Dickens tells the reader about Pips “most vivid memory,” in paragraph three. Dickens uses the word “most” because it is a superlative and in this phrase it means that the memory predominantly stands out. Dickens uses the word “vivid” to show that the memory was intense. When “vivid” is used with “most” in that phrase it means that the memory was very influential and that it is difficult to be forgotten. Dickens doesn’t tell the reader about what time of year it is in paragraph three because he uses words like “bleak” and “raw”. The majority of paragraph three is a description of the landscape, which is one long list placed into one sentence with the different areas of the landscape separated with a semi colon. The description of the landscape starts with Pip and where he is in the graveyard, near his family’s gravestones and lozenges, and how the area around Pip is “overgrown” with nettles. This shows how alone he is in the area and how the area is uncultivated. After this Dickens tells the reader about the area around the church and how that is also uncultivated. Dickens tells the reader this by using the word “wilderness.” This shows how alone Pip is in the world and how much he longs for a family. After this Dickens then shows that Pip is also scared because he then tells us that the wind was coming from its “savage lair,” the sea. “Savage lair” tells the reader that the wind is an animal and it is attacking Pip, and this is what is making Pip frightened. Dickens now tells the reader that Pip is a “bundle of shivers” and this means he has been reduced to something less than human through fear and loneliness. The setting makes the atmosphere gloomy and dark and Dickens does this by using a large range of vocabulary and sentences.
It is significant that Dickens makes the convict appear immediately after paragraph three where he establishes Pip’s isolation and loneliness. It is significant because it allows the story to develop from it. This is to show that the Pip and the convict are similar. The convict started from behind the gravestones and this tells the reader that it frightened Pip. Pip could believe that it is one of his family members coming back from the dead to take him to his family. At the end of the third paragraph Pip is a “bundle of shivers”, this would make Pip more scared of the convict because he wouldn’t have expected it. Also this shows there is a relationship between Pip and the convict because the convict was also “clasping himself.”
When the convict first appears he commands Pip to “hold” his noise. This makes the convict sound more aggressive and in higher authority. Dickens used the word “terrible” to show that the convict inflicts terror on Pip. Dickens also uses the word “devil” to make the reader think of monsters and make the reader fear for Pip’s life. Dickens uses many details of the convict again to show the reader that the convict scares Pip. Because the convict has “no hat” it shows that he is a man with no respect but Pip still calls him “sir”.
Some of the descriptions of the convict might make the reader feel sorry for him because he has been “soaked,” “smothered,” “lamed,” “cut,” and “stung.” This shows that the convict and Pip are similar. Dickens tells the reader that the convict lifted Pip upside down to see if he has food, this reveals that the convict is a very desperate man. When the convict got the bread from Pip he ate it “ravenously” showing that he was very hungry. The convict threatened a child which is a very desperate act.
The convict doesn’t physically hurt Pip but uses intimidation to scare Pip. He does telling Pip about a man who could take Pips liver out. Even though the convict appears strong at the end of the encounter Dickens makes him appear harmless by telling the reader that he was “picking his way through the nettles.” This tells the reader that he doesn’t want to be hurt. The convict looks into Pip’s eyes again showing that there will be some sort of relationship between them.
In paragraph four Dickens uses the repetition of the words “just,” and “only.” Dickens does this to show the reader that Pip doesn’t have anything to his life other than this. After this Dickens then goes on to tell the reader that the marshes and the river were “just black lines”. People can associate the colour black with pain, death and misery. Dickens tells the reader that the sky was made up of “angry red lines and dense black lines.” People associate the colour red with pain, anger and danger. Pip’s emotions at this time are worried, scare and misery. After this Dickens talks about the silhouette of a “gibbet” and of a “beacon.” These are significant because the “beacon” is unlit and this makes the reader think about a lack of hope and death. Silhouettes are black and black is associated with these things. The “gibbet” has chains on it and this may remind Pip of the convict because of the iron on his leg. Pip thinks that the convict is going back to “hook himself” back up. The “gibbet” symbolises death and this again is associated with black. This makes Pip more frightened than he was before. These events allow the reader to get ready for the next chapter, and Pip for the next day, and this also creates a cliff-hanger because the reader wonders whether Pip will help the convict or not.
Dickens makes the reader empathise with Pip’s emotions, for example; his loneliness or upset about not being with his family. In this part of the stories there are many different events and this allows Dickens to continue on in the rest of the story. He is able to do this because he has explained who Pip is and what has happened to his family. Dickens doesn’t need to tell the reader anything else about the background of Pip’s life so it is easy for him to finish off the story.
