Pip is narrating the story many years after the events of the novel have taken place; because of this there are really two Pips in the novel. There is Pip, the narrator and Pip who is the character and the person acting it out. Dickens very cleverly distinguishes these two Pips. Filling the voice of Pip, the narrator with maturity and perspective as he looks back on these early events in his life. This technique used by Dickens is not only used early on in the chapter but is used throughout the fifty-nine chapters of the novel.
We see signs of the narrator Pip where on the third paragraph, lines two and three it says:
“My first, most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening”. This suggests his most clear picture of him as an infant was in the graveyard when he saw the convict. We know this is Pip the narrator because it gives us the feeling that Pip is looking back, at his early infant life.
We then get a clear impression of Pip as a character when the convict arrives and he says, ”Oh don’t cut my throat sir”, this indicates it was Pip’s first reaction at the time and is therefore Pip as a character not as a narrator.
Before the convict arrives we build up the impression that Pip is a lonely, defenceless, poor, brave and emotional little boy. He is also an innocent boy who has been brought up to respect adults. When Dickens uses the phrases
“…And that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry was Pip.” (Paragraph three, line fifteen). However we are made to feel he may be quite brave as he went to visit the graveyard by himself at night to reminisce about the memories of his family. Dickens also uses pace to create a sad and depressing picture of Pip and what he may be feeling. One example of this is when Dickens writes:
“…And the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry was Pip.” (Paragraph three, lines thirteen, fourteen and fifteen.)
Pip reacts in various ways towards the convict. At first Pip reacts quite scared and frightened of the convict. This can be pointed out when it says
“Oh don’t cut my throat, sir, I pleaded in terror.” This phrase is effective because it suggests how terrified and unexpected the convict’s arrival at the graveyard was. Later on in the chapter we feel as if Pip is braver, although he is still petrified of the convict. We see how Pip is trying to show his bravery. We know this because he answers all of the convict’s questions even though he is clearly terrified of him.
I also think Pip is a kind-hearted boy who feels pity and compassion for the convict as well as being frightened of him. This is because when the convict is introduced to us, Dickens provides, on lines one to six of paragraph four a very powerful description of him. Dickens has made it successful through his use of verbs, adjectives, alliteration and assonance for example when he says:
“A man who had been soaked in water, smothered in mud…” The reader is also made to feel that Pip sympathises with the convict when on the third from last paragraph, it describes the convict going away and hiding from the world. Dickens uses very persuasive adjectives to make the reader, as well as Pip feel sympathy for the convict.
The chapter ends with Pip running back home. This is a particularly successful ending because it leads into the next chapter very well and like any good adventure story makes the reader want to read on and find out what Pip did when he got back home and if he saw the convict again.
The research I have recently carried out about crime and punishment in the Victorian times (when the story was set) helps the reader understand the situation the convict was in. My research suggests punishment for committing a crime was treated extremely harshly in the Victorian ages. One example of this is when in 1845 a man had his hand cut off and was flogged in the town centre for stealing a sheep from a local farmer. This suggests to the reader that people in the Victorian ages were treated harshly and that Magwitch may have been treated cruelly for the crime he had committed.
Dickens manages to convince the reader that the convict is a frightening figure by making Pip believe that he has an accomplice who is much worse than him. Dickens writes:
”There’s a young man hid with me, in comparison with which young man I am a Angel” This terrorises Pip and the reader is led to believe that this threat is a big factor which leads to Pip returning to the convict again. The convict makes various threats to make Pip come back to him through fear. He threatens to “eat his heart and liver”, if he didn’t come back with what he wanted. Also Dickens makes the reader feel convinced Magwitch is a frightening figure by placing emphasis on the physical terror he inspires in Pip. The phrase "and tilted" is used many times to further emphasize the seriousness of the threats he is making.
