“shivered, and glared, and growled” this is animal imagery, this shows a lack of status within Magwitch. “ ‘tell us you name!’ said the man ‘ quick!’ ” this shows Magwitch has the power and authority over Pip, he is commanding Pip to tell him his name.
Pip stutters when he says his name, this shows his vulnerability.
When Magwitch says “where’s you mother?” this shows Magwitch’s vulnerability. When pip said “there sir” Magwitch made a short run, this shows he is frightened as he thought pips mum was actually there. “after darkly looking at his leg” this is an example of light and dark, it makes him sound evil and sinister. “he took me by both arms, and tilted me back as far as he could hold me; so that his eyes looked most powerfully down into mine” this shows that Pip is physically helpless and vulnerable. “and mine looked most helplessly up into his” this phrase is meant to make us feel sympathetic for pip because he is helpless.
“after each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger” this phrase shows that Magwitch is prepared to be very violent in order to get what he needs, it shows his desperation.
“ ‘you get me a file’. He tilted me again. ‘and you get me wittles’ He tilted me again. ‘you bring `em both to me’ He tilted me again. ‘or I’ll have your heart and liver out’. He tilted me again.” The repetition in this phrase makes you empathise.
In the cemetery scene, Pip is very formal, he treats Magwitch with a lot of respect although Magwitch has a low status, there is a lot of maturity within pip.
In the cemetery scene, just about everything Magwitch says is violent and or aggressive in some way.
“you fail, or you go from my words in any partickler, no matter how small it is, and your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted and ate.” This phrase is comical and the kind of thing that only a child would believe.
Magwitch says “there’s a young man hid with me” he says this to create a bit of threat towards Pip to show he has help if he needs it.
“like a man whose legs were numbed and stiff” this phrase makes it sound as if he’s old and crooked. “still hugging himself in both arms, and picking his way with his sore feet” this phrase shows he’s a broken man inside although he’s trying not to show it.
“the sky was just a row of long angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed” this phrase suggests danger in the surroundings.
“ The man was limping on towards this latter, as if he were the pirate come to life, and come down, and going back to hook himself up again” this represents a child like imagination within Pip.
In this first extract, the main way Dickens creates a sense of place is the use of violence and aggression, death and decay and many writers techniques.
Miss Haversham’s house
In the second extract I studied, Miss Havershams house, we are being attacked with examples of darkness, and prison imagery. The quote “the great front entrance had two chains across it outside” this is Ironic as she choose’s to lock herself away from the world where as Magwitch is forced to be locked up.
When Pip goes into Miss Haversham’s house the word ‘dark’ is repeated, this is to show tension and fear. When he says “only the candle lighted us” this shows that there is limited light and causes tension because it shows that she is in control, just like Magwitch was in control in the cemetery scene. Another quote that reminds us of the cemetery scene is when “she walked away and took the candle with her” this makes pip vulnerable as he is in total darkness.
We see some more light and dark when pip finds himself in a pretty large room, well lighted with wax candles. This shows us that there is no natural light in the house. “no glimpse of daylight was to be seen” this tells us that’s she has created her own prison.
The quote “to be a fine lady’s dressing table” this shows a high status within Miss Haversham, this totally contrasts from Magwitch in the cemetery. We see more examples of high status such as “She was dressed in rich materials - satins, and lace, and silks all of white” . Another example of high status is the quote “Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table” this quote toally contrasts to her surroundings as the jewels are bright and sparkling where as her surroundings are dark and dismal.
The quotes “had been white long ago, and had lost it’s lustre and was faded and yellow” and “had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes” are both examples of decay within the house. During this scene we are reminded about the cemetery scene with words and phrases such as “skin and bone” and “skeleton”.
During this scene we are shocked as Miss Haversham’s house is the complete antithesis (opposite) of what we would expect, we expect someone with such a high status to have everything within the house sparkling and shining, have everything in some kind of order, have someone cleaning the house for her. The quote “I should have cried out, if I could” tells us that he is paralysed with fear, even more fear than chapter 1.
In this second extract, the main way Dickens creates a sense of place is the use of prison imagery and writers techniques. He also reminds us about the cemetery scene.
Mr Jaggers office
In the third extract I studied, Mr Jaggers office, we are hit with and example of light and dark straight away in the opening line. “Mr. Jaggers’s room was lighted by a skylight only” this tells us that there is not natural light, just like in Miss Havershams house. “most dismal place” this tells us that they are gloomy and un-pleasant conditions. We are now shown some personification in the shape of “houses looking as if they had twisted themselves to peep down at me throught it” this is personification because houses can’t twist themselves to peep down at Pip.
The quote “an old rusty pistol, a sword in a scabbard, several strange looking boxes and packages, and two dreadful casts on a shelf, of faces peculiarly swollen, and twitchy about the nose” is all quite un-nerving, eerie and sinister, they all symbolise death, violence and aggression. “like a coffin” is a simile and it reminds us of the cemetery scene. “backing up against the wall” tells us that they are being intimidated by Jaggers, it suggests some guilt within the clients.
“that dusty perch for the blacks and flies to settle on” suggests it’s un-clean.
Conclusion
In conclusion, In order to create a sense of place, Dickens uses a number of techniques, these techniques include violence and aggression, prison imagery, light and dark, death and decay and numerous typical writers techniques such as personification, alliteration, similes, repetition and metaphors.
