so. it's clear that kingsolver's purpose is not to create complex characters but more to put them in a situation to prove her point. she definitely has found some inventive ways to replicate the same situations as in the original novel in a modern setting but i fear she doesn't see the characters as more than a prop, and it's v clear when it comes to uriah imho. his position in wickfield's house is the one of a 15-year-old boy who started working as a filing clerk for him when he was 11 and who suddenly sees his dreams of career advancement threatened when the new child of wickfield's affluent client is suddenly delivered to his front step to receive an education. david's position in the household is solid because his aunt adopted him and has given him unyielding support, and uriah isn't old enough to lay claims to anything of what wickfield has (plus. he's from the low working class). this entire ordeal is the cause of his ambivalent behavior towards david.
in kingsolver's adaptation, instead, uriah is in his mid-20s, still lives with his mother (something that obviously humiliates him. k.) and is wickfield's assistant (wickfield is a football coach. the most stereotypically usamerican thing ive ever seen yes i know). so he's supposed to resent david when wickfield takes him as a legal guardian and considers putting him in the team... why? what's the reason for his animosity? irrational jealousy born out of entitlement you might say. very well. but that's not what dickens' uriah is about. quite literally write your own character. lmao.