Dickens makes him seem a pathetic figure that we should pity when he is described to us in a certain way. Dickens uses effective adjectives, verbs, alliteration and assonance to make the reader feel this. One example of this is when Dickens writes:
“At the same time, he hugged his shuddering body in both arms – clasping himself as if to hold himself together.” This suggests to the reader that he is a man with nothing. Also he suggests that Magwitch has had no education when he says such things as “Pint out the place!” instead of point out the place! This makes the reader feel sorry for Magwitch and portrays sympathy to the reader.
A good adventure story also needs to create drama through the use of tension and suspense. There are two parts of the chapter which I think particularly convey tension, suspense and excitement particularly well. One of these is at the end of the chapter when Pip runs home, traumatized after his terrifying experience. I think this is of particular effect in the last paragraph. I think it creates suspense as it leaves the reader wondering what is going to happen and if Pip is going to go back to the convict. This ending leaves the reader asking questions and creates a climax for the next chapter to run into.
I think that this can be conveyed by the phase when it says
“I looked all round for the horrible young man, and could not see no signs of him. But now I was frightened again.” (Last Paragraph, lines fourteen & fifteen). This suggests to the reader how scared and gullible Pip is and how frightened he can get. I think this is portrayed to the reader well in David Leans 1946 film when Pip runs home, into the distance. I think that this gives the impression that Pip may be scared as he uses loud music, fast imagery and scary scenes to create tension.
I also think that another part of the scene that creates tension and suspense is when Pip first sees the convict. The convict is introduced to us quickly and Dickens cuts straight to the point and after the third paragraph, dialogue is added in the first of which "hold your noise" is a sudden and brash command and immediately seizes the reader's attention. This is then followed by a threat "keep still you little devil or I'll cut your throat." This threat continues to hold the reader's attention whilst on the other hand, the story, pulls out more harsh dialogue and threat, the climax of which is when Pip is asked to get whittles and a file. This creates tension and suspense as the reader is left asking questions throughout the convict’s introduction. Such as:
- What does he want?
- What will he do with Pip?
- Will he carry out his threats?
As well as this, Dickens uses tension and suspense to make the reader read on throughout the novel and ask questions all the way through. He uses the effect of hidden meanings and feelings to create this especially in the first chapter. He makes us ask questions such as the ones above and:
- Will Pip tell Joe or Mrs Joe Gargery?
- If so, what will they do?
- Will he go back to the convict?
- Will the convict expect him back?
- Will the convict kill or injure him if he goes back?
- Is there really a second convict in the graveyard?
I think that Dickens throughout the whole of this opening chapter is able to describe to us clearly and effectively the setting in which the story opens, the characters which start off the story and the tension and suspense that creates drama and makes the reader want to read on.
A good adventure story shows the development of particular characters and how they react to different scenarios. Great Expectations shows the reader how Magwitch reacts to the return of Pip when they see each other again on the marshes.
When Pip meets Magwitch the next day their feelings for each other are shown more clearly than before.
During the second meeting with the convict, Dickens gives clues to the reader that Pip is a lot less faltering and has become more relaxed with the convict. The reader works this out as Pip makes conversation and discusses more things with him than in his first unexpected meeting with the convict. Dickens uses phrases such as:
“ I think you have got the ague” (Chapter three, Paragraph two, line seven).
Suggesting that Pip is concerned with the convict and his health.
Dickens also uses author intent to try and create a sense of pity and sorrow the reader should feel when Pip first finds the convict again. Phrases such as
“His eyes looked so awfully hungry too, that when I handed him the file and he laid down on the grass, it occurred to me he would have tried to eat it.” (Chapter three, paragraph one, lines five, six & seven). Pip’s feelings are described to us vividly when Dickens uses the words, “Pitying his desolation” meaning Pip pities the unhappiness of the convict, which portrays to him as a character.
