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General analysis of the book Great expectations of Charles Dickens
Great expectations by charles dickens summary and analysis
Writing techniques of Dickens
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What is the Significance of Chapter One of Great Expectations in
Relation to the Novel as a Whole?
'Great Expectations' is a novel written by Charles Dickens and is
considered to be one of his best stories. The plot follows a young boy
named Phillip Pirrip or 'Pip' and it focuses on his growth as he
matures from a young boy into a fully grown man. He had always had
great expectations of himself, wishing to become someone of high
social class - as this was set and written in the Victorian era when
social class was a huge factor of society - and when he ends up
visiting an eccentric woman called Miss Haversham he meets a beautiful
young girl called Estella who becomes more important later on. After
he discovers that he has a secret benefactor who begins to fund his
life. Pip assumes that this benefactor is Miss Haversham but the truth
is that it is a criminal, who Pip helped as a child, called Magwitch
and when Pip discovers this at the age of 23 he despises the idea that
his success is due to a criminal's money. Pip became dependant on the
money causing himself to fall into dabts and so Pip loses his fortune
and ends up, socially, where he started.
From chapter one you get the impression that Pip is vulnerable. From
the first three lines the reader becomes familiar with Pip as it is an
introduction in the first person narrative and it gives background
information on his parents and how he came about getting the nickname,
almost like a prologue. It also sets the time period "(for their days
were long before the days of photographs)" referring to his parents.
The nickname 'Pip' may have been selected for many reasons, one reason
might be that the word sounds very small and vulnerable as the
character of ...
... middle of paper ...
...at Magwitch is uneducated,
carefully placing mistakes in his grammar when he talks "And you know
what wittles is?"
In conclusion I believe that chapter one is very significant because
it sets the scene and establishes the mood, setting, themes and
character. It also leaves you wondering at the end of the chapter who
this Magwitch is and where he comes from, also why he has been
chained. This sense of mystery is also left at the end of the book
when he and Estella depart as adults and it say "I saw no shadow of
another parting from her", now this has two meanings it could mean
that the next time they met they never left each other and lived
together forever or it could mean that they never saw each other
again. It kind of, at the end, leaves an opening as if it could carry
on and maybe it was meant to carry on in the newspaper or magazine and
never did.
When Pip goes to The Satis House, he was treated rudely by Miss Havisham’s attractive young daughter. As they were playing
...ld and ends when he was in his twenties. However, Pip still remains as a kid from the beginning till the end of the novel when he realizes how he realizes how foolish he was. Born in a poor family, Pip suddenly received huge money from his secret benefactor who wished him to be gentlemen. He then follows his great expectations in London. He dresses up, goes to pub and spends money to show that he is a gentleman and impresses his dream girl Estella. Along with that, he puts himself higher than Joe and l- his best friend who helps his sister bring him up and always protects him- and looks down on him. Pip actually grows up when he figures out who the benefactor is. After Joe pays all Pip’s debt, Pip feels ashamed of what he did to Joe and finally decides to start over a better live. Compare to his chasing expectations, this is an improvement in Pip’s characteristic.
Throughout the novel Great Expectations, Pip's character and personality goes through some transformations. He is somewhat similar at the beginning and end, but very different while growing up. He is influenced by many characters, but two in particular:Estella and Magwitch, the convict from the marshes. Some things that cause strength or growth in a person are responsibility, discipline, and surrounding oneself around people who are challenging and inspiring. He goes through many changes some good and some bad
bread and scoffs it as if he hasn't had anything to eat for some time.
Charles Dickens utilizes his life for inspiration for the protagonist Pip in his novel Great Expectations. They both struggle with their social standing. Dickens loved plays and theatre and therefore incorporated them into Pip’s life. Dickens died happy in the middle class and Pip died happy in the middle class. The connection Dickens makes with his life to Pip’s life is undeniable. If readers understand Dickens and his upbringing then readers can understand how and why he created Pip’s upbringing. Charles Dickens’ life, full of highs and lows, mirrors that of Pip’s life. Their lives began the same and ended the same. To understand the difficulty of Dickens’ childhood is to understand why his writing focuses on the English social structure. Dickens’ life revolved around social standing. He was born in the lower class but wasn’t miserable. After his father fell into tremendous debt he was forced into work at a young age. He had to work his way to a higher social standing. Because of Dicken’s constant fighting of class the English social structure is buried beneath the surface in nearly all of his writings. In Great Expectations Pip’s life mirrors Dickens’ in the start of low class and the rise to a comfortable life. Fortunately for Dickens, he does not fall again as Pip does. However, Pip and Dickens both end up in a stable social standing.
soon become almost unnoticeable and Pip eventually realises that truly
The famous American comedian, Groucho Marx once said, “While money cannot buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.” Marx believes that money will be the downfall of society because it is corrupt and creates individuals’ own different forms of misery. Throughout the book Great Expectations, Dickens repeatedly shows characters not pleased with their life because money has taken over them and has ‘chosen’ their own misery. Furthermore, Dickens uses Miss Havisham, Pip, and Joe Gargery to show how he develops his characters to define what a true gentleman is which proves how wealth that one inherits oftentimes leads to corruption and discontent in life.
scene, as he speaks to his sons in one of his flashbacks he says: "the
The settings of Great Expectations are Pip’s homes, one home that he lives in during his childhood in Kent, England, and the other that he lives in when he is grown in London, England. Social status was a big deal in the mid-nineteenth century. The rich were highly respected and liked by all, and the poor were treated unkindly and were sometimes made fun of. The rich could have any job that they liked, but the poor would almost always take over the job that their father had. The narrator of Great Expectations is Pip. If the novel were narrated from any other point of view, it would not have the same effect as it does now.
I have chosen to look at how the relationship of Pip and Magwitch develops during the novel. I have chosen 3 key scenes in which Magwitch and pip meet and I will look at how each is portrayed in terms of character, development, setting and the messages or morals that dickens is trying to convey.
Pip learns the way of life and the road to being a gentleman. Pip gets
In the opening chapter, we feel sorry for Pip as we find out that his
In the beginning, Pip, an orphan, considers himself to be a common laboring boy, but he has a
When Pip was a child, he was a contented young boy. He wanted to grow
The book that I read is called Great Expectation By Charles Dickens. It is based mainly in London but also has scenes in Pip's home town. Which is a small village in the country? Where he and his sister Mrs. Joe and her husband Joe Gargary live and Pips was raised. The setting of where Pips is is not as important as what is there with him. There are many contrasts to good and evil or more justice and innocence.