The start of these two stories set the scene for what’s going to happen. In ‘Great Expectations’, Pip is in Mr Pumblechook’s shop. He describes the shop in a very detailed manor including its look, smell and its general atmosphere, “to have so many little drawers in his shop”. During this first passage Dickens uses many adjectives, “a peppercorny and farinaceous character” and writes very long sentences. This is so he can include a large amount of descriptive writing therefore setting the scene in the best possible way for the reader.
In ‘The Darkness Out There’ instead of establishing the setting, Lively establishes the characters. The 3rd person narrator describes the main character (Sandra) walking towards Mrs Rutter’s Cottage, “She could see the cottage in the distance.” In contrast to ‘Great Expectations’, Lively doesn’t use many adjectives at all, instead she tries to create the mood of the characters and what they think of various people and places, and “She’s a dear old thing, all on her own.” This is a very effective way of setting the scene in terms of the characters but is ineffective, as it doesn’t establish the setting in such a strong way as Dickens did.
The first impressions you get of someone you meet gives you the first real insight into their personality and their character. In ‘Great Expectations’, Mr Pumblechook introduces Pip to Estella in the courtyard of Miss Havisham’s house. “This is Pip, is it?’ returned the young lady, who was very pretty and seemed very proud.” This was the first time that Pip and Estella spoke to each other. From the way she pronounces this short statement, Pip can already tell that she is of an upper-class background and is a very proud person. Pip also states that she is very ‘pretty.’ This shows that Pips first impression when looking at Estella was that she was very ‘pretty.’ This was the start of what was to become an everlasting friendship.
When Kerry and Sandra first meet in ‘The Darkness Out There’ it’s much less of a formal affair than when Pip and Estella first met. Sandra was walking along when Kerry rose out from behind the plough and scared her, “Kerry Stevens, you stupid so-and-so.” This wasn’t the best way for the two of them to meet each other and didn’t give Sandra a very good impression of him. Also Sandra’s first impression of the way Kerry looked wasn’t good, “His blacked licked-down hair and slitty eyes.” This gave Sandra the impression that Kerry wasn’t “up to much.”
The first impressions that the main characters have of each other in these stories are very dissimilar. In ‘Great Expectations’ Pip and Estella have a very formal first meeting in which they can both have opinions on each other from there dress and verbal communication. Kerry and Sandra have an awkward first meeting in which they get more bad impressions of each other than good.
As the Chapter 8 progresses in ‘Great Expectations’ the relationship and opinions between Pip and Estella change somewhat. As they get to know each other’s personality more they both obtain more valid opinions of each other. After Pip and Estella’s first meeting they both make their way up to the house. Whilst walking, Pip asks of 2 things. He asks about the brewery at the side of the house and about what name the house is known as. ‘Is that the name of this house, miss”, “One of it’s names, boy.” By the way Estella talks to Pip he gets the impression that she thinks of herself as higher than him. This highlights the class issues at that period in time. He describes her, as being “self-possessed” and that she was very “scornful” to him.
In ‘The Darkness Out There’ the relationship of Kerry and Sandra improves as the story wears on. Their experiences at Mrs Rutters house grows them ever stronger. After Mrs Rutter has told them of the how she left a German Soldier in the woods to die, both Kerry and Sandra walk out of her house frightened and shocked. “I’m not going near that old bitch again.” Said Kerry as they were leaving. This reflects how both of them were feeling at that moment.
Miss Havisham and Mrs Rutter have varied opinions of young people. They view them in many ways at different times. Miss Havisham in ‘Great Expectations’ doesn’t view young people in a good way. It’s as if she is imprisoned in her house and locked away from the world. When any young person (in this case, Pip) comes along she believes she has ultimate power over them and they’ll do whatever she commands. Through this she becomes very mean and spiteful to Pip and he must be rather scared of her whilst in her presence. “You are not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born?” says Miss Havisham. Pip replies “No”. This was a mammoth lie in an attempt to hide his fearfulness of her. She feels comfortable in the knowledge that Pip is petrified of her and she id going to reap the benefits.
