A short event, where a stranger in the pub seems to know something about Pip and the convict and stirs the file that Pip gave to the convict earlier on in the novel, proves to be useful later on.
Pip then visits Miss. Havisham on her birthday and she takes him into the banquet hall. Here he sees the decaying cake and food and the rats which freely roam amongst the food. It is this event that we can see that Pip’s desperation of being accepted into a higher class society leads him into loveless relationships (where Miss. Havisham’s relatives visit her for her birthday in a bid to gain her money when she dies) and death and decay. Also, Pip feels uncomfortable and against his nature where he is rewarded for violence when he fights with a young boy on the Satis House grounds, and then has the opportunity to kiss Estella, the girl he is fond of. Miss. Havisham gives Pip £25 for his blacksmith indenture, but over a meal Mr. Pumblechook, a man regularly visiting Mrs. Joe, insists Pip to be legally bound by law over a meal back at his house. Dickens uses meals to reflect on relationships and human companionship throughout the story.
After a year of Pip’s blacksmith indenture and he returns to his hometown, where he finds out that Mrs. Joe had been attacked by an unknown person, which is revealed later on in the story. He also confesses his love for Estella on the marshes, which represents Pip’s past and social position as a blacksmith.
After four years of Pip’s apprenticeship, he is approached by a man he recognises. This is also a turning point in the novel, when Pip receives money from an anonymous sponsor from a deliverer called ‘Jaggers’, who also explains that Pip has great expectations. The reader has an implication of Miss. Havisham as she is the only rich person we have seen in the novel. This leads onto a dramatic twist in the storyline much further into the novel, and also gives the reader an opportunity to see how Pip has turned out to be, and what transformation takes place. Although this sponsor is great news for Pip, it does not serve well for Pip’s friend Biddy (who has been teaching him for a while beforehand) and Joe, as they are jealous of Pip’s fortune. Pip then leaves for London to undergo his opportunity and says farewell to the marshes that have symbolised his lows. This time, however, he sees a beauty that he has never encountered before. Although he says good-bye to the marshes, we have the feeling that he has not left the marshes mentally.
Entering the second part of the novel, where Pip arrives in London, we see that Dickens uses a place and Pip’s attitude towards London as a symbol for Pip’s great expectations, as he describes London as “ugly, crooked, narrow and dirty.” It is London that Pip finds out about Miss. Havisham’s past, where Matthew Pocket warns her about her fiancé swindler, who was kicked out and Miss. Havisham deserted on her wedding day. Matthew Pocket’s son, Herbert, who he fought at the Satis House when he was a boy, told this to Pip.
During the second part of the novel, Pip journeys back to his hometown to visit Estella. On the journey, there are two convicts behind him, of which he recognised one as the one eyed man he saw stirring the file earlier on in the novel. Despite this, the convict does not recognise Pip and talks unaware of Pip’s presence. The convict is overheard talking about the note given to Pip (one-pound note the one eyed man gave to him). This event shows that Pip’s past will always cling to him, and almost haunt him in that sense.
Pip later on visits Estella, and it is now when we learn more about her. She convinces herself that Miss. Havisham has succeeded in raising her into a young lady, and persists in saying she has “no heart” and can feel “no love.” Pip returns to London after the below station society curses him, and then receives a letter from Estella informing him of her arrival in London. Pip arranges to meet her, and travels to the meeting point where he sees Wemmick (assistant to Jaggers) before he sees Estella. Wemmick tells Pip of the convicts and prison and he reflects on how criminals have intercepted in his life at various times. After a whole chapter of anticipation of Estella’s arrival and discussing issues of criminals, her abrupt entrance at the end can only be interpreted as a sign that Estella will be involved with the criminality of the novel. Pip then heads to Richmond with Estella.
At this point in the novel, we are told of Pip’s unhappiness, and how he feels low about his life, amidst feeling guilty about Joe and Giddy and his lifestyle. He joins a club called “Finches of the Grove” where men get drunk and gossip. Pip does not even respect them enough to introduce their names.
Pip returns home to attend the funeral of Mrs. Joe, where he talks with Joe, finally, though they talk about Mrs. Joe and her last few days of life.
Moving on, it has turned Pip’s twenty-first birthday and he has “come of age”, meaning he can now meet his benefactor. Unfortunately, he does manage to meet the benefactor, but he does receive another five hundred pound a year to spend at his leisure. This expectation of meeting his benefactor is crushed which symbolises the irony on the title, “Great Expectations.”
For Pip, it gets worse as he finds out that Drummle, a man from Finches and the Groves, has been courting Estella. Despite Pip knowing how she treats men, he is upset that she has been courting one of his most repulsive associates. Drummle and Estella are expected to get married.
Two years on, and it is Pip’s twenty-third birthday and a rough man visit Pip. It is the convict that Pip fed in the marshes as an orphan. The convict reveals himself as the benefactor and that he has been working in Australia as a sheepherder and making money. This then smashed the expectations Pip had of Miss. Havisham being the benefactor and that she would make him blissfully happy as a gentleman and in harmonious marriage with Estella, however, he has been living of benefits from a convict. To a point, Pip becomes disgusted by this, and from all the hard-workings of the convict for all those years, for Pip to become a noble gentleman, not so much of a gentleman has come about.
