How does Dickens create sympathy for his characters in the first 11 chapters of Great Expectations?

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How does Dickens create sympathy for his characters in the first 11 chapters of Great Expectations?

Great Expectations is a light-hearted novel which follows the story of a young orphan by the name of ‘Phillip Pirrip’, known throughout the novel as ‘Pip’. The story revolves around the great expectations that this boy has of the world and how he wishes to become a ‘gentlemen’. The book is written as a ‘bildungsroman’ which, simply put, is a ‘coming of age’ novel. It usually entails the growth of the protagonist in not only body, but also mentality and mind throughout. We follow this child as he grows up from a timid, naive young boy to a complex man of many ideals. In this essay, I will be analyzing Dickens’s style of writing and how he enables us to sympathize with his characters. My main two focuses will be around chapters one and eight however, I will be using other chapters as a reference to my points.

The story starts off on a day none other than Christmas Eve, 1812. Our 7 year old protagonist encounters an escaped convict in the churchyard while he was visiting his family’s many graves. The convict threateningly demands Pip to steal him some ‘wittles’ (food) and a file to grind away his leg shackles. Pip, being timid in nature, easily became intimidated by the convict and obeys his demands. He soon goes home to his abusive sister and his brother-in-law, Joe Gargery, whom he considers to be an equal and a friend. The next day, he wakes up early in the morning to take what the convict had demanded of him. He then returns to the churchyard from a guilt-ridden trip, having done something he considered ‘evil’ for the first time. This is a key moment in the book for the convict had been shown kindness that he would never forget, albeit forced. This important event will serve for an important purpose later on in the story.

The convict later on gets captured by the police and Pip’s life soon returns to normal. He goes to a school run by the great aunt of a Mr. Wopsle. He soon becomes friends with ‘Biddy’, an orphan adopted by the Wopsles. Pip’s moderately wealthy uncle, ‘Mr. Pumblechook’, gets him invited to the house of a rich old woman by the name of Ms. Havisham. Here, he meets Estella, whom he soon grows and harbours a feeling of attraction that soon becomes obsessive. This love he holds for Estella motivates him to become more than a “common labouring boy”. He begins to tenaciously learn as much as he can from Biddy in school in an effort to impress Estella. He feels that one as “common” as himself isn’t worthy of someone as high class as her.

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One afternoon, Pip encounters the convict he had first met on that eventful day in the churchyard, albeit not realizing it was the same person. He hands Pip 2 pounds and disappears, shocking the rest of Pip’s family. He also returns the file that he had long ago taken from Pip, giving Pip the idea that this person was related to ‘his convict’ in some way.

Soon after, Pip coincidentally makes his second visit to Ms. Havisham on her birthday. Here, Ms. Havisham gives insight to all the misfortune that befell her and it becomes clear that she ...

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