Though Miss Havisham is mean to Pip she thinks of Estella in rather a different manor. As they know each other and are of the same standing, Miss Havisham treats Estella like an adult. Sentences like “Estella, take him down. Let him have something to eat” are common when the two of them talk. This is in contrast to when Miss Havisham talks to Pip in a rude and sometimes arrogant fashion.
In ‘The Darkness Out There’ Mrs Rutter has relatively simple opinions and expectations of young people. She meets Sandra and Kerry through the ‘Good Neighbours Club’. This is a service in which teenagers help out the elderly by visiting their houses and helping out with daily jobs and chores. All that Mrs Rutter expects of them is that they do her chores and give her a bit of companionship. She is a lonely woman who lives by herself. When Sandra and Kerry visit, unlike Miss Havisham who is hostile and unkind to Pip, Mrs Rutter is very welcoming and humble. She is very pleasant to them both and even compliments them. “Well, you’re a pretty girl, Sandra,” says Mrs Rutter.
Miss Havisham and Mrs Rutter have very different opinions toward young people. Miss Havisham doesn’t particularly like them but knows she can use them to her advantage. She is also malicious and at times very rude to them. On the other hand Mrs Rutter generally seems to like young people and being in their presence. She does seem lonely and it looks as if she likes the company. Never is Mrs Rutter rude or ignorant towards Sandra or Kerry. This is why she has the better relationship with young people.
The houses in which Miss Havisham and Mrs Rutter live in make a profound difference to the setting and atmosphere of their meetings with young people.
Miss Havisham lives in a grand old house; The Manor House is its proper name. To meet with Miss Havisham, Estella takes Pip through its house and grounds. Dickens uses Pip to describe the brief but meaningful journey through Miss Havisham’s house. After leaving a rather frustrated Mr Pumblechook at the gates, Pip and Estella make their way towards the house. They go across the courtyard, which is neat, clean and has grass growing in “every crevice”. Pip notices a disused brewery next to the house. He talks about how the wind seems to blow colder there “like the noise of wind in the rigging of a ship at sea” is the simile he uses for a comparison.
They begin to approach the house and enter through a side door. All the passages inside the house are totally dark and are only lit by candlelight, which Estella carries. This darkness is a metaphor reflecting Miss Havisham’s personality. It compares her with the darkness, which without even meeting her makes it seem like she is nasty, saddened and cold-blooded. This darkness is also similar with the darkness that Sandra and Kerry experience in Packers End.
Eventually Pip and Estella came to a room. Pip entered alone into what seemed to be a dressing room from the type of furniture in it. This was where Pip finally meets Miss Havisham.
In ‘The Darkness Out There’ when Sandra and Kerry go to visit Mrs Rutter’s house, they don’t get a very good first impression. They both enter and they get an immediate look smell and feel of what the house is like. “It had a gaudy lino floor” and “there was the smell of cabbage” are just some they ways in which Mrs Rutter’s house is described. This creates an air of disorganisation and the feeling that things seem to be ‘dusty’ and ‘dirty’ in the house.
Also described is Mrs Rutter’s “bedraggled” garden. There is a detailed description of the garden and how it seems to have been abandoned, “a no-man’s-land of willow herb and thistle and small trees”. This shows that Mrs Rutter has seemingly been hidden away from the world.
This is very similar to Miss Havisham’s situation of being shut away from the world with no one to see. She is left in a time warp in her dressing room while Mrs Rutter is fixed in her old house drowning away her sorrows with nobody to talk to. These young children seem to come as a relief to both Miss Rutter and Miss Havisham.
Overall ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘The Darkness Out There’ are two stories, which have their similarities and their differences.
‘Great Expectations’ is a tale of a jealous and lonely woman who has been shut out from the world and craves for 1 ounce of happiness.
‘The Darkness Out There’ is a story of an elderly lady who wants to find joy after suffering with the guilt of leaving a man to die.
Personally I think that Great Expectations shows young people and issues regarding class and gender in the way I would portray them.
It basically comes down to either having a classic novel in which an old lady’s struggle to find happiness is portrayed or a modern short story capturing the guilt of an old lady who left a helpless man to slowly and agonisingly perish.
By Louis Haskell