Dickens also repeats negative adjectives such as “awfully” to create this sense of pity for the convict and to make the reader ask questions such as “Why Pip came back?” Also to create this sense of pity, Dickens slows down his sentences by making them longer and adding various adjectives to them. He also uses this technique in “A Christmas Carol” to create a feeling of anger and hatred for Scrooge. One example of this lengthening of sentences (in Great Expectations) is in the third chapter, on line five of the first paragraph when Dickens uses effective verbs and adjectives to describe what Pip sees when he first meets the convict for the second time. One example of this is when Dickens writes:
“His eyes looked so awfully hungry, too, that when I handed him the file and he laid it down on the grass…” (Chapter three, paragraph one, lines five and six).
The reader is made to feel that Pip and the convict also feel affection for each other. This theme carries on throughout the novel and is highlighted especially in this second encounter when Pip and the convict meet each other. Dickens suggests this affection when Pip calls the convict, “my convict” throughout the chapter and suggests to the reader that Pip feels both guilty and sad for the convict when the soldiers take him away. Pip, we learn, also respects Magwitch greatly as he seems to be his only friend at this moment in the novel. The reader sees this affection when Pip says:
“I am glad you enjoy it.” (Chapter three, paragraph four, line eight).
Magwitch also shows affection for Pip and feels that he has helped him out greatly. He eventually rewards Pip later on in the book by giving him part of his salary to make him a gentleman. In this chapter though he shows affection in various ways, especially when he thanks him for the food by saying
“Thankee, my boy. I do” and making reference and calling Pip “my boy” throughout this third chapter. We also see this affection when he is taken away and announces that he stole the food and file from the blacksmith’s house, so not to get Pip into trouble with Joe or Mrs Joe Gargery:
“I took some wittles, up at the village over the yonder” and
“And I’ll tell you where from. From the blacksmith’s.” These two phrases say to the reader he has grown so much affection for Pip that he does not want to see Pip suffer for the sake of himself.
Great Expectations carries these themes of character development; the creation of drama through tension and suspense, and the detailed description of the characters and setting all the way through the novel. It makes it an exciting adventure story. Dickens uses these techniques along with many others throughout this novel and many other great adventure stories. He writes them with effect and clever structure to make him one of the best adventure storywriters of all time, but including social issues such as justice and punishment and the harsh treatment of children in Victorian times.
Pip’s attitude and behaviour to Magwitch when he reappears in Pip’s life when Pip has grown up are completely different when compared to how he behaved and felt in the first chapter.
Pip’s feelings for Magwitch have become a lot worse as time goes by in the novel. Pip used to, when he was a child, think that Magwitch was a person who we should pity. Dickens uses the adverb “Awfully” twice in the first paragraph of chapter three to try and create this feeling of sorrow. As a gentleman, Pip has now lost this feeling of pity for him and now feels “abhorrence” and unwelcoming towards Magwitch when Pip sees him again many years later.
Dickens suggests to the reader that Pip’s feelings have changed as he has grown up as he uses pathetic fallacy to create, through weather, the idea that the reappearance of Magwitch is a dreadful thing, in Pip the narrators view. Before they met they seemed on equal and friendly terms, this has dramatically changed as Pip now regards himself as socially superior to Magwitch and he has turned into a “snob.”
The concept is portrayed to the reader when Pip first sees Magwitch at the door and does not know who he is. Dickens has used words such as “inhospitality” and “half expecting him to be mad” to make the reader feel how Pip is feeling and acting towards Magwitch. We get the impression he is acting the same way to Magwitch as he did to Joe and that he is not showing all the qualities a gentleman must have, as he is unwelcoming and rude to him from the minute he sees him again. A good example of this is when Pip says, ”I asked the question inhospitably”. (Chapter thirty-nine paragraph five, line one)
Pip also shows his change in behaviour when Magwitch tries to embrace his presence on Pip by putting his arms around him. Pip instead of showing he is a gentleman pushes him away and saying to him rudely
“What do you mean? Said I, half expecting him to be mad.” (Chapter thirty-nine paragraph six, line one). This reinforces the idea to the reader that Pip is more like a “snob” than a true gentleman. It also portrays to the reader how unwelcoming he is now towards any visitors.
