Dickens use of Pip’s personality to describe him, increases the emotional attachment we have towards him. Pip maintains his polite and respectful personality in what ever situation we see him in and no matter what he feels towards the situation. Despite his fear of Magwitch he refers to him as “Sir and despite his fear of Ms. Havisham he refers to her a “Ma’am”. There is also a moment when Pip’s courageousness is most evident. Pip hallucinates and sees Ms. Havisham hanging from the ceiling, and despite the dread of what he has just witnessed and despite Ms Havisham’s constant disrespect towards him, he tries to save her. After witnessing this tremendous bravery, the reader begins to admire Pip for his virtuousness and this makes him striking because he is so kind.
Dickens uses the dialogue of Pip to add meaning to Pip, making him more memorable. At the beginning of the book, Pip introduces himself to the reader. When we first meet him his language is sophisticated and mature as he uses words like “explicit” and this creates intrigue because we know that this is not the language of the a young working class boy. This creates intrigue because the reader wants to know how Pip became educated; knowing that in the Victorian era only the wealthy were privileged enough to receive an education.
The setting of Chapter 1 is vital to our impression of the convict Magwitch. Dickens describes the setting in chapter 1 as “bleak” and “savage”. These vivid descriptions emphasis the threatening and ominous atmosphere and it is in this foreboding landscape that we are first introduced to Magwitch. Magwitch is described as fearful and this helps the reader to form a negative image of him. Dickens makes Magwitch memorable because, as the book is written in first person, we share Pip’s fear of Magwitch and this adds to the harsh opinion we have already formed. However, Dickens also musters sympathy towards Magwitch from the readers. From his description, Dickens tells us that his “teeth chattered” and that “he hugged his shuddering body”. This informs the readers of Magwitch’s for state and of his helplessness and even though he threatens Pip to steal food for him, the reader knows he does this only out for sheer desperation. This makes Magwitch memorable because the readers from strong opinions of fear, dislike and sympathy towards him. Magwitch’s dialogue is also written to reveal more about his character. His phonetically written words and incorrect grammar, “you know what whittles is?” reveal that, unlike Pip, he has not had an education and this makes Magwitch more memorable because it makes Magwitch seem more believable.
The setting of Ms Havisham’s house is also vital to our impression of her. The house is described as being “dismal”; Pip notices that the house has “a great many bars to it” and that the front entrance has “two great chains across it”. This foreboding and prison-like reveals to us that Ms Havisham is a prisoner within her own home. Dickens also makes a reference to the Hulks from chapter one, during the description of Ms Havisham and this connection reinforces the idea of imprisonment.
Dicks reveals more of Ms Havisham’s character through symbolism and the use of irony. The decaying and dilapidated home is symbolic of its owner, as Ms. Havisham is equally as neglected and decaying. The name of her crumbling home is “Satis house” meaning: “Whoever had this house could want nothing else”. This is ironic because Ms. Havisham possesses the house, and should want nothing more, yet we know that she cares nothing of her material wealth and that all she desires is an ordinary life. When Pip enters the house, it is “dark” and Pip is dependant on a temporary light source to make his way through the permanent void. Here, Dickens has used the black to be symbolic of the corruption of Ms Havisham and the black is symbolic of her demise. When Pip encounters Ms. Havisham she is dressed in white and this contrast is strange because it reveals the extent of Ms. Havisham’s reformation. White symbolises purity and innocence, and the white could be representative of what Ms. Havisham used to be. However the reader knows that, now, Ms Havisham is cruel and heartless and the representation of Ms. Havisham in white is also ironic.
Dickens creates strong images of Ms. Havisham to make her both memorable and striking. When Pip first sees her, he describes her as a “ghastly waxwork” and a “skeleton”. These bold and vivid images of her emaciated figure are both striking and shocking because, knowing only that she is wealthy, we expect her to be glamorous and elegant. Pip notices that Ms. Havisham is wearing a wedding gown and is adorned with bridal flowers and jewels. This is another shocking factor because we do not expect this either.
Ms Havisham’s dialogue is written to make her more memorable by revealing her emotions. Her tone consistently changes, sometimes she speaks “with strong emphasis” and sometimes she “mutters” This instability is representative of her volatile emotions and reveals the extent of the effect the jilt had on her life.
Ms. Havisham’s’ demeanour is also striking. Being such a wealthy, upper class lady, we automatically stereotype Ms. Havisham to be “gentile” and courteous, but she is neither. She is arrogant, rude and inhospitable and this is shocking because it defies the natural stereotypes we attach to the different classes. We would assume that a working class boy, like Pip, would be rude and ill-mannered and we would expect a wealthy, upper-class lady to be respectful and polite.
All of Ms Havisham’s peculiarities make her a memorable character because she defies all of our natural expectations and the extent of her deviation from our expectations further adds to the astonishment and disbelief of the reader.
There are many connections in the book that add meaning to the characters making them more memorable.There is a strong contrast between Magwitch and Ms. Havisham. Magwitch is a poor and wrongly convicted criminal who repeatedly tries to be free of prison. Ms Havisham however is rich and intentionally imprisons herself. The contrast of their virtues is also different: Magwitch is a generous, considerate and benevolent man whereas Ms. Havisham is a heartless, selfish woman who thinks only in her own interests. These contrasts make them both memorable characters because, usually we would expect to dislike and convict and like a wealthy woman however in this book, it is Magwitch who we think good of and it is Ms Havisham who we hate.
Therefore I conclude that Dickens has created characters that are both striking and memorable by using many different techniques. He cleverly defies the natural stereotypes we would attach to the different characters making them memorable because they are unique. He uses the settings we encounter the characters in, to establish a negative or positive mood that will effect the impression we have of the character then he changes our impression. He uses the dialogue to make the characters more realistic, therefore making them more believable so we can relate to the characters more and Dickens also uses the descriptions of the characters and Pip’s opinion of them to produce multiple emotions towards the different characters from the reader making them even more striking and memorable.