The fact that Pip had no parents is revealed early on. This captured the especially Victorian reader’s sympathy immediately because they knew what happened to orphans. The readers were particularly worried that a little boy like Pip was all alone in a graveyard. “a bleak place overgrown with nettles”. Obviously nobody cared for the sad, lonely graveyard, just like the fact that no one cared for Pip. Death surrounds him; Pip’s dead brothers were buried beside their parents. The readers are now starting to guess what’s going to happen. Because Many children died early in Victorian times, it was entirely possible that Pip would be joining his brothers very soon. Surrounded by the “dark flat wilderness” there was no one to help Pip in this isolated place. Pip was suddenly “growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry” as “the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing” The wind may have served as a personification of a creepy voice. Something was definitely wrong. This setting creates tension for the reader because they expect something bad to happen, tension is created through suspense. Although very young, Pip had plenty of experiences with death but he had a limited ability to cope with what had happened. The evidence for this was when he had cried for no apparent reason. The odds were piled against him. Even the weather is bad, with the wind rushing.
When Magwitch was first introduced, we were not given a warning. He just “started up from among the graves” and threatened to cut Pip’s throat. The fact that Magwitch was a convict was made clear by the “great iron” on his leg. The reader now has a very good reason to be afraid. The tension is growing because we are now scared for Pip. Dickens described events in a broad ways to begin with. The first three paragraphs were descriptions, nothing really happened in these first few paragraphs. Gradually as we learn more about a character and his capabilities, we begin to expect an event, or guess what might happen. In Magwitch’s case, when he said “keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat” we now know that Magwitch will scare Pip into obedience. They were in a graveyard, which was a symbol of death. Magwitch’s fearfulness is inflated because he is seen through Pip’s eyes. Because the reader sees all of this through the eyes of a child, the descriptions of Magwitch is exaggerated since Pip had a limited of the world in general. Because a child sees things differently as they have known fewer people, each person they meet is scrutinized according to their short pasts. A child’s world is much smaller. Because Pip was used to doing what he was told, He had agreed to help Magwitch because he was unaware of the dangers. This may mean that Pip could get himself tangled up in a criminal activity and be punished for it even if his intentions were good. The readers will feel that is very unfair, and naturally be worried and then wonder what’s going to happen next. Dickens secured the reader’s interest by playing on their sympathy. The readers can’t feel completely at ease knowing it was entirely possible for Pip to get into at awkward position in any time since children are less cautious. Innocence and trust is a hazard of childhood. Pip was both innocent and trusting.
The story was set 20 miles away from the sea in the marsh county, this indicates that Magwitch had escaped from the hulks. The hulks were old ships that were literally falling apart. They were used to relieve the overcrowded prisons. But even that was not enough. Between 1787 and 1868 around 160,000 were transported to Australia, the conditions were so appalling that victims of the crimes appealed for the robbers. It was a time when the rich were very rich while the poor led a life near slavery. In fact many people had to steal just to keep themselves alive. The punishments were harsh poor petty crimes. People were hung for crimes that would only get them a fine today. The fact that Magwitch was cunning enough to escape show us that he was no ordinary criminal. Magwitch had everything to gain and nothing to lose and he would do anything necessary not to be recaptured. Pip was already scared for no reason, Magwitch had the upper hand. Magwitch intimidates Pip over and over again with threats. Now he had not only physically overwhelmed Pip, he had also controlled Pip emotionally. He invented a horrible young man and makes Pip think that he’s helping him. “I find it wery hard to hold that young man off of your inside” Now Pip also has the young man to be scared of.
Structurally, writers often use simple short sentences when building up to a climax, often with one or two word sentences, although this is not the case here. In the first physical description of Magwitch Dickens divided a sentence into little bits.
“A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head …”
This has a similar effect as to using very short sentences to create tension. The word “and” was used nine times in this sentence. The reason Dickens didn’t use any other conjunction as it would make the sentence more flowing and therefore losing the intended effect. Tension is also felt in the detail. It’s the small things that would not normally be noticed or commented on that the reader is forced to notice. In the quote above, we are flooded with descriptions of Magwitch.
The tension created in the first chapter of Dickens’s Great expectations relies on the reader’s sympathy for Pip and the frightfulness of Magwitch. The chapter’s gloomy setting also obviously creates apprehension. Although there are times when the readers are almost comfortable, Dickens always leaves seeds of lingering. Overall, Dickens maintains the tension by never letting the readers feel completely sure on what’s happening next.
