“MY FATHER’S family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip…… ……………--I am indebted for a belief I religiously entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and have never taken them out in this state of existence.”
Pip laughs at his own childish inexperience as he pictures his parent appearance just from the tombstones.
By the third paragraph he has already established the setting – marshland (Desolate Area). He tells us what time it begins at – Twilight. (Anxiety already created).
“On a memorable raw afternoon towards evening.”
We already suspect something to take place.
The convict enters suddenly and Pip is startled. Quick exchanges between the characters gives a tense feeling. The convict steals Pip’s bread and scoffs it as if he hasn’t had anything to eat for some time.
Chapter 2 opens with Pip’s naivety setting in again as he describes about his childhood experiences and life so far. He describes how his sister Mrs Joe Gargery has brought him up by hand. Pip takes this literally because Mrs Joe is always hitting Pip so the words “by hand” are took into literal form. Yet again Pip thinks that Joe was forced into marriage with Mrs Joe as if he was beat into submission by Mrs Joe. Joe is physically enormous but mentally slow and is chivalrous in that he would never strike back at a woman.
Every thing said about Mrs Joe is cornered. She has no feminine, elegant, graceful curves just points.
When Pip returns home late he finds out that Mrs Joe has been out looking for him and that she had the cane out with her.
The cane is called “tickler” which is quite weird because tickler is the complete opposite of what a cane would do to you.
Mrs Joe is the dominant parental figure as role reversal is established. Everything said about Mrs Joe is exaggerated.
At mealtime Pip and Joe play a game to see who can eat their bread the quickest. Seen as Pip was told to fetch some food for the convict so he has to get some food from the house. While Joe isn’t looking Pip hides his bread down his trousers and when Joe looks back he thinks that Pip has ate his bread whole. This is funny as it is an example of comic misunderstandment.
Joe then gets grabbed by his whiskers and gets his head beat of a wall. For influencing Pip to eat his bread so quick and not telling her what had happened. Mrs Joe’s extreme aggressiveness is very amusing.
When pip takes the food to the convict he starts to become paranoid and talks to the animals.
Pip on the way to see the convict he thinks he meets the alleged man who is going to eat his heart and liver but its not really him.
When Pip gets to the convict he is near dying, he’s so cold.
Pip naively thinks that the convict should leave some food for his friend. The convict replies in a grunt laugh. Pip replies and catches the convict out by replying that he has seen the other man even though the convict has made him up.
Pip noticed the bruise on the other mans left cheek and the convict then knows who the other man is.
The convict then starts to file the iron off his leg. He is filing so hard that he actually cuts his leg. Pip doesn’t know if the convict has got free or not because the convict is still filing when he is walking away.