He does this to create suspense and to act as a contrast with later chapters like in chapter 39, this time it is set in “London with high buildings and stripped roofs due to wind”.
In chapter 1 the narrator tells us about his family and himself. He is reflecting back on his childhood experiences he had. This makes the reader more personally involved in the story. Pip has no parents and he is a young, lonely and a venerable child.
“O! Don’t cut my throat, sir, I pleaded I terror.”
This quote suggests to us that he is scared.
The convict has been brought up in Australia doing hard labour; he then made a lot of money carrying out sheep-shearing jobs. In chapter 1 the narrator introduces the character by confronting him in a graveyard. He is a strong, bold man who confronts Pip trying to scare the wits out of him.
“Tell us your name…quick.”
The convict uses forceful language. This makes him come across as a nasty piece of work that pip has to give in to.
When we meet the characters again in chapter 39, we see they have got older and wiser. Pip is now described as a 23 year old educated man living in a temple.
When he has his second encounter with the convict we see that he is not as scared as he was in the first chapter.
“What floor do you want?”
When he speaks to the convict for a second time we see that his tone is a lot more typical in chapter one he was very scared and stuttered everything he said but in this chapter he is older and he knows that a 60 year old man cannot harm him.
The convict is also older and wiser. He has returned from Australia now being 60 years old. When he meets Pip for the second time we notice that his tone has become more kind and pleasant.
“The top, Mr Pip.”
He comes across a lot less aggressive and more polite.
In chapter 1 the presentation of Pip is he is very tense and small; he is fore-boding and has feelings of dread. Pip was referred to as a dog, he had fat cheeks but underweight for his age
The convict was dressed totally different to Pip, he had torn cloths he came across animal like and he looked and sounded very hungry.
“Darn me if I couldn’t eat them.”
This quote suggests to us that he has not eaten for a long time and has not got enough money to buy food.
In chapter 39 we see that Pip has grown up his is a young educated man who is disputed and anxious. He is still lonely
When we meet the convict again he has long iron-grey hair he is more muscular and has had a lot of exposure t the weather. He is wearing a hat, he has now got wrinkles and a course broken voice.
In chapter 1 in the nineteenth century we learnt that most of the population lived in the country side most people wanted long hours in factories and lived in Squalor.
As the novel continues we learn in chapter 39 that industrial revolution led to rapid growth of cities. People moved to acquire better jobs. Increase in development of transport. Young men like Pip aspired to greater things and people now wanted an education.
Charles Dickens’s message was he wanted us to question the justice and punishment system in Britain at the time. Through his novels he criticized the system and during his lifetime he investigated the social change. He felt criminals were felt unjustly.