Pip shows us how much his attitudes and behaviour have changed towards Magwitch when he first finds out that Magwitch is his benefactor, rather than Miss Havisham who he thought it was. He now describes his position as a gentleman as full of “disappointments, dangers and disgraces”. The reader gets the feeling that because of this fact he has now found out that he does not want anyone to know, as he seems on David Leans 1946 film very reserved and conservative about this news.
He, however, soon changes his feelings for Magwitch from a slight sorrow to a very angry and hating man. He describes his opinion of Magwitch now as “abhorrence… dread… repugnance” An excellent example is:
“The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of him, the repugnance…” This gives the reader the idea that he hates him so much he wishes this man standing before him was dead.
However, as he is forced to protect Magwitch, Pip comes to realise that he was wrong to treat Magwitch so badly. By the point in the story where Magwitch is close to death, his feelings now resemble those he had for Magwitch as a child.
Dickens uses adjectives such as, “shackled…hunted…& wounded” as he did earlier on in the novel to create the same feeling of sorrow and sympathy for Magwitch as he is dying.
He uses long and descriptive sentences to also slow the pace down as he did in the first chapter to make the reader feel compassion for Pip as he sat in the graveyard. One good example of these sentences is on the first sentence of chapter fifty-six he uses a sentence string that is five lines long. Also on the third sentence of the third paragraph of chapter one it has another sentence string that is twelve lines long.
When Dickens writes:
“For now my repugnance to him had all melted away, and in the hunted, wounded shackled creature who held my hand in his…” and
“I only saw in him a much better man than I had been to Joe” we are made to feel that Pip has forgiven Magwitch completely and is regretting being “inhospitality” towards him and Joe. Furthermore these two phrases create the impression that Pip is no longer a “snob” and fits in with the qualities of a gentleman.
Dickens makes the reader feel that when Magwitch is close to death Pip feels even more sorrow and compassion for Magwitch than he did when he was a child. He refers to Magwitch as “Dear Magwitch” and “My Magwitch” (as he did in chapter three). This suggest to us that he does not want Magwitch to die because he has been such a big part of his life, and done so much for him, that he cannot possibly feel “repugnance” for him any longer. One example of this is when Pip says:
“I will never stir from your side…” (Chapter fifty-six, paragraph four; line five).
Magwitch also seems to show more affection for Pip when he is close to death. Throughout chapter fifty-six he refers to Pip as “Dear boy” and “My boy” as he did in chapter three. This suggests to the reader that he loves Pip and is not regretful of coming back to see him once he had become a gentleman. A good example is when Magwitch says:
“ …I’m quite content to take my chance. I’ve seen my boy and he can be a gentleman without me.” (Chapter fifty-six, paragraph three, lines four & five).
This book is all about how a blacksmith becomes a gentleman. The Victorians had very definite ideas about what makes a gentleman. Some of the qualities of a Victorian gentleman are listed below.
- He acts kindly from the impulse of his kind heart.
- He is never arrogant, never weak,
- He bears himself with dignity, but never haughtily.
- He keeps his honour unstained and to retain the good opinions of others he neglects no civility.
- To his superiors he is respectful without servility; to equals courteous: to inferiors’ kind.
Pip, however, failed to show any of these qualities when Joe and Magwitch came to visit Pip in London. He was horrible, embarrassed, arrogant and disrespectful to them both. I know this as when Dickens writes:
“ At a change in his manner as if he were even going to embrace me, I laid a hand upon his breast and put him away”. This suggests to us that when Magwitch wished to greet him in a particular way Pip would not accept it but pushed him away instead. As he did not show any of these qualities the reader gets the impression he is a “snob.”
Dickens uses the adventure story to show us how people should behave towards one another and through his use of characterisation, tension and development of characters creates a hidden moral. He uses his thoughts about what he thinks of society and how it can be improved to create this moral. In addition he uses hidden morals and meanings throughout his collection of novels.
The End
