Great Expectations.Compare the key elements of chapters 1 and 39
Prose Study. Great Expectations.
Compare the key elements of chapters 1 and 39
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens was first published to the public in serial form, in England from December 1860 to August 1861. The novel was published in three volumes. The chapters I am going to deal with are chapters 1 and 39. Chapter 1 comes at the beginning of the first volume, and chapter 39 comes at the end of the second volume. Both chapters share a lot of similarities such as the return of Magwitch.
Chapter 1 of Great Expectations is the opening to the story. It opens with a young orphan boy named Pip introducing himself, he is standing at the gravestones of his parents. He is all alone when suddenly an escaped convict named Magwitch comes at Pip from behind and threatens to cut his throat. Magwitch questions Pip and when he finds out he lives with a blacksmith he demands Pip brings him some food and a file for the iron bar on his leg. Pip agrees to meet Magwitch the next morning with the food and file. This first meeting between young Pip and Magwitch will cause Pips expectations for himself to rise and eventually fall.
In chapter 39 Pip is twenty three years old, he now lives in London, and he meets with Magwitch for a second time. He is alone again because his friend who he lives with has gone away on business. During a storm Pip hears heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, the weather in this chapter creates tension, this is because the weather is stormy, and you get the feeling something is going to happen. He is met with a rough sea worn man, Pip invites the man in and soon realises that it's the convict he helped on the marshes as a young boy. Magwitch reveals to a horrified Pip that he is his benefactor. Magwitch moved to Australia where he made money as a sheep herder, he swore that all the money he earned would go to Pip for his kindness on the marshes all those years ago. This demolishes all Pips expectations as he is not destined to become a gentleman to marry Estella. Magwitch tells Pip he has come to see him under the threat of his life as the law will execute him if he is found. Although Magwitch has dashed all Pip's hopes, he feels it's his duty to help him. He gives Magwitch Herbert Pockets bed for the night, then he sits on his own beside the fire contemplating the situation.
The key elements of these two chapters can be examined in the context of, narrative voice, setting, the introduction and development of character for Pip and Magwitch, the atmosphere, and the social and historical background.
In this novel the links, similarities, and echoes are found in the return of Magwitch. Also in chapters 1 and 39 the weather is the same. The contrasts between chapters 1 and 39 can be seen in the changes in Pip as he has got older.
Great Expectations is a first person narrative novel, Pip is the narrator and is introduced ...
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The key elements of these two chapters can be examined in the context of, narrative voice, setting, the introduction and development of character for Pip and Magwitch, the atmosphere, and the social and historical background.
In this novel the links, similarities, and echoes are found in the return of Magwitch. Also in chapters 1 and 39 the weather is the same. The contrasts between chapters 1 and 39 can be seen in the changes in Pip as he has got older.
Great Expectations is a first person narrative novel, Pip is the narrator and is introduced straight away. In chapter 1 the story is told through Pip as a mature adult looking back on his life. At the beginning of the novel we are personally introduced to Pip as if in a friendly conversation "My fathers family name being Pirrip, and my Christian named Phillip,..."this makes the novel conversational. Older Pip sets the scene in chapter 1 but it is through the eyes of a young humorous, and imaginative Pip. For example he gets impressions of his mum and dad from their gravestones "The shape of the letters on my fathers, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair" also Pip has an impression of his dead brothers and sisters from their gravestones "they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trouser- pockets" these images Pip gets show both his imagination and humour, and they also emphasise how sad, and alone in the world he is. Shortly after this we see a terrified, and powerless Pip when he meets Magwitch, the escaped convict. Pip pleads with Magwitch "O! Don't cut my throat sir". Although Pip is terrified, he still treats Magwitch with compassion, and kindness by agreeing to get him the food and file, "I said that I would get him the file, and I would get him what broken bits of food I could" It would have been easy for Pip to go straight to the police, instead of stealing, but Pip is honest and keeps his promise to the suffering man. In this chapter Magwitch turns Pips world upside-down "turned me upside down", "he made it go head over heels before me". At the end of the chapter Pip runs home "I was frightened again, and ran home without stopping", Pip runs home to Joe because he's scared and Joe is there for him.
