From chapter one you get the impression that Pip is vulnerable. From the first three lines the reader becomes familiar with Pip as it is an introduction in the first person narrative and it gives background information on his parents and how he came about getting the nickname, almost like a prologue. It also sets the time period “(for their days were long before the days of photographs)” referring to his parents. The nickname ‘Pip’ may have been selected for many reasons, one reason might be that the word sounds very small and vulnerable as the character of Pip is and it also makes you image him as being you even towards the later parts of the book when he is older as he is still called Pip. Also the fact that the novel follows his growth and the word Pip is also used to describe a small seed which grows into something bigger.
The setting from the start of the book is very important starting with the bleak and stereotypical graveyard that gives the chapter tension and a gloomy mood. The graveyard is a typical example of how the setting contributes to the atmosphere of the story. Starting the book in a graveyard immediately informs the reader about a lot of information about Pips history and under different circumstances it would have taken a lot longer to explain; things like Pip’s parents and family, which were quickly and subtlety explained to the readers using the gravestones when Magwitch asked “Where’s your mother?” and Pip’s response being “There sir” as he points to his Mother, Father and five sibling’s gravestones. Throughout the book the setting reflects Pip’s mood e.g. Pip’s experiences of suffering and torture, both mental and physical, by his sister were reflected by the surroundings being rough.
The language and dialogue is unusual for a novel, this may be because originally it would have been written for a newspaper or magazine and it may have been published monthly because of this you will notice that all of the characters have either comical or unusual names, Dickens used this technique to make sure that these characters are not forgotten also you can also see subtle reminders of previous chapters e.g. in chapter one he explains his family history and introduces his sister as “Mrs. Joe Garagery” and then at the start of chapter two “My sister, Mrs. Joe Garagery” and so you are reminded of certain characters. Also the way the dialogue is written – especially when Magwitch is speaking – is written phonetically (meaning written how it is spoken) to show the dialect “pint out the place”, “Who d’ye live with…” also Dickens has cleverly shown that Magwitch is uneducated, carefully placing mistakes in his grammar when he talks “And you know what wittles is?”
In conclusion I believe that chapter one is very significant because it sets the scene and establishes the mood, setting, themes and character. It also leaves you wondering at the end of the chapter who this Magwitch is and where he comes from, also why he has been chained. This sense of mystery is also left at the end of the book when he and Estella depart as adults and it say “I saw no shadow of another parting from her”, now this has two meanings it could mean that the next time they met they never left each other and lived together forever or it could mean that they never saw each other again. It kind of, at the end, leaves an opening as if it could carry on and maybe it was meant to carry on in the newspaper or magazine and never did.
