Literatute assignment coursework - Great Expectations

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        English and Literature Assignment:

              Pre- 1914 Prose Study                           

Great Expectations was written in 1861 by Charles Dickens. This was when the beginning of the Victorian era started. It was a time when great social changes were sweeping the nation like “The Industrial Revolution”. Also, it was the time of criminal class; people were pre-determined to commit crime. They were sent to Australia even if they made the smallest of thefts. This is important as it is highly related to the state of poverty Dickens encountered in his rise to fame, dealing with relocation from his rural surroundings to the    city; reflecting the theme of changes in the novel.

In the beginning, Dickens builds up a tense atmosphere even before Magwitch appears by talking about death as he places Pip in the marshes at the graveyard. As the character of Pip, he talks about how his mother and father departed their life on Earth, and how they may have looked if they were still alive by looking at the shape and font printed on their grave/tombstones. By this, Dickens also describes the weather and atmosphere with the reoccurring imagery of death. It includes nature showing emotions turmoiling foreseeing the ghostly event in store. However, in this novel Pip is a retrospective narrator, meaning the novel is potentially biased as we, the reader, only experience his feelings and thoughts.

When Magwitch first appears, he exclaims, “Hold your noise!” This to Pip seems frightening and aggressive, as even before he came into sight; Pip had already been scared and “beginning to cry”. Magwitch came dressed like a vagabond. Wearing “no hat” (meaning he isn’t of high status), in “coarse grey with a great iron on his leg”, slowly revealing the fact that he could well be a criminal. At this stage, Magwitch speaks in dialect showing that he is different, on a lower class, clearing his reality of being a convict. He wore “broken shoes” with an “old rag tired around his head”. “A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and sting by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled, and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized, me and by the chin.” This long sentence includes numerous commas, illustrating he is a broken man; his clothes affect his emotions. Also, it indicates that he is in great need of help, as later we comprehend how dramatically Pip had an impact on his life.

 After, he bawls, “Keep still; you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat” to which Pip pleads, “O! Don’t cut my throat sir/ Pray don’t do it, sir!” This makes it evident that he is terrified as he begs for his life, but is still polite, demonstrating Pip is well-mannered and has respect for his elders, even though he has been frightened to a great extent. Furthermore, Dickens portrays Magwitch as a character that is very powerful and confident, whereas Pip is scared, helpless and weak. This divergence in power is presented in a contradictory manner because Pip is from a higher status background than Magwitch, meaning he should be more dominant in his position according to the hierarchy of power. Nevertheless,  Magwitch continuous to show this prominent power over Pip throughout the scene.

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As the chapter continues, Dickens builds up a depiction of Magwitch as an even more fearsome character. He turns Pip upside down, foreshowing what is going to take place in Pip’s life – physically and metaphorically. It is also noticeable that Magwitch’s speech is in a very inhumanly approach: “you young dog”, “what fat cheeks you ha’ got.””darn me if I couldn’t eat ‘em”,” and if I han’t half a mind to’t!” Reinforcing the fact he is being aggressive to Pip, making unreasonable fun out of him, forcing him to feel helpless and afraid. This initiates the reader to feel ...

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