The description in this extract tells the reader a lot about these two characters. Pip reacts very politely, even in difficult situations. He is also portrayed as being very respectful, even to people who appear the least respectable. This is shown by Pips understanding that the man he has encountered is scruffy and ill-mannered, yet he remains polite and wants to help him. Overall you can tell that Pip copes remarkably well, even in the most disheartening of situations. The extract tells the reader a fair amount the convict and how he was perceived by Pip. In Dickens’ time the convict would have been classed as very poor and unrespectable, by Victorian society. Pip notices that the man is hatless and wearing tattered shoes, almost immediately. This suggests that, class by wealth and appearance, was very common and even young children were brought up to this way of thinking. The reader knows that the man Pip has encountered is an escaped convict, because the connection is made to the “iron on his leg”. However a young naïve Pip fails to make this connection
The language Dickens uses creates a particular atmosphere. The long sentences of description and detail build up a detailed picture, “the dark, flat wilderness, beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds” these adjectives intensify a very depressing and gloomy surrounding. It is particularly effective because Dickens writes it from Pip’s eyes.
In the next extract Pip, and the reader, meet Miss Havisham. This again is a very strange and surreal encounter. Pip has been told, that Miss Havisham has requested him to go to her house, and entertain her. Pip’s sister is very keen for Pip to go, because of Miss Havisham’s wealth, and so, rather reluctantly, he goes along. This extract is slightly different to the first, because this time Pip has time to prepare himself for the encounter, however, again, he doesn’t know what to expect. He enters Miss Havisham’s dressing room, which is a particularly strange scene.
Pip is very observant to all these new and strange surroundings, which are daunting and quite frightening, to a small, unsure Pip. Yet again he is startled; however, he conceals his emotions and is polite and obedient, like before. Also, like previously, he wishes to help. This time, Pip understands the position Miss Havisham is in, unlike his confusion and sheer naivety considering the convict’s situation.
The scene is set in the dressing room of a large, grand and once glamorous house. However the room itself is described to be in a state of neglect and decay. Miss Havisham’s belongings are strewn across the floor, the curtains appear to have been drawn for years and there is no natural light. The setting is again, unpleasant and depressing, yet Pip cannot help but notice, how wealthy this woman must be. He is very impressionable at this stage and is obviously impressed by wealth. All of the clocks in this house have stopped, “her watch had stopped at twenty minutes to nine”. An impression is given to the reader, that the clocks are symbolic to Miss Havisham’s life, also stopping at twenty minutes to nine, some years previously. Pip appears to notice this significance also, because Dickens makes Pip notice and, spend a lot of time thinking about all of the clocks.
There are many signs to suggest that Miss Havisham was getting ready to go to her own wedding, just before the significant clocks stopped. She is wearing expensive and luxurious materials of silk and lace. She is also wearing a veil and the clothes she is wearing were obviously once white before they faded yellow with age. She has bridal flowers in her hair and she is wearing delicate and expensive jewellery. She is not completely dressed; her shoe is missing; her veil is only half arranged and she is yet to put on her gloves. The reader assumes that she was getting ready to get married when her fiancé delivered a “crushing blow” and jilted her.
This extract is again, informing about the characters. Pip is similarly portrayed as obedient and impressionable, however the reader learns that Pip is impressed by money and wealth and aspires to be rich, “pretty large room; prominent draped table; fine lady’s dressing table”. Pip, although he is observant, especially in this extract, he doesn’t wish to offend and he conceals his initial reaction to, “shout out”. His reaction and astonishment to the expensive things suggests to the reader that Pip is a lot poorer than Miss Havisham and he is most likely classed as lower class. Dickens describes Miss Havisham in great detail. She is heartbroken, this is apparent when she tells Pip hat her heart is broken. The neglect in the room reflects Miss Havisham’s emotions, the state of the room symbolises what once was and shows when Miss Havisham gave up and, “her life stopped”. The curtains drawn, reflects her separation from the world and her lack of will to live.
Dickens illustrates the contrast between Pip and Miss Havisham very carefully. He describes Miss Havisham’s appearance in great detail, and is particularly detailed when writing about how Pip would react and view this character. This makes the reader feel sorry for Pip, because although Miss Havisham and her belongings are in a sorry scene of neglect and decay, he still aspires to be like her, and this makes the reader think about how poor he must be. The language used contributes to the idea of neglect and decay, “withered; lost it’s lustre; ghastly waxwork; pale decayed objects”.
A very vivid impression is given, to the reader, about the convict and the landscape. Firstly, the reader knows nothing about the convict yet, it is immediately assumed that he is an unpleasant person and a wrongdoer. The landscape is dull, unwelcoming and doesn’t put anyone at ease, “I wish I was a frog. Or an eel!” The reader feels sorry for Pip because he is frightened of the convict, but although Pip is scared, he just sees the convict as a frightening man and accepts him as he is.
The impression given, to the reader, of Miss Havisham, is different to that of the convict, yet it is similarly peculiar. This time Miss Havisham has been mentioned earlier in the book, so the reader knows more about her. However the reader does not know why she is broken-hearted and seems to have given up living, but the description and detail of Dickens’ writing gives many clues. She is half-dressed in what appears to be an old but luxurious bridal gown; she has bridal flowers in her hair; the room is rather neglected and all of the clocks appear to have stopped at exactly the same time. The reader can piece the clues together to make a connection that she was getting ready for her wedding, when she was jilted at twenty minutes to nine.
There are many similarities to Pip’s reaction to both characters. He’s polite to both and he wants to help them. He is also frightened of the two characters and he sees them both through the eyes of a naïve and very impressionable child. Despite the vast mix of emotions he must have felt, he keeps them to himself, throughout both encounters. There are also many differences in Pip’s reaction to the characters. He is unaware and startled when he first meets the convict, although in Miss Havisham’s case he has time to think about it and prepare himself. When Pip encounters Miss Havisham, someone else is with him. Whereas when he comes across the convict, there is only the threat of someone worse being there, otherwise he is alone. The obvious difference, though, is wealth. Miss Havisham is obviously very rich however Pip, and the reader, both assume that the convict is very poor and Pip takes pity on him.
When Pip is offered “great expectations” he assumes that Miss Havisham is his benefactor, because he has always wanted to be like her, and he knows she is wealthy. He is happy to accept money off somebody he knows to be rich and he believes that Miss Havisham has given him the money so that he can be equal to Estella because he has fallen in love with her. When Pip discovers that it is actually the convict that is his benefactor, he is unhappy because he hadn’t given the convict much thought. He had assumed that he must be bad and poor, however Pip begins to understand and he helps the convict. He is angry at Miss Havisham for allowing him to believe that she was his benefactor.
Overall, Dickens is trying to highlight the incorrect assumptions people make about wealth, and how in his time people thought poor people were bad and rich people good, which has never been the case. The moral of this story is that we should look at the whole person and not make assumptions because of the situations people are in. Basically; you can’t judge a book by it’s cover!
I personally enjoyed the book and I particularly like the description Dickens uses and was intrigued at how the language used, can influence the reader to feel in a particular way. I did however sometimes find that the long sentences made it less readable, and sometimes the language was difficult to follow. But, it has to be understood that this was written about one hundred and fifty years ago!
By Amy Hudson
