We are first introduced to Pip whilst he is a child. While in the graveyard he meets an escaped convict who treats him harshly. One of the ways that Dickens manipulates us during this is showing how unprotected and weak Pip is.
‘After each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger’ (chapter 1) this quote shows how feeble Pip is. We are later manipulated even more by the way his sister treats him. Contempt and hatred are just some of the ways that could be used to describe her attitude towards him. Hence he is a lonely, weak boy who has no parents. Mrs Joe ‘applied Tickler to its further investigation. She concluded by throwing me - I often served as a connubial missile’. She beats Pip and acts as if he is nothing but a mere slave to her and must do as he is told or she will punish him greatly. This is very harsh on a boy like Pip especially considering everything that has happened to him. We feel sorry for him because of the circumstances that he has to go through after everything he has gone through already. Charles Dickens manipulates us by making Pip look feeble and even weaker than he already is by creating situations where people much older and stronger that him can mock him and take advantage of his weaknesses.
Throughout the novel Dickens also uses emotive language. In the first chapter Pip is described as “a bundle of shivers”. This makes the reader feel sorry for him. Using emotive language makes the reader understand what the character is feeling, as well as the surrounding atmosphere of the plot. Therefore the reader is made to feel like the author wants-this showing further manipulation.
Using a first person narrative is another way that Dickens manipulates us. An example of this from the novel “I could see nothing but darkness” (chapter 1). Using the first person narrative is the foremost effective device that Dickens uses to manipulate the reader. By using a first person narrative you are put into the characters shoes, and see everything from their eyes, their point of view. By doing this Dickens makes you emphasise more with the character because you are having a sense of what they are feeling. Therefore by showing everything through first person narrative we are manipulated to feel how the character is feeling.
As Pips life story continues, he faces more challenges. We bond to him because of his character and his sad past. Pip also has a very manipulative personality: he is caring and calm, put against all the others his qualities would outweigh theirs. Dickens also uses very vivid descriptions of the other characters, such as Miss Joe and Mr Pumblechook. Mr Pumblechook is described as “a large hard-breathing middle-aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been all but choked”. This is a very dramatic description and purposefully makes Mr Pumblechook sound and give the appearance of a beastly caricature instead of a character that actually exists. Such characters in comparison to Pip are monsters. Moreover because of the presentation of the other characters we bond more to Pip and very much despise the others. In addition the harsh treatment towards him while he has not done anything to them makes us connect with Pip and his feelings making us fear for his threatened childhood. Dickens creation of a small boy, who has had a bad past, lost nearly everything, who has an innocent personality manipulates us into feeling sorry for him.
Summarising, we can see that, Dickens presents Pip as a person with a bad past: all his family dead. Pip’s personality matches his appearance. He is feeble: emotionally and physically. Out of all the characters Pip is the only one main one that makes the reader feel a degree of sympathy toward them. Out of all the characters Pip is the one that asks for sympathy the most. Dickens manipulates us by using many devices literary and descriptive. His portrayal of Pip as the narrator of the novel as well as the main character is the most manipulative. As well as finding out the story from him we see what feels like. By doing this Dickens manipulates us to feel worried for Pip and his threatened childhood. With his life lacking many aspects like parents and a proper upbringing we sympathize with him. The portrayal of other characters makes us worry for him as well. However the most important way is how Pip himself is presented.
Nataliya Charnetski 10A
