How do our views on Magwitch change throughout the novel and what do you learn from this about 'Dickens' attitude to the penal system in 19th century England?
In this essay we will be discussing the life and times of the one and only 'Charles Dickens'. He was an author. A very famous and popular author. Firstly we shall discover the background of Charles Dickens; we shall also discover how powerfully Dickens background affected him as an author and child. Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and grew up in Portsmouth. His farther was a clerk in the navy pay office. At this time Dickens also worked as a clerk with his farther. But when Dickens turned 12 years old his farther started to have problems, very serious problems, financial problems. The reason for this is that he had quite a large family. In the year of 1824 Dickens whole family was sent to prison and Charles had to give-up all his home life and school because he was sent off to work in a shoe polish workhouse. Dickens was so sad and hurt because of his family's imprisonment, so what he did was write about his early life in novels, but before all of this had happened Dickens family was released from the Marshal Sea prison in 1825. Straight after this his farther sent him to the Wellington house academy (a school). When he had grown up in 1827 he worked as a clerk for a firm of solicitors in Holborn, but he hated the law so he was drawn into journalism. In 1831 Dickens was writing short hand reports of parliamentary debates for the London papers. After this Dickens started life
What is the significance of chapter one of 'Great Expectations' in relation to the novel as a whole?
What is the significance of chapter one of 'Great Expectations' in relation to the novel as a whole? 'Great Expectations' is well known for being a dark atmospheric novel, set in 19th century Victorian England. Dickens opens chapter one by introducing literary devices such as personificaton, emotive imagery, and repetition to his description. Themes of crime and social status are also involved, preparing the reader for the grimness of the novel. During the course of this book, Dickens is repeatedly referring back to various points of the first chapter, stressing the mood and description he is trying to convey. Chapter one is hence the foundation of the novel. Dickens' craft in creating dynamic and convincing characters in his novels is reflected in 'Great Expectations' where he presents a compelling image of the central protagonist. Verbs are employed to a great extent in order to clearly highlight the description of the characters. Pip is portrayed in the first chapter as a 'small bundle of shivers'. This emphasises not only how cold, scared and insignificant he is, but his naivety and lack of confidence are also defined and thus the reader's sympathy is instinctively invoked for this character. Dickens has shown Pip to be judgmental of the convict in the initial chapter, when he narrates, 'When the church came to itself - for he was so sudden and strong that he made it
Great Expectations: a thematic analysis
Great Expectations: As the reader begins the book, Dickens instills in the reader a bond with Pip as it is through his eyes in a first person narrative. Dickens' use of Pip as the narrator is very significant to the telling of the story. We are able to see the progression of Pip as he grows up and his views on the characters in the book. We form an idea about someone from their outward appearance, so having Pip as a narrator it creates a one-sided view about a character because we only see the world from Pip's eyes and we feel most strongly what Pip is feeling and we feel, about other character what Pip feels about them. Dickens creates sympathy by telling the reader that Pip has never seen his mother & father, instead he sits on their graves trying to find clues that reflect their appearance and personality. Pip at this point is trying to emphasize that his father is superior to his mother, as the antithesis is shown with Joe and his sister. Dickens also tries to make the reader feel sympathy by referring to Pip's name. On one level his name shows how isolated Pip is, this empathize that Pip created his own nickname. However on a symbolic level his name 'Pip' represents the start of life, a seed, as it grows toward its fate. Dickens is trying to emphasize to the reader the solitude of Pip, by using extended sentence structure to increase the tension and prolong the
Explore what Charles Dickens
Explore what Charles Dickens Has to say about class in the novel "Great Expectations" Charles John Huffam Dickens is considered by many as one of the greatest English novelists. He was born on February 7th 1812. His father was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office. He found himself imprisoned for debt in 1824 and hi wife and children with the exception of Charles, who was put to work at Narren's Blacking Factory, joined him in the Marshal Sea prison. When the family finances were put to rights and his father was released, the twelve year old Charles became a day pupil at a school in London. At fifteen he found employment as an office boy at an attorney', while he studied shorthand at night. In 1829 he became a free lance reporter at Doctor's commons courts. By 1832 he had become a very successful shorthand reporter of Parliamentary debates in the House of Commons and began work as a reporter for a newspaper. He later became the editor of a magazine called "All the Year Round" and in fact it was in this magazine that "Great Expectations" first appeared in weekly episodes in December 1860. "Great Expectations" is the story of a boy born into the working class in Victorian England, who then comes into 'great expectations' through an unknown benefactor because of a childhood deed. Throughout this novel Dickens explores themes such as love, unhappiness, responsibility or the lack
Great Expectations: Father figures, mentors and patrons
Great Expectations: Father figures, mentors and patrons Pip's quest for identity is until the return of Magwitch, based on false values. In this quest he is influenced by (for good or for ill) a number of figures whom he regards almost as surrogable parents. Write an essay, which closely considers the role of each the role of each of the following father figures, mentors and patrons, evaluating their influences on Pip in terms of the novels themes. Use detailed reference to the text and brief relevant quotations to illustrate your observations. Jaggers Wemmick Miss Havisham Abel Magwitch Joe Gargery Jaggers Jaggers is Pip's guardian, by the exiled Magwitch. He is a well-known barrister and his widely respected by everyone, criminals and "gentlemen". He is a barrister, who will always try and get his clients off their sentence, using any means possible, even if they are illegal. He may use false witnesses and plant evidence to get his clients off the sentence. In this sense, he is no better than his clients and he knows this but he always tries to distance himself from the underground, poverty oppressed world that he ends up defending. He does this both mentally and physically, by washing his hands after speaking to a client, to almost wipe the problems of his clients away, sot that he can mentally picture himself taking the moral high ground. Morals- this is another
Great-Expectations is just one novel that follows a tradition of novelsthat choose to focus on one particular character and their developing life story.
