Discuss the range of devices Charles Dickens uses to engage the interest of the reader in the opening chapters of 'Great Expectations'

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Discuss the range of devices Charles Dickens uses to engage the interest of the reader in the opening chapters of 'Great Expectations'

The novel "Great Expectations" was written by Charles Dickens who opens the novel by engaging the reader's interest. This is important because if the opening chapters of any novel are not interesting, then the reader is not going to read it and develop a negative attitude towards it.

Charles Dickens very successfully uses different kinds of devices to make the reader carry on reading. This makes it interesting for the reader. He usually uses cliffhangers at the end of chapters because there used to be a serial of novels being published for every chapter in his days. This encouraged the reader to buy the next issue and keep on reading it. Dickens also used to tour the country reading out his stories to large audiences, which meant he needed to write top quality novels and end in cliffhangers.

The evocative sense of the setting in the first few chapters of "Great Expectations" described by Dickens creates a melancholy scene. He uses places like "marsh country," which creates a dark and gloomy atmosphere to prepare us for Pip's unpleasant experience. Dickens also uses words like "raw," "nettles," "dead and buried," and "savage," to create a feeling of discomfort and unease.

The story starts in a graveyard, which instantly gives us a dreary feeling. Pip goes there to see his five young brothers and parent's graves. The reaction we would have after reading about Pip's siblings would be very different than the reaction of the Victorians because we are not used to their siblings dying early. We would have a different response because we have the medical technology; this decreases chances of infant mortality. On the hand Victorians were used to it because the rates of infant mortality at that time were very high. On the other hand we would find it very unusual and sad, we would find it difficult to cope with it.
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Dickens uses a double strand of first person narrative, which incorporates a child's perception of the world and an older, more distanced and ironic stance. Dickens uses quotes such as "I whimpered, 'I don't know'." to show us that this is Pip as a boy and other quotes like "I always treated him as a large species of child and as no more than my equal." to show us that this is Pip as a grown man. The quote showing Pip as a boy is in present tense while the quote showing Pip as a grown man is ...

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