Caroline Black Social Injustice in Great Expectations
Period 6 AP English IV
Princeton High School
Focus Question: How does Charles Dickens employ the concepts of appearance, income, and education to highlight social injustice during the Victorian era?
Dating back to Britain’s early history, social disparities have been appallingly obvious. Eighteenth-century Great Britain was characterized by social and economic change, which elevated a small minority and relegated many more. Charles Dickens, a prolific novelist and social critic, used his works to comment moral, social, and economic offenses of Victorian England. As a child, Dickens experienced the disillusionment of being a second-rate citizen. Arrestor as a
Magwitch’s appearance had a “savage air that no dress could tame” (Dickens, 336). His visage was sharp and dark. Compeyson is propped up in the eyes of the court because of his softer appearance and more clean-cut look before the jury. Despite the two committing the same crime, Compeyson receives a lesser prison sentence than Magwitch. Nicolas C. Mills, who wrote the paper, “Social and Moral Vision in Great Expectations and Huckleberry Finn,” argued that “Rather than being considered the victim of society, he is punished for his unsavoury background and poor appearance.” He categorized this as a classic case of “open class prejudice” (Mills, 68). Likewise, ““An important element at the root of Magwitch's [portrayal] is great social evil: the evil of poverty, and the evil of a corruptible judicial system” (Hagan, 171). Magwitch may be guilty of his crimes and deserving of punishment, but the injustice of his impoverished circumstances undoubtedly led him to a life of crime. The judicial system, in its imbalance of treatment, cannot be deemed valid in this scenario. Because of social preferences of outward appearance, members of a superior class of society tream both Pip and Magwitch
As an orphaned child, Pip receives almost no formal schooling. It is not until his “great expectation” of wealth, that he begins to train for his status as a “gentleman,” through schooling, with the Pockets. The ability to read, alone, distinguishes the literate into a higher social class. Author of the paper ”‘Reading’ in Great Expectations” examines that in Great Expectations, “the dimensions of education are reduced to a single theme, that of learning to read” (Byrd). Byrd argues that literacy and gentlemanhood go hand-in-hand with one another. For example, Jagger’s proposal for Pip to be his guardian and for Pip to become a gentleman is conditional on his schooling. “ It is considered that you must be better educated, in accordance with your altered position,” Jaggers said to Pip during their first encounter at the ‘Jolly Bargeman’. “You will be alive to the importance and necessity of at once entering on that advantage” (Dickens, 139). Here, Jaggers acknowledges that knowledge is an aspect of higher society. Until now, Pip has been poorly schooled by Mrs. Wopsle and from spending time with a learned young woman, Biddy. Like Joe, Pip had been put to work far too young and is hardly literate, an ability which was not necessary for his trade. Dickens calls attention to the injustice of the circumstance that the working class is undereducated
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.
After being very ill Pip realises that being a gentleman means more than having money and an education. Many of Dickens books are about childhood difficulties. Perhaps this is because he was drawing on the experience of his own difficult childhood and his own desire, like Pips to become a gentleman. Dickens books are also about the class struggle, cruelty, inequality and injustice. Punishment was harsh such as deportation to do hard labour in Australia for small crimes or public hanging.
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.
Dickens often presents characters in his novel, Great expectations, as neither wholly good nor wholly bad. Dickens’s characters may have two contrasting components of their lives which contribute to their moral ambiguity. Abel Magwitch, also known as the convict, is a perfect example of a minor character in the novel who contributes to the development of Pip while embodying the essence of neither wholly good nor wholly bad. Abel Magwitch was a criminal since he was a child. He had a harsh childhood, only managing to live off the food he stole.
As a bildungsroman, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations presents the growth and development of Philip Pirrip, better known as Pip. Pip is both the main character in the story and the narrator, telling his tale many years after the events take place. Pip goes from being a young boy living in poverty in the marsh country of Kent, to being a gentleman of high status in London. Pip’s growth and maturation in Great Expectations lead him to realize that social status is in no way related to one’s real character.
The main character, Pip, is a gentle character. His traits include humbleness, kindness, and lovingness. These traits are most likely the cause of his childhood poverty. In the beginning of the story, Pip is a mild mannered little boy who goes on with his own humble life. That, though, will change as he meets Magwich, a thief and future benefactor. Pip’s kindness goes out to help the convict, Magwich when he gives food and clothing to him. Magwich tells Pip that he’ll never forget his kindness and will remember Pip always and forever. This is the beginning of Pip’s dynamic change. Throughout the novel, Great Expectations, the character, Pip gradually changes from a kind and humble character to a character that is bitter, then snobbish and finally evolves into the kind and loving character which he was at the beginning of the story.
...ntation of the distinctions between the social classes. Dickens uses Pip’s relationships with Estella, Joe, and Magwitch to show how the lower class is judged by social status or appearances, instead of morals and values. The lower class is looked down upon and taken advantage of the upper class, and this is prevalent in the novel Great Expectations.