In chapter 39 the events are seen through the eyes of a much more mature sadder and experienced Pip. In this chapter the narrator, Pip shows no sign of humour whereas in chapter one there is quite a bit. In this chapter Pip is no longer the kind young boy on the marshes, he has turned into a gentlemen and a snob, "I had asked him inhospitably enough" he didn't' t want to let the man, into his home because he wasn't good enough, Pip looked down on the man, this was because he came from a lower social class. In this chapter Magwitch turns Pips life upside down again like in chapter one "when the room began to surge and turn", this time his life is turned upside down for a different reason, he as found out that Magwitch is his benefactor. Pip is disgusted by this news he calls Magwitch a "terrible beast" he also says "I recoiled from his touch as if he had been a snake", Pip he repulsed by his touch he his appalled because he has destroyed his dreams of marrying Estella. At the end of this chapter Pip is very self critical of himself, this is because he is ashamed of the way he treated the people that really loved him. He also realises he cannot go running back to Joe as in the first chapter "I had deserted Joe" "I would not have gone back to him now" Pip feels he has treated Joe so badly, that he cannot go back to him for help.
Chapter one of Great Expectations is set in a marshy graveyard, in a village, in Kent. The graveyard is a neglected and depressing place for Pip, because of the headstones he is looking at, "also Georgina wife of the above were dead and buried", "infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried". Most of his family are dead and buried in the graveyard, and he gets a great sense of loneliness. Pip goes on and describes the landscape, graveyard, and himself as a "small bundle of shivers", this emphasises how cold and scared of being in the graveyard he is. In this chapter the weather is bitter and damp, "wind was rushing" and "rains were heavy", the bad weather emphasises the loneliness of the graveyard.
The setting in chapter thirty nine is Pip's flat in London it is his own space like the graveyard. He is alone again because Herbert Pocket his flat mate is away on business "I was alone, and had a dull sense of being alone". There is another link between these two chapters, this link is the weather, in this chapter the weather is described as "stormy and wet".
Between chapters one and thirty nine the development of Pip and Magwitch's characters change dramatically. Pip who was once a kind hearted young boy with a great personality, would be expected to grow into an affectionate, and generous man. This however is not what happens in Great Expectations. In chapter one Pip loved and cherished Joe, his sisters husband, but he falls away from this as we can see in chapter thirty nine. In chapter thirty nine Pip becomes a superficial man who is ashamed of his past. We first see Magwitch as an aggressive convict who scares Pip in the first chapter. As Magwitch becomes older he also becomes wiser. He his no longer the frightening man on the marshes, he his kind generous and he devoted his life and money to make Pip a gentleman. Magwitch now feels Pip is like a son to him "look'ee here, Pip. I'm your second father. Your my son- more to me nor any son. I've put away money, only for you to spend." Magwitch makes this speech when he dramatically reveals he is Pip's benefactor, with this quote, we receive a glimpse of a man that's not menacing, but kind who feels great loyalty towards Pip.
The atmosphere Dickens creates in chapter one is tension, the setting is a graveyard which is associated with isolation, and depression, Pip is also alone in the graveyard to begin with which will makes him feel even more tense. This atmosphere is echoed in chapter thirty nine. This time the setting is Pips flat in London, the flat is isolated, claustrophobic and there's a sense of depression. All these features make the flat feel tense.
When Charles Dickens was writing this novel he was very concerned about infant mortality. Dickens used to walk through a graveyard everyday on his way to work, one day when he was walking through the graveyard he saw lot's of children's headstones, the children were lined up in a row. This gave Dickens the idea in the first chapter of Great Expectations when Pips siblings were all dead and lined up, "To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long which were arranged in a neat row". Also Dickens was very concerned about the way prisoners were treated in prison and he fought for the rights of criminals in jail. This was because of his own family experiences, his Dad was imprisoned for bad debts when Dickens was a child, and he got treated very badly. This is because in those days if a person did something wrong they were severely punished. Also people didn't give criminals a second chance even if they did change. You can see these influences in Magwitches character, Dickens gives Magwitch both a bad and good personality, and Dickens shows that a person can change. Another part of social and historical background is social class, around the time when Great Expectations was wrote there was a social class system, which is society's ideas of the hierarchy of social class, they used to believe that gentlemen and rich people came at the top of the hierarchy, and poor people came at the bottom of the hierarchy. This can be seen in chapter thirty nine when Pip's idealistic view on society collapses. Pip who is now a gentleman and embarrassed of what he was in the past, also embarrassed of his relations has been supported by the lowest of classes, a criminal. This turns Pips social perceptions inside out.
In conclusion I would say that Great Expectations is about Pip questioning his roots, and his identity. Pip became a snob and a gentleman who thought his benefactor was the wealthy Miss Havisham, however Pips real benefactor was Magwitch who was a grotty criminal. Pip became embarrassed and didn't want anybody to find out his secret. I believe Charles Dickens has shown this best through the introduction and development of character. I think this because Dickens's has shown how a young naive generous child, who turned into an obnoxious snob, because of money and the social class system.
