How effectively does Dickens convey what childhood is like for Pip in the first five chapters of

Luke Smith 11.S

How effectively does Dickens convey what childhood is like for Pip in the first five chapters?

In the first five chapters of Charles’ Dickens “Great Expectations”, we follow the life of a young boy, Phillip Pirrip – Pip for short, in early nineteenth century England. A time when England was in industrial revolution and when the rapid growth of cities brought social divisions between class - rich and poor. The British government fearing a revolution, maintained a harsh regime. In “Great Expectations”, Dickens writes about this and conveys attitudes towards children, most especially Pip and the severity and turbulence of his childhood. Dickens is able to convey Pip’s youth and the nature of his childhood through the language, use of description and other language devices. Dickens conveys Pips imagination and youthful thoughts through the language and content of the book. Dickens uses all these techniques to develop Pips portrayal as a young boy, building up an account and conveying the type of childhood he leads.

Exaggeration and irony are key factors in the portrayal of Pip as a youth with vivid imagination and conveying his childhood. When we first begin to follow Pip we are immediately aware that he has a very tumultuous childhood. We learn that he has lost most of his family including his Mother, Father and five younger brothers. He seems very immature, with vivid imagination and does not realise the trauma and sadness of losing your family. Pip is narrator throughout the story and we are able to obtain an impression of Pip’s childhood through what Dickens tells the reader. Pips vivid, youthful imagination is apparent straight away on the first page. We learn that Pip uses the letters on the tombstones of his mother and father to imagine what they would have looked like. Pip is unable to see his parents appearances due to the non existence of photography, he therefore imagines his father as a “square, stout, dark man” and his mother as “freckled and sickly” due to nothing more than the appearance of the letters inscribed upon their tombstones. An adult would not usually draw this kind of conclusion from a tombstones lettering and so we begin to understand Pips immaturity.

A very detailed description of the setting is given in which Dickens informs the reader that Pip is standing in the graveyard looking observing a “Dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea,” this all builds up to create the impression of a harsh forbidding setting and we discover that “the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip” this all adds up to ...

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Pip is then caught by surprise and has a chance encounter with an escaped convict, named Magwitch, who goes on to shape much of Pips life. Pips immaturity, irony and exaggeration is conveyed during this encounter. Pip seems to rigid with terror as the “fearful man” questions him and orders him about. The convict is able to exploit Pips immaturity, taking advantage of his young mind and vivid imagination. He strikes fear into Pip by telling him that he might eat him and then is able to control Pip to get him the equipment which would free him from his iron bounds. Magwitch tells Pip that if he does not bring some wittles and a file then he will unleash a thoroughly evil “young man” upon Pip, a man that Pip will never be able to hide from, a man which will “tear out his heart and liver”. Whilst Magwitch tells Pip this he tilts the child after every sentence so as to make Pip feel even more helpless.

Pip also brings in humour to the story, for instance when Magwitch asks the whereabouts of Pips mother he is told “There, sir” indicating the vicinity of the graveyard, a more mature person in such a serious situation may have explained that she was dead but because of Pips young mind he tells the exact whereabouts of his mother. The convict begins to run at this point, fearing capture at Pips mother being so close and so an element of humour is created due to Pips youth. Pips ignorance is conveyed fully in this section and Pips childhood is conveyed as even more of a turbulent, unsettled and unlucky one.

Another sign of Pip’s immaturity and the way he exaggerates incidents is when he watches the convict dragging himself away Pip imagines Magwitch to be a pirate who once hung from a gibbet close to the graveyard, this shows a vivid, immature imagination and the way in which Pip thinks of dark things, possibly because of a dark, disturbed childhood. Pip also describes the damp outside his window as “if some goblin had been crying…using it for a pocket handkerchief” this also conveys a sense of Pips vivid imagination as though he is used to fear and to dark things such as goblins and “phantoms”, in fact the whole of the third chapter is written much like a ghost story which builds upon this conception of Pips childhood being dark and disturbed with a harsh, strict, fearful upbringing.

Verbs are used in the first chapter to create an impression of Pips vulnerability and weakness, Pip “pleaded” for the convict to not cut his throat as he believes all Magwitch says to be deadly serious possibly because of a poor upbringing from which he has learned to believe and fear all adults and especially a “soaked, smothered, lamed, cut, stung and torn” glaring and growling “fearful man.” As each of these ailments that the “fearful man” has suffered is listed, Dickens writes “and”…torn by briars for instance, this builds up tension and a fearful image of the convict as if from a scared child’s point of view.

Humour and irony are apparent straight away in the second chapter. We learn that Pip believes his sisters boast that she, brought Pip up “By hand”, to mean that he was brought up with heavy amounts of punishment. The reader knows that “By hand” means that Pips sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, has brought Pip up by herself. The reader is also aware that Pip must have suffered having been brought up under his sisters strict punishment.

Dialogue and paragraph/sentence structure are key factors in the second chapter as the reader can instantly identify and understand what is happening when dialogue is used, paragraph structure in this chapter to give brief and then in depth descriptions of what is taking place. For example at the start of the chapter when we learn about Mrs. Gargery giving Pip an upbringing “by hand”, Pip then goes on to explain his own thoughts and that she also has a “heavy hand”. The first sentence is short and the next longer and given in depth explanation and an insight into Pips mind - the immaturity and ignorance of it and how he has a difficult childhood where punishment has been both brutal and frequent.

Chapters two and four both contain large amounts of dialogue to quickly and effectively convey Pips unhappy, harsh childhood in which he has become accustomed to punishment and harassment.

In chapter two Mrs Gargery berates Pip and demonstrates exactly why Pip seems so timid and vulnerable. She shouts at Pip “where have you been you young monkey” and “why did I do it (why did she raise Pip by hand)?”, to which Pip whimpers “I dont know,” as he still believes Mrs Gargery to have brought him up by punishment. “I don’t! I’d never do it again!” retorts Mrs Gargery, again demonstrating how harshly she treats the youthful, vulnerable Pip.

Chapter four contains examples of dialogue, exaggeration and understatement. A sample of exaggeration and understatement is represented in chapter four when Dickens writes “I think my -Pips- sister must have had some general idea that I was a young offender whom an Accoucheur Policeman had taken up and delivered over to her, to be dealt with according to the outraged majesty of the law.” This statement shows a slightly attention seeking, exaggerated and miserable side to Pip as he believes his sister to have been almost ordered to punish him as much as she does, all he wants is a loving, steady and peaceful childhood and his only explanation for Mrs Gargery’s treatment of him is that she must punish him.

Pips sister Mrs Gargery seems to be the source of most of Pips suffering as we learn throughout the first five chapters.