The author repeats the word “black” over four times in the first chapter, by doing this he emphasises the danger and scariness of Pip’s situation. The word black connotes danger, death and darkness, a place which is described as black is somewhere that the reader wouldn’t want to go, especially not alone, and it makes the reader think of a hostile environment. Dickens uses strong repetition to create sympathy for Pip by making the reader focus on the environment that Pip is in and therefore it enhances the danger and the fear that Pip faces when he meets the convict.
Dickens uses powerful imagery to describe the graveyard in chapter one to make the reader more fearful for Pip and his safety. Dickens describes the graveyard as, “overgrown with nettles” making it appear wild and untamed. It shows that no one comes around often to cut the plants or dig up the nettles, showing how deserted it is, and how it could take hours or even days to find Pip if he went missing around it. The imagery creates more of an eerie, secluded feel to the graveyard. It is an example of Dickens’ style of writing, how he always describes the settings of the scene in detail, creating a strong picture in the reader’s mind, involving them more in the book. When the reader starts to feel how Pip would feel and understand more about the setting, it creates more sympathy for Pip.
When Pip meets the convict the reader immediately feels sympathy for Pip because of the complete fear the reader understands he will be feeling at this point. The convict talks about Pip’s cheeks and how he could “eat ‘em” this conveys sympathy for Pip because it describes the convict as a cannibal monster, anybody would be scared of being approached by a convict, the fact that it is in an old, abandoned graveyard makes the situation very scary or the reader as you fear for Pip's well being, and so it makes the reader feel very sorry for Pip.
In chapter two, Dickens builds on the sympathy for Pip by exaggerating the distance emotionally and physically between him and his sister. Pip says how his sister is “twenty years older” than him, meaning they didn’t as much grow up together and have childhood memories, but instead she raised him “by hand” again creating a stronger distance. Since Pip and his sister have lost the rest of their family, the reader would expect them to be close and love each other, but instead the reader feels no love towards Pip from his sister. This whole epitomises the theme of Parents and Children running through the book by the relationship of Pip and his sister, whom he calls ‘Mrs Joe Gargery’ instead of by her first name. This makes the reader feel sympathy for Pip because before although he was an orphan the reader was still happy that he had some family to love, but the reader then realises that in fact he doesn’t receive much love from the only family that he has left.
Dickens describes Pip's sister as having a harsh, unloving personality in Chapter two, not only does he do this by how she acts towards Pip, but he also does it by describing her appearance as rough and ‘ugly’, which make the reader feel compassion for Pip because you realise that although he has been through a lot, he can't go home and feel safe. The fact that Mrs Joe is not pretty on the outside reflects on her personality as not being pretty on the inside. There are many descriptions of Mrs Joe throughout chapter two, Dickens describes her as having "black hair and eyes", not only does this make her seem like a dark, bleak, gloomy woman, but also it is not possible to have actually black hair and eyes, so it makes her seem unnaturally mean, as though it's almost impossible to be quite as harsh and unloving as she is. The reader feels as though Pip has been through a lot throughout his life, and now meeting the convict, he has been through even more, and so he should be able to go home to a loving family and feel safe or even confide in them what has happened, but instead he goes home to his sister who doesn't appear to love him, the reader feels that this has been the case all through his life, and so feels sympathy for Pip. Although this creates sympathy for Pip in the beginning of the novel it means the reader feels less sympathy for Pip when his sister dies later on.
Pip feels very guilty for his theft, even though there is no alternative except for confiding in his sister, which the reader learns is not something he could do, and even if he did, she would probably be very unreceptive. As Pip is going to give the food to the convict, he imagines that an ox says to him, "Hollo, young thief", because Pip feels so guilty about the theft it is although it is haunting him. This makes the reader feel sympathy for Pip because they feel powerless, and as though there is nothing that they can do to help, even though Pip does have other options, he just doesn't realise them. Pip also talks about "the weight of my wicked secret" which makes the reader realise that he is struggling under the pressure of keeping the secret and feels like it's a burden that he can't do anything about. This makes Pip isolated and more alone, and it creates more distance between him and the remainder of his family.
While at the Christmas dinner, sympathy is created for Pip through how Mrs Joe insults Pip in front of guests, and although Joe doesn’t join in, he finds it hard to stick up for him. Mrs Joe and the dinner guests are insult Pip, they tell him “be grateful boy” and describe the young as “naturally wicious”, which means ‘vicious’. Joe is the only person who doesn't join in, but he still finds it hard to help Pip. The passage says how Joe "gave me some more gravy" as a way to comfort Pip and to show him that he doesn't feel the same, but Joe still couldn't say to Mrs Joe and the guests that Pip is actually a good, grateful child. This makes Pip seem isolated, and it enhances the distance between Mrs Joe and Pip because it shows how she doesn't care for him or try to help him, instead she joins in and says how Pip is very ungrateful and a burden on her. It shows that their relationship is very bad and that Pip gets help from no one except Joe, who is not actually a blood relation to him. This shows the themes of 'Parents and Children' by how Pip isn't allowed to defend himself because he is not allowed to speak, and that Mrs Joe goes along with it, the guests insulting Pip shows their relationship is spiteful and that Mrs Joe doesn’t appreciate having to look after Pip. This makes the modern day reader feel sympathy for Pip because of him not being able to express his view or take part, however in the 19th century it would have been normal for children to not be allowed to speak unless spoken too, however the reader in the 19th century would still feel sympathy for Pip because of the harsh manner that the guests and Mrs Joe speak in. Due to Joe being the only person to try to help out Pip, it makes the reader feel anger and upset about Pip’s behaviour towards him when he becomes a ‘snob’ later in the novel.
Overall, in the first four chapters of 'Great Expectations' sympathy is created repeatedly and frequently for Pip which sets the tone for how you feel about him for the rest of the novel. Dickens uses methods such as describing the settings in detail and pathetic fallacy along with the themes of crime and punishment and parents and children to create a lot of sympathy for Pip.
