley Drummle to Orlick — Drummle is a higher-class Orlick, both surly in temperament and always creeping in the shadows.
