Great Expectations and Brighton Rock
The novels “Great Expectations” and “Brighton Rock” concern themselves, at least initially, with a young male protagonist. These are among some of the most memorable characters in literature. Both Pip in "Great Expectations" and Pinkie in "Brighton Rock" are summoned to meet characters that are socially superior. These characters are both rich and threatening.
The lexical choices made by Charles Dickens in "Great Expectations" when describing Pip's first visit to Miss Havisham’s house create an apprehensive and threatening atmosphere. The house is described as being made of "old brick" and having "many iron bars". This creates an image of a prison, which overwhelms the young Pip. In "Brighton Rock", Graham Greene places emphasis on the elegance and splendour of "The Cosmopolitan". Greene creates the impression that Pinkie is totally overwhelmed by the magnificence of "The Cosmopolitan”, despite his protestations of the opposite.
Both Pip and Pinkie are childish sounding names, which highlight the youth and inexperience of both characters. Pip does not understand the motives of Miss Havisham and Estella for summoning him to Satis house. Pip is tricked into believing that Miss Havisham is his benefactor. Likewise Pinkie believes that he can scare Mr Colleoni but doesn't realise that his gang is extremely small and insignificant when compared to the might of Colleoni’s gang. Pinkie is also tricked, as he believes that Colleoni will kill Spicer in an attempt to gain favour with Pinkie but Pip has overestimated Colleoni’s respect for him. Colleoni laughs when Pinkie reveals that he is the new leader of the gang. He refers to Pinkie as “my child” and dismisses him as a "promising youngster”. Miss Havisham sees Pip as inferior as she commands him to “play” and sees him as a “diversion”. Both Miss Havisham and Estella patronise Pip; they refer to him as “boy”.