It can be seen through Dickens’s highly successful novel Great Expectations, that his early life events are reflected into the novel. Firstly the reader can relate to Dickens’s early experiences, as the novel’s protagonist Pip, lives in the marsh country, and hates his job. Pip also considers himself, to be too good for his ...
These elements are crucial to the structure and development of Great Expectations: Pip's maturation and development from child to man are important characteristics of the genre to which Great Expectations belongs. In structure, Pip's story, Great Expectations, is a Bildungsroman, a novel of development. The Bildungsroman traces the development of a protagonist from his early beginnings--from his education to his first venture into the big city--following his experiences there, and his ultimate self-knowledge and maturation. Upon the further examination of the characteristics of the Bildungsroman as presented here it is clear that Great Expectations, in part, conforms to the general characteristics of the English Bildungsroman. However, there are aspects of this genre from which Dickens departs in Great Expectations. It is these departures that speak to what is most important in Pip's development, what ultimately ma...
Many characters were treated differently because of their social class in Great Expectations. Seeing the contrast between how the poor and the rich were treated will give a clearer understanding of how much social class mattered. In chapter 27 when Joe comes to see Pip, he treats Joe in a different manner than before because Joe was now in a lower social class. His feelings about Joe's arrival were "Not with pleasure... I had the sharpest sensitiveness as to his being seen by Drummle." (p. 203). He was afraid that Drummle will look down on him because of Joe's lower class. Not only does Pip treat Joe differently, Joe also treats Pip differently because of their difference in social class. He begins to call Pip "sir" which bothered him because "sir" was the title given to people of higher class. Pip felt that they were still good friends and that they should treat each other as equals. Joe soon leaves and explains his early parting, "Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man's a blacksmith, and one's a whitesmith, and one's a goldsmith, and one's a coppersmith. Diwisions among such must come...." (p. 209). He creates this metaphor than he is a common blacksmith and Pip is a goldsmith. This difference in social class had brought upon their separation. Other characters that were also judged by their social class were Magwitch and Compeyson. They were both on trial for the same crime but Compeyson got off easier than Magwitch because of his higher social class. Magwitch describes Compeyson's defense speech, ."..here you has afore you, side by side, two persons as your eyes can separate wide; one, the younger, well brought up... one; the elder, ill brought up... which is the worst one?" (p. 325). The decision of the trial was solely based upon social class appearance.
Firstly, the title of Charles Dickens’ work, Great Expectations, directly suggests the idea of a process of anticipation, maturation, and self-discovery through experience as Pip moves from childhood to adulthood. Charles Dickens begins the development of his character Pip as an innocent, unsophisticated orphan boy. Looking at his parent’s tombstone, Pip draws the conclusion: “the shape of the letters on my father’s gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair” (1). Here, Pip is in a sense self-taught. He does not have much communication with his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery (who adopted him) about the background and history of his parents; in fact, they do not talk much at all about any...
Ayres, Brenda. Dissenting Women in Dickens' Novels: the Subversion of Domestic Ideology. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. 86-88. Print.
Even though Magwitch is not by any means a model citizen, he displays many traits that makes him - in many aspects - a much better person than most of the law-abiding characters in the novel. This includes Pip, who turns his back against those who loved and cared for him most. First, he turns his back against Joe and Biddy out of shame for their poverty. Then he turns against Magwitch when he finds out that he's Pip's benefactor. Although his repulsion towards Magwitch is somewhat justifiable, Dickens' point still comes through clearly, which is that a person should not be judged for the clothes one wears, or even always for the crimes one commits.
The Following essay will examine how class is represented in the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Both in this novel and many others, which are based around the time of the 1800’s, class is a major part of life which in turn made your life’s path completely dependent on what class or background you were brought up in. This was majorly the case in Great Expectations and especially in the life of Pip. After reading Great Expectations there are many arguments
Expectations for Pip are fortune and the desire to become a gentleman as he discusses with Biddy, his private tutor: “I want to be a gentleman on her account” (Dickens, 117). Estella, albeit her bitter attitude towards Pip, changes his view that results in him longing to become a gentleman. His approach in becoming a gentleman is becoming apprenticed to his brother-in-law, the blacksmith. His initial stage of expectations is from Mr. Jaggers, Miss Havisham’s lawyer. The lawyer’s deliberately informs Pip “that he will come into a handsome property…be brought up as a young gentleman” (Dickens, 125). On hearing Mr. Jaggers, Pip was both astonished and excited because he yearned for such status. When Mr. Jaggers explained of Pip’s great amount fortune and significance, he automatically assumed his benefactor to be Miss Havisham. In his first expectation, Pip is to be professionally educated by Mr. Pocket,...