Quote 1
It appears to me, that what Mr. Micawber has to do, in justice to himself, in justice to his family, and I will even go so far as to say in justice to society, by which he has been hitherto overlooked, is to advertise in all the papers; to describe himself plainly as so-and-so, with such and such qualifications and to put it thus: "Now employ me, on remunerative terms, and address, post-paid, to W. M., Post Office, Camden Town." (28.79)
Mr. Micawber spends nearly all of the novel unemployed and looking for a job. Mrs. Micawber gets sick of Mr. Micawber's constant poverty and suggests that he take a more active role in looking for employment by posting an ad in the newspaper demanding a position. But by advertising in the newspaper, Mr. Micawber comes more directly to the attention of Uriah Heep. It's through this advertisement that Uriah Heep hires Mr. Micawber as a law clerk, much to Mr. Micawber's eventual unhappiness. Why might this kind of open advertisement bring such bad results for Mr. Micawber, when Traddles's quiet accumulation of contacts in the legal world brings such good things? Is there evidence in the text that Mr. Micawber is doing something wrong or socially frowned upon by putting an ad in the paper? Or is he just unlucky that his ad gets him hired by Uriah Heep?