Great Expectations

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Great Expectations

Charles Dickens was a successful 19th century Victorian novelist, writing other successful novels as well as Great Expectations such as Oliver Twist and a Christmas Carol which address important social issues which are present in Dickens' novels. He was acclaimed for his supreme storytelling and memorable but vivid characters, achieving popularity in his lifetime. Dickens wrote serialised novels meaning the public would have to wait. He was criticised for involving grotesque characters. Dickens was born on February 7th, 1812 and spent the first nine years of his life living in Kent. Dickens' father was a kind and likeable man, but he was incompetent with money and piled up massive debts.

When Dickens was nine years old his family moved to London. When he was twelve, his father was arrested. Charles then worked in a blacking factory. After his father was released from prison Dickens went back to school. He eventually became a law clerk, then a reporter and finally a novelist. His first novel, The Pickwick Papers which was a huge success made Dickens popular at only twenty-five. He then published extensively and was considered a literary celebrity until his death in 1870. I will be looking at how Dickens sustains the interest of the reader in Great Expectations. The opening chapter employs a variety of techniques in order to make the reader interested and intrigued into the novel because of strong characterization, vivid setting and tense drama to make it a powerful text and to hook the reader in.
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Dickens creates sympathy for the reader through the narrative perspective of Pip because he makes the reader feel sorry for Pip because he is alone and his parents are dead. The first person is used making the narrator the central character; this creates further sympathy for Pip because it is focused on him, the central character.

Pip is the main character; he is both the protagonist, whose actions make up the main plot of the novel, and the narrator whose thoughts and attitude shape the readers perception of the story. There are really two Pips in ...

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