Discuss the treatment of the theme of childhood in 'Great Expectations'

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Discuss the treatment of the theme of childhood in ‘Great Expectations’

In this novel Dickens shows the treatment of childhood in many ways and through many characters.

        In the opening few chapters of the novel Dickens shows his opinions of childhood through Philip Pirrip otherwise known as Pip. Pip is first seen in a graveyard on his own reading the tombstones of his other family members who he never knew. The fact that the coming to life of Pip is through death shows that Dickens believes that childhood is an awful time of your life.

        We are told that Pip’s first memories are of him on his own finding out that his family are all dead and buried in a church yard over run with nettles. This isn’t a very nice memory and shows that Dickens feels there’s not much fun to have when you’re a child and that it’s a very lonely time in your life.

        Dickens believes childhood is the worst time of your life but still has a large respect for the power of a child’s imagination. We see this when he tells us that Pip believes he knows how his parents look just by the style of writing is on their tomb stones ‘The shape of the letters on my father’s gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man’ this also shows Pip’s longing for his parents make him invent new imaginary parents. This leads us to believe that he’s not happy living with his sister. We also see the strength of Pip’s imagination when he takes the convict some food.

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Pip’s imagination is often found along with another emotion, guilt. Guilt is shown strongly when Pip steals from his sister Mrs Gargery and his imagination shows this through personification. Pip makes the cows in the fields talk to him and the steps in his house try and stop him ‘get up, Mrs Joe’ ‘stop, thief!’

The fact that Dickens shows another of Pips main emotions as guilt, shows that Pip has yet to have a good and happy emotion this leads us to believe he lives an unhappy life and that all children do.

Also two other characteristics that ...

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