GCSE Great Expectations Essay

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Great Expectations Essay

In this essay I am going to explore the ways in which Dickens builds up tension in chapters 1 and 39 and also how these two chapters are very similar in terms of the technique Dickens uses to build up the tension which is a way of hooking the reader as this technique almost demands the reader to read on and find out what awaits the character, in this case Philip Pirrip. Albeit, there are differences between these two eventful chapters too; such as Pip's attitude towards the convict, Magwitch, who in chapter 39, is revealed to be Pip's unknown benefactor.

The book begins with Pip at the graveyard standing alone, referring to death and tombstones. The story is set in a time were disease and death were common, before any major advances in medicine, and it was ordinary to lose a lot of close family to illness- This immediately creates sympathy for Pip from the reader as it emphasises how lonely Pip is with little family member left. Pip describes the setting in a childish list using 'and that' and at the end of his list of the surroundings, he finds himself afraid of