This illustrates that Mrs Gargery has chosen to put a lot of time and effort which she easily could not have to deal with. By hand meant keeping Pip in order by hitting him. This behaviour was happening all over Britain at this time, children had no rights. They had no rights because adults wanted to victimise them and make profits from them and if children had no rights it would make it a lot easier for adults to do this. Pip was an orphan, so he was looked down on by society. Orphans were very common then because of death, disease and malnutrition. One in two children died before they were five. This was probably top do with the fact that parents were legally allowed to hit their children. This is exactly what Dickens was telling us through his novel.
Estella had a bad upbringing, not because she was beaten or punished physically. Miss Havisham taught her to hate men and did not allow her to make decisions. Dickens was showing that childhood could be the same for all children from all social classes.
“Let me see you play cards with this boy”.
At the Christmas dinner it was not a happy event, it was the opposite for Pip, he would just get abuse off his sister, Pumblechook and Mr Wopsle they were suggesting that Pip for Mrs Joe helping him. “Especially”, said Mr Pumblechook “ be grateful to them which brought you up by hand”. This shows that adults thought all children should be grateful to adults whatever the circumstances.
“He was a world of trouble? And then entered on a fearful catalogue of all illness that he had been guilty of…”
This shows that adults just think of Pip of a lot of trouble and hard work. In Dickens time there was no state education, this was during the industrial revolution when the most important thing in society was work and production and the government and the rich did not think it was a priority to educate the workers or their children. Children had to hold down jobs to help the family. Sunday school was very popular as it was free. Children would often teach each other. Pip was taught by Biddy who was only a couple of years older than him.
“My of my unassisted self and more by the help of Biddy than of Mr Wopsles Great Aunt, I struggled through the alphabet as if it had been a bramble bush”.
Dickens had used a simile when he said that the alphabet was hard to get through like a bramble bush would be hard to get through. This is another example of Dickens using humour to describe another serious issue. An example is when Joe was trying to read.
The school that Pip goes to is based in a cottage and is run by Mr Wopsles Great Aunt, who is very lazy and unable to teach properly and she charges tuppence per week for her services. She is very disorganised and has a shop in the same room.
“She had no idea of what stock she had”.
This shows to us that even teachers are not organised or also not educated. Pip hates his apprenticeship at the Forge with Joe, because an apprenticeship is a lower class style of education. Pip wants to get away from this and become a gentleman.
“I’m not at all happy as I am. I am disgusted with my calling in my life. I have never taken to either, since I was bounded”.
This quote tells us that children were not happy. The Forge was chosen by Dickens because it has connotations. It is like a chain that keeps you there. It is also associated with the words cheating, faking and swindling. Apprenticeships in Dickensien society were not very common and very hard work. Pips indentures are his apprenticeship in being bound to Joe for seven years. Pip is ashamed of his apprenticeship. He wants to move from the Forge. Then when Pips mysterious benefactor has his first communication with him, the messenger says
“And the communication I have got to make is that he has
great expectations”.
This will let Pip leave his apprenticeship and move to London to become a gentleman as he wished.
Dickens shows that Mr Jaggers who his a high power in the law, however he is very scruffy and dirty.
“Was a most dismal place”.
Dickens has shown that London was a horrible place because there were lots of factories and work shops which gave off smoke and pollution, also there were many slums, overcrowding, poor drainage and disease.
Crime was viewed by the lower classes as a way of life and a necessity even though they know it was the wrong thing to do, however they had to. An example would be not paying taxes and debt. Lots of people went to debt prison, as Charles Dickens parents had. All the lower classes had hardly any money or facilities and had to turn to crime. Pips first impressions of the legal system were that they were badly run and corrupt. An example would be Mr Jaggers
“My name he said is Jaggers and I’m a lawyer in London.
I’m pretty well known”.
This shows that he is very confident. Pips first incident with crime was when he stole food for the escaped convict.
“I said I would get him a file, and I would get him broken bits of food that I could and I would come to him at the battery early in the morning”.
Evan Pip turns to crime this shows that everyone is affected by the industrial revolution. There was capital punishment where criminals were hung. This was the death penalty. This happened all the time, this was seen as the ultimate penalty and would put others off from committing the same offence and used convicted criminals as a example to others. All the upper classes regarded the lower classes criminals. Mr Jaggers was very commanding and well spoken, he was also corrupt and would take bribes but was given respect from his clients.
Dickens tells us here that even lawyers can be corrupt which reflects on the hole of the legal system and even the so called respectable professions were corrupt in Victorian society.
Life was hard work if you were in the lower classes. But if you were in the upper classes it was very good. Life is different today in our society. There are more material things for those who have jobs and money but there is still a big divide between the rich and the poor. In some cases the poor and under privileged turn to crime. I think that Dickens would see this as well.