Great Expectation

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‘Great Expectations’

Discuss how Dickens establishes the identity of young Pip at the start of the novel.

                

Charles Dickens wrote the novel ‘Great Expectations.’ ‘Great

Expectations,’ is a novel about the Protagonist Pip, who wants to become a gentleman. The novel was written in 1860-1861 and was a great success. The themes in the novel are class; class plays an important part in this novel because we see a class difference between Miss Havisham and Joe. The theme of education is also important in the novel. The term Bildungsroman refers to a novel of all-round self-development, which is what we see in Pip. It is, most generally, the story of a single individual’s growth and development within the context of a defined social order. The novel conforms to this genre as it is about Pip’s development and maturity. Dickens’ explores various aspects of Victorian England, for example class and the Penal system, through the character of the convict. ‘Great Expectations’ is Pip’s autobiography. The effect of Pip’s first-person narration is that it evokes sympathy in the reader for Pip when he describes how he feels throughout the novel.                         

In Chapter One of ‘Great Expectations’ we learn about Pips family. Pip is an orphan, “Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried.” We learn that Pip had five older brothers who had all passed away. Finally, we learn that Pip has one sister, “his sister’s name is Mrs Joe Gargery-wife of Joe Gargery,” who is a blacksmith, this revels that Pip’s family is from the working class of Victorian society. When Pip meets the convict in the graveyard in the opening of the novel he is scared, “the small bundle of shivers.” Explains that Pip is vulnerable. Pip is very respectful, “O! Don’t cut my throat sir.” By Pip calling the convict ‘Sir,’ it shows how Pip is not aware of class as convicts are the lowest on the social hierarchy, and yet he is respectful of the convict.

In Chapter Two of ‘Great Expectations’ it is clear how cruel and

unfair Pip’s home life was. Pip was “brought up ‘by hand,’ meaning that Pip was frequently beaten with Tickler, “Tickler was a wax-ended piece of cane, worn smooth by collision with my tickled frame.” Pip’s relationship with Joe is very different; they are equals. Mrs Joe treats Joe and Pip the same, “Joe and I being fellow-sufferers.” Mrs Joe makes Pip and Joe suffer the same amount. In the opening of the novel Pip thinks of Joe as ‘a mild, good natured, sweet-tempered, easy going foolish, dear fellow-a sort of Hercules in strength, and also in weakness.” Pip explains how kind-hearted and pleasant Joe is. Pip wonders why Joe married a woman like Mrs Joe, “I had a general impression that she must have made Joe Gargery marry her ‘by hand.’” The Bildungsroman genre is evident at the beginning of the novel. It includes ancestry, as Pip is an orphan living with his sister. The novel is autobiographical as the older Pip is narrating his story.

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                In Chapter Three of ‘Great Expectations’ Pip is going to meet the convict on the marshes. He has stolen three different things; a file, for the convict to file off the iron on his leg, a pork pie and a bottle of rich brandy. Pip is feeling very guilty about stealing from his sister on Christmas morning. Therefore, on his way to meet the convict Pip’s imagination begins to play tricks on him, “One black ox, with a white cravat on,” Pip imagines that the ox is a priest coming to reprimand him for stealing. Dickens uses personification to reveal ...

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