When we first meet Pip, he is sitting in an isolated village churchyard staring at his parents’ tombstones. The village churchyard is described as a “...Bleak place overgrown with nettles” giving the setting an image of dismal place unloved and uncared for. The adjective “bleak” aids the description as it means bare or desolated and also it often means wind swept this helps aid the description of the church yard as this describe it well because a church yard is often very sombre or a very upsetting place . Pip was in the churchyard where his parents were buried, along with his five brothers instantly we feel sorry for him as he has no living relatives except for his older sister . “... Five little stone lozenges each about a foot and a half long” from this we know his brothers have died and have been buried in a row. Pip’s brothers would have most probably have died or stop trying to earn a living. Pips younger brothers would not have gone to school, as there was no education for those who could not afford it. At this time, many people were poor and could not afford it. Additionally, there was no NHS service but also there was some medical service but you would have to be rich enough to afford it. From the text we know both his parents had died by;” I never saw my father or mother” this gives us a sense of sympathy and loneliness also “... I never saw any likeliness of them”. Pip never saw his parents or what they look like later on in the text we realise that the only impression of his parents are derived from there grave stones and more so from the lettering . Pip probably saw no reference to what his parent looked like as at this time there were no camera’s to take a photo of the times they spent together as this is why he saw no likeness of them also his parents probably died because the were mo medicine or you had to be rich to get some. Also later on in the novel his only living relative beats pip up. When Pip meets Magwitch it creates a new sense of sympathy as Magwitch is an evil spiteful man it create an image of a scare and worried little boy. Magwitch threatens Pip a lot in this scene In one instance Magwitch says “...hold your noise” and follows this with this “keep still you little devil or ill cut your throat” in this the reader feels worried for Pip and wonders what mage witch will do
When Pip meets Estella pip instantly starts to like Estella but Estella pushes pip away. In addition, when pip meets Miss Havisham he does not know what Miss Havisham wants him for also this is when we start to under stand miss Havisham and what she is like which will lead on to a paragraph later on.
Magwitch is a cold hearted criminal “...With a great iron on his leg” this in Victorian times shows he shows he has been to prison and he is has a escaped is mounting up to us feeling no sympathy but when we realise he has been through a rough time and has no friends also we realise Magwitch has no clothes and he was in “..All in coarse grey” this also shows he is a prisoner and he has still got the uniform of a prisoner also Magwitch is so desperate that he need some “files” and “whittles”. Magwitch heeds to get the great iron of his leg but to do that he needs help from a child. Magwitch requires pip to bring him food to survive and some tools to get the iron of his leg. Magwitch threatens pip because he is extremely desperate to be free he would endanger the life of a child to free himself. Magwitch does not wears a hat meaning he is not part of upper or middle class but he actually belongs to the working class meaning he is not a proper gentleman
The setting where we first find Miss Havisham is in a large room. In the room is described as an ‘a pretty large room well lighted with wax candles no glimpse of day light was to be seen in it’ in it, the point of this is ‘no day light to be seen in it’ this shows she had not bothered and has given up.
Miss Havisham was dressed in rich materials this shows that she is high in society as in Victorian times the richer you were the more you were recognized you were this also had direct relevance on to how you felt about people in a lower social standing such as pip who comes from a working family
Miss Havisham in a very depressed state as her life came crashing down. As in the text, it is described that she left everything where it was that day and the ‘clocks had all stopped at 9:29’ also Miss Havisham was wearing the same clothes she intended to wear for her wedding. The food from the reception that she had planned to serve had remained in the place. It was laid out for the wedding reception subsequently the food was now rotting and decaying, the smell would have been horrendous as she had not moved the food for some time and the drapes were all shut allowing limited air to flow through the room. She had one shoe on showing that this was when news of her future husband must have reached her. All of these points show that Miss Havisham is a very lonely woman. I think she is a very emotional lady after her husband left her because he must have been the love of her life, as her whole world stopped at that point and now she wasn’t living she was just existing after the shock of her husband leaving her.
I have most sympathy for Pip as he has been threatened and been assaulted by Magwitch also his sister treats him badly and he has no parents. Also the fact he has lost his brothers and sisters make me feel sorry for him as I can appreciate having brothers and sisters but, for pip to have had them and now all he can see is five stones in the ground must very upsetting. Because of all of this, he must be lonely since he has no close living relatives aside from his sister who is not very pleasant to him. I also believe that he is quite desperate to find out what his parents were like, as he had never saw them and he had to count on the letters on their graves to tell him.
On the other hand also feel sorry for Miss Havisham because she has lost the will to live because she had been left before she even finish getting ready for the wedding. The fact that she has left the room like it was on the wedding must mean her world had stopped consequently she is no longer living but just existing. However, I do not feel sorry for Magwitch, as I believe it was his own fault he was put in prison and the fact he threatened pip by holding him upside down unforgivable so no matter what he had been through I do not feel sorry for him.
On the whole the techniques portrayed in great expectations is a great example of the techniques used by Charles dickens as it shows his flair for writing and bring depth to his characters by building up a background story for his characters. Also using real life experiences means the reader can connect with them on a personal level meaning you can feel most sorry for them, also the use of sympathy keeps you in contact with the story as it keeps you interested in the plot. Overall, I believe Charles dickens sympathetic devices work very well in this novel and makes the novel what it is adding different dimensions and feelings through out the novel.