Great-Expectations is just one novel that follows a tradition of novels that choose to focus on one particular character and their developing life story. Other novels that follow this same tradition are Adam Bede (1959) and Jude The Obscure (1894) which I may use as comparative texts due to the fact all three books/novels are written around the same time and tend to high light crime death and poverty using similar techniques. Death, crime and poverty feature strongly in the vast majority of fiction during the Victorian era. Many authors including Charles Dickens thought by repeatedly writing about the harsh inhuman conditions that many poor people were succumb to that the middle and upper classes would gradually begin to change there stigmatisms and prejudices. "Great-Expectations" concentrates mainly on two sections of Pip's life, Pip as a young bashful child and the mature sophisticated Pip that develops as his life unfolds. Both Pips I think paint a very diverce picture of Victorian life one being Pip in a ramshackle unpleasant environment the other being Pip in a lavish gentlemanly one. In the opening paragraph, we are introduced to Pip who is the main character in the novel. We know that Pip is a young child because he describes him self in having an infant tongue that cannot pronounce the word Pirrip his fathers name or his Christian name Philip. Other indications that
Explore Dickens introduction of the characters of Magwitch and Jaggers in Great Expectations, and consider how these characters are developed during the course of the Novel
"Explore Dickens' introduction of the characters of Magwitch and Jaggers in Great Expectations, and consider how these characters are developed during the course of the Novel" Throughout the novel "Great Expectations", Charles Dickens introduces his characters in very mysterious and intriguing ways, and keeps the reader guessing about their motives for the greater part of the novel. This technique serves multiple purposes; not only does it keep the reader entertained, as would be expected from a novel, it also allows Dickens a lot of scope for creating interesting literary effects, making the reader feel certain emotions and therefore making him able to convey his ideas to the reader; he effectively uses the personalities of the characters in the novel as a vehicle to display his beliefs, and give them a favourable foothold in the minds of the readers. Abel Magwitch is introduced with the direct speech; "hold your noise!", giving the reader the immediate impression that a malefactor character is about to be introduced, and it is not until the latter part of the novel that the reader finds out about his kind-hearted personality and the way he has been mistreated to the point of him becoming "rough" - in the sense that the younger Pip would find him very threatening and the older Pip would dislike him due to class issues. Of all of the characters in the novel, it is Pip's
How does Charles Dickens hook the reader into reading Great Expectations?
How does Charles Dickens 'hook' the reader into reading 'Great Expectations'? In Dickens 'Great Expectations', he obtains the reader's attention and gains their interest in the first paragraph to make them want to read on. Dickens introduces the protagonist 'Pip' to 'hook' the reader and make them ask questions. The reader wants to know about the protagonist and his life. They will ask themselves questions such as 'Where did Pip's parents go?' The questioning method used in 'Great Expectations' is also used in many other stories; this method is used to persuade the reader to read on. The writer also introduces the setting to grasp the reader, by presenting the sense of atmosphere in the narrative. Readers are inquisitive about where Pip lives and it also aids them to understand Pip's feelings. We also see that the bleak atmosphere Dickens creates makes the reader want to learn if the rest of the story is as gloomy as the beginning. Pip was just like the writer Dickens as a child, they were both intelligent but poverty-stricken. This is one of the many reasons the reader become interested in the protagonist. They both weren't very familiar with their fathers and were not given a 'decent' education. Therefore the reader wants to ascertain 'Great Expectations' is a reflection of Dickens life. 'Great Expectations' first paragraph starts with 'My father's family name...' this
Charles Dickens Great Expectations explore the themes used by Dickens in chapter one
Chapter 1 My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip. I give Pirrip as my father's family name, on the authority of his tombstone and my sister - Mrs. Joe Gargery, who married the blacksmith. As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (for their days were long before the days of photographs), my first fancies regarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from their tombstones. The shape of the letters on my father's, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the character and turn of the inscription, "Also Georgiana Wife of the Above," I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly. To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine - who gave up trying to get a living, exceedingly early in that universal struggle - I am indebted for a belief I religiously entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in this state of existence. Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the
Examine how Dickens deals with the issue of social class in Great Expectations.
Examine how Dickens deals with the issue of social class in Great Expectations. This novel is about the desire for wealth and social advancement yet was produced out of financial necessity. Dickens conceived of Great Expectations as a way of restoring his publication's fortunes. It was begun in 1860 and was published in weekly instalments in his magazine, "All The Year Round." The Victorian age was one of marked contrasts in wealth, class, sexuality, gender and health. There was much social injustice and Dickens saw himself as a reformer in an unjust world. As a result he attacked society subtly through his writings. When speaking of the Victorian novel, the critic Barbara Dennis states, "From its beginning the novel has looked to society for its themes: social experience has always been the source from which it has drawn its material. In the Victorian period two of the great themes of the novel are the depiction and analysis of society as a whole, and the adjustment of the individual to this society. Victorian society was seen to be shaped and formed by individuals: it followed therefore that the emphasis of the novel was on 'characters', who would reflect the 'Victorian values' on which society was based." In Great Expectations Dickens explores the class system of the early 1800's and the Victorian era, through characters varying from the most desolate criminal, Magwitch,