Great Expectations

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Sam Griffiths

Rhyn Park School                29190
GCSE English and English Literature Prose Study

Great Expectations

How does Dickens create striking and memorable characters?

Great Expectations serialised in the London magazine ‘All the Year Round’ from December 1860 to August 1861 tells the story of a young, common boy who lives to become a gentleman in London. He is an orphan raised by his sister and brother-in-law, on the Kentish marshes. His mother, father and five younger brothers died early on in his life. Like Pip, Dickens had an eventful childhood. He worked from an early age, just as Pip had to. Dickens’ dislike of the prison system, probably linked to when his father was put into prison for debt, also shows in the story. Later on in the story you see that both Pip and Dickens can make out what makes a true gentleman.


The novel begins with the dramatic meeting of Pip and Magwitch, the escaped convict. He and Pip first meet in the churchyard where Pip’s family are buried. At this point Magwitch is in hiding from the law after he has escaped, from a prison hulk, an olden day prison ship. The timid Pip is visiting his parents’ grave in the churchyard when Magwitch jumps out. By using the churchyard setting, Dickens cleverly taps into his readers’ atavistic fears of death and ghosts. Instantaneously we feel the danger of the surroundings to Pip; the marshes, down by the river. Marshes can be wet, and slippy. The river could overflow and flood the area, or have hazardous, raging currents. A very good adjective in a phrase used to describe the scene is ‘a memorably raw afternoon’. This makes you really realise how horrible it is where Pip stands. The word ‘raw’… you can imagine the cold ripping through your skin and freezing the muscles underneath. A very powerful adjective. The churchyard is described as a bleak, overgrown place. In addition, the sense of death is very ominous. As Pip looks around, Dickens uses ‘dead and buried… dead and buried’ several times. This really builds up a feeling that the grave yard is an austere place to be. Then just to get a feel of how gloomy the scene is Dickens describes the river Pip can see, as a low leaden line. Great alliteration and metaphor and it truly gives you a final feel for the gloomy, despairing scene of the churchyard.

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Moving on to Magwitch, and Dickens’ characterisation of him. Firstly he describes his appearance. One of the first adjectives used to describe him is fearful. This creates a good outline for Magwitch, especially in the eyes of the young Pip. Later on in the story, the adult Pip looks at Magwitch in a whole new way. But in the eyes of a child Pip, he is a perilous monster. When Pip makes this assumption, he is easily scared into doing exactly what Magwitch says. When dickens first describes how Magwitch looks, he uses ‘coarse grey’. I think this is a ...

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