Moving onto the third part of the novel, we can see that parts of the storyline piece together and become more logical as Magwitch, the convict/benefactor, tells Pip and Herbert of his life, when they try to formulate a plan to leave England. Magwitch tells them he had been working for a man who ended Miss. Havishams mental life, his name was Compeyson. Arthur, Compeyson’s work slave was Miss. Havisham’s half brother who also worked against her. Magwitch set out to make Pip a gentleman so that if he was caught going against the law with Magwitch, he would have a chance for a lower prison sentence. This was from Magwitch’s hatred for Compeyson who received a short sentence, even though he was the mastermind behind the crimes, because he was considered a gentleman. This shows that Magwitch has transformed from a forceful convict to a generous, kind worker who tries to help Pip.
Later on in the novel, suspense and excitement build up as a sense that the sub-plots will collide, starting from when the reader finds out Compeyson was sitting behind Pip in the theatre. We, as a reader, think it as inevitable because of the rhythm of the novel as Dickens introduces a mystery, their explanations and then the characters’ reactions.
Miss. Havisham asks Pip to visit her. During the visit, Pip tells her he is not receiving the money from the benefactor to help Herbert, so she gives Pip £900 and asks for forgiveness, which is most unlike her as she wants revenge on the male gender. Forgiveness is a frequent theme throughout the novel amongst relationships, and as demonstrated here, it can be asked from the character with less heart than the others.
Nearing the end, we find out that Jaggers’ servant woman, the ‘Tigress’ was in fact Estella’s mother and Magwitch was Estella’s father. The ‘lady’ is a daughter of a murdering tigress and a convict. This shows Pip’s desires to be a gentleman and have a Lady are more closely related to crime and violence rather than a higher socially ranked life, which is what Pip initially thought and wanted.
Pip then gets an anonymous letter and agrees to abide by the letter and meet the anonymous person on the marshes. Dramatically, Orlick springs out and attacks Pip and tells him he is going to murder him. Fortunately, Herbert and Startop save him and Orlick admits to working for Compeyson and he assures Pip that Compeyson will not let Magwitch leave the country. This then turns into a situation where hatred begets hatred, and so Pip wants to deal with Orlick, the truly evil character, with violence.
A few days later, Magwitch tries to escape by river and is caught, both by Compeyson and the Police. He and Compeyson wrestle beneath the water, Magwitch then surfaces and is shackled to be sent to prison. We assume Compeyson had drowned. Pip feels as though he should be with Magwitch until the end and the fact that Magwitch loses his fortune does not seem to bother Pip, showing a true transformation from a snobby gentleman he once was as he tried to pursue a life in a higher class society.
Now Magwitch is in jail, Pip gets on with his life. Two of Pip’s best friends have found happiness, Herbert is pursuing a job in Egypt and Clara and Wemmick are getting married. However, in contrast, Pip is unemployed, no more fortune, Estella is married to his enemy and his adopted father is dying in prison. The novel is portraying an important lesson to learn in life. It is that heart-felt generation is more awarded with a better, happier life than a snobby gentleman with great expectations that had not succeeded.
Magwitch dies in prison, but with the knowledge that his supposedly dead daughter, Estella, is alive. Pip tells Magwitch that “she is a lady and very beautiful”, “and I love her.” Through this we can see Pip’s complete transformation into a brave young man embracing his past.
Pip falls into a fever and Joe nurses him back to health. During his illness, Miss. Havisham had died and left Estella all of her belongings. As pip regained health he wanted to return to the forge and propose to Biddy. A stupid expectation? To his misfortune, Joe and Biddy are getting married the day he arrived, but Pip wishes them well. This is the last lesson to learn, as he learns that he should not have expectations, albeit great or small. The expectations fail because Pip is adhering to societal concepts of what happiness is instead of seeing people for who they truly are, and appreciating the relationship beyond its societal label.
After working at Herbert’s firm for eleven years, Pip returns to visit Biddy and Joe. To Pip’s surprise, and perhaps delight, he finds out Drummle had mistreated Estella and had died. He and Estella walked hand in hand out of the gardens as friends, and Pip “saw no shadow of another parting from her.” Although the expectation of Estella and Drummle getting married was successful, Drummle’s death provides Pip to succeed in one of his expectations, which serves as a possibility as he truly loves Estella. For Pip, Estella can be seen as the final reward for a true gentleman.
In my opinion, the novel demonstrates what every person experiences; their expectations being smashed. Perhaps, in the time that the novel was published, the readers were not so aware, and so the novel was a great one. I do think that the novel is good, and does portray good points, and I enjoy the suspense and excitement it portrays as the build up to the end becomes larger, but it is not my preferred read. The characters are strange, for example the reformed convict and the stunted old woman, which I think gives the novel further excitement and originality.
