great expectations

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Katharine Whitehurst                Mr Lane

How does Dickens guide us to feeling sympathy for Pip?

After reading the classic novel, ‘Great Expectations’, I will be studying two different extracts to try to identify different devices used by Dickens that guides us toward feeling sympathetic for Pip. These particular extracts will be chapters one and eight, because I feel that these show the greatest examples of how Dickens manipulates the readers of this novel to make us feel sorry for the protagonist, Pip. I will also be studying how Dickens’ life was similar to some aspects of ‘Great Expectations’ and how the times and trends influenced this epic novel.

‘Great Expectations’ was first published in 1861, and is considered to be one of Dickens’ greatest works. It has many similarities to Charles Dickens’ life, and is considered to be one of his most autobiographical novels he wrote. Born in 1812 in Portsmouth to Elizabeth and John Dickens, Dickens had an unhappy childhood, with his father often in heavy debt. After nine years living in Kent, Dickens and his family moved to London. In 1924, Dickens’ father was sent to Marshalsea prison after compiling massive debts. Dickens’ mother arranged for Dickens’ seven brothers and sisters to go to prison with their father, but as Dickens was older, at twelve years of age, she arranged for Dickens to work at a blacking warehouse and to live alone. Charles Dickens despised this; he thought he was better than that, so he was ashamed. When his father got released from prison, Dickens returned to school and worked extremely hard to be successful. Dickens released his first novel at the age of twenty-five, and became an instant success and went on to produce some of the most celebrated literary works of all time including ‘David Copperfield’, ‘Nicholas Nickleby’, ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’.  

Episodes of Dickens’ early life are echoed in ‘Great Expectations’. Pip and Dickens both lived in Kent, endured unhappy childhoods, worked in jobs that they loathed, considered themselves too good for their environment and found early success in London that they both wanted very much.

Both Dickens and Pip were born into Victorian England, where social status was everything. Social class was no longer dependant on your background, so it could be earned. The author and the novels protagonist both yearned to climb the social ladder and in both instances they succeeded, with Pip rising from a working class blacksmith in marshland to an upper class gentleman in London. This was the typical outline of Victorian fiction- with the central character growing throughout the novel. ‘Great Expectations’ was first serialised in the journal ‘All the Year Round’ in 1861. Because it was published in individual chapters, Dickens had to ensure that each instalment was thrilling and exciting so that the reader would buy the next part. This made every chapter action-packed and exhilarating.

‘Great Expectations’ is written in 1st person narrative, meaning that it is written from Pip’s point of view, when he is older and reflecting on his experiences. Because we view the world and situations through his eyes we are able to empathise with Pip. We share his emotions and thoughts, so this leads us to have a connection with Pip and be on his side.

In chapter one of this novel, the main character- Pip- immediately introduces himself. As he is not only the main character, but the narrator as well, it is important that Dickens’ ensures that we like him and that Dickens’ creates a well-developed character. We instantly warm to him. When he says “my infant tongue”, this shows his young age and we feel sorry for him because he couldn’t even say his own name –Philip Pirrip- and instead could only say Pip. Dickens repeats the name Pip several times in the next few sentences. Dickens used this anaphora to cement the novel’s protagonist name into our heads.  

This is then followed by a brief account of Pip’s background. We immediately have sympathy towards Pip as we find out he is an orphan. We see he is a polite young boy as he refers to his sister and carer as “Mrs Joe Gargery’” this is also an indication that his sister is very strict with Pip, which leads us to feel sorry for him. This sympathy is further cemented when we learn he and an orphan and Pip says, “I never saw my father or my mother”. Photography wasn’t around when his parents were, so Pip had to create his own impression of his parents, which was “derived from their tombstones”. The reader can imagine how tragic this is for Pip, as nobody-especially a sweet young boy like Pip-should have to create an image of their parents from their gravestones.

We find that there is also more sorrow in Pip’s life, as next to his parents graves were “five little stone lozenges”, referring to his five brothers that died at birth or in infancy. This description gives imagery, which further gives sympathy to Pip, who as well as losing both of his parents lost “five little brothers”. Pip says that his bothers “gave up trying to get a living exceedingly early in that universal struggle”. We are surprised that someone so young and innocent can come out with this and worried that he describes the world as a “universal struggle”. Pip later states their names as “Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias and Roger”. This emphasises the sadness and the mood. The list of names makes it feel more real as instead of just being five babies, they now have names. We feel even worse for Pip now. The sheer length of the list added to his mother and father make us feel truly sorry for Pip as his has experienced so much sorrow for one so young. Because he has been through so much, but is so nice, it makes the reader like him. As it is in 1st person narrative, it further cements this feeling. As the reader now likes Pip, we will now feel more sympathy towards Pip because we can empathise with him.

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He describes it as being a “memorable raw afternoon towards evening”. This is an example of pathetic fallacy, where the weather matches the mood because Pip is showing his raw emotions. The word “memorable” suggests that something is going to happen in the near future.

We find out that Pip is in the “churchyard”, which he describes as a “bleak place overgrown with nettles” and a “dark flat wilderness”. This gives imagery of a dark, desolate place with harsh plants that reflects the mood. This is a place unsuitable for a small boy like Pip. Dickens uses alliteration when he ...

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