Chapter One of Dickens' Great Expectations

Chapter One of Dickens' Great Expectations

The title of the novel that I studied is, 'Great Expectations',

written in the 19th century by Charles Dickens. Pip, an orphan often

goes to the cemetery to mourn for his dead parents and brothers. While

mourning one day, a convict hiding in that same cemetery scares him.

All that he thinks of is to listen and obey the man. As the story

evolves, we are also introduced to the sentimental part of Pip's life.

He is in love with a girl named Estella but unfortunately, she doesn't

like him. When Pip becomes the perfect gentleman, he inherits some

fortune. He mistakes the real provider thinking it is Miss Havisham,

until one night he meets the convict again. The latter claims that he

is the person providing him with money. Pip was unable to accept both

the truth and the man. For my assignment, I am focussing on the 1st

and 39th chapter of the book, where Pip first meets the convict, and

when he meets him for the second time.

In the first chapter of the book, the circumstances that Pip is in are

very pitiful. He is an orphan and although he has a big sister, he

does not get the motherly affection he is supposed to in his life. He

seems to be very drawn to the place where his parents are buried as

stated, "my fancies regarding what they were like were unreasonably

derived from their tombstones," (chapter 1, pg 1, line 9-10). This

shows how much he misses parental affection that his sister, Mrs Joe

cannot give him although she looks after him. Furthermore, Pip appears

to be naïve and he is very lonely as a little boy because he doesn't

have friends. In contrast to chapter thirty- nine, we are int...

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... for whom we

have so much chagrin, turns out to be a self- centered and

materialistic young adult. He even goes that far as to reject Joe, who

loves him more than his life. Needless to mention the man, Magwitch,

who struggled to make him the person he now is and so proud of being.

In addition to this, he realises not too late at the end fortunately,

that no matter how much fortune one may have, it does not serve much

in life, like it cannot buy love and trust. I think that the message

in this story is that money does not make a person. We are much more

happy poorer, than richer, taking Joe and Pip for good example. Even

if Joe is poor, he is finally married to Biddy, the person he loves.

Whereas Pip has got all the comfort life has to offer, but he is alone

to enjoy it. He has neither a family, nor a lover by his side.