Great Expectations: A thematic analysis

Great Expectations: A thematic analysis

As the reader begins the book, Dickens instills in the reader a bond

with Pip as it is through his eyes in a first person narrative.

Dickens’ use of Pip as the narrator is very significant to the telling

of the story. We are able to see the progression of Pip as he grows up

and his views on the characters in the book. We form an idea about

someone from their outward appearance, so having Pip as a narrator it

creates a one-sided view about a character because we only see the

world from Pip’s eyes and we feel most strongly what Pip is feeling

and we feel, about other character what Pip feels about them.

Dickens creates sympathy by telling the reader that Pip has never seen

his mother & father, instead he sits on their graves trying to find

clues that reflect their appearance and personality. Pip at this point

is trying to emphasize that his father is superior to his mother, as

the antithesis is shown with Joe and his sister. Dickens also tries to

make the reader feel sympathy by referring to Pip’s name. On one level

his name shows how isolated Pip is, this empathize that Pip created

his own nickname. However on a symbolic level his name ‘Pip’

represents the start of life, a seed, as it grows toward its fate.

Dickens is trying to emphasize to the reader the solitude of Pip, by

using extended sentence structure to increase the tension and prolong

the suffering. He also restates that Pip is all alone by using

repetition on the word ‘dead’, implicating the loss of 5 of Pip’s

siblings, as they died before they were born. The prolonged sentence

structure also leads to an ominous word ‘savage lair’. This pathetic

fallacy foreshadows the encounter which will make Pip’s life a lot

worse.

When Magwitch is first introduced, a sad and lonely atmosphere is

already established. The fearful connotations in the atmosphere ‘place

overgrown with nettles’, the isolated graveyard ‘dark flat wilderness’

and the symbolic place of death ‘the marsh country’ makes Magwitch

appearance even more memorable. Magwitch’s social status becomes

apparent when Dickens describes his handling of Pip. He addresses Pip

in a very rough manner, shaking him and using harsh words. “Keep still

you little devil or I’ll cut your throat!” .This portrayal of Magwitch

emphasizes the fact that he is of a lower social class and this ties

in with a stereotypical view that someone in the lower half of the

social divide will be more likely to commit a crime. This reflects the