Free Essays on Great Expectations

In the novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens the principal character, Pip, undergoes a tremendous change in character. I would like to explore with you the major incidents in Pip’s childhood that contribute to his change from an innocent child to someone consumed by false values and snobbery. Pip’s transition into snobbery is, I believe, a steady one from the moment that he first meets Miss Havisham and Estella. Even before that Pip started to his fall from innocence when he steals from his sister to feed and free â€Å"his† convict. But that was not easy for young Pip as his conscience played on him as he heard the floor boards screaming in vain attempts to alert Mrs. Joe. It is obvious that Pip was not comfortable doing this deed for â€Å"his† convict as he thought for a while before taking the pork pie, which was so appreciated by Magwitch. At Satis House it is almost straight away made clear to him from Estella’s language, that she considers him to be inferior. It is here that, he is for the first time introduced to a girl whom he is later to fall madly in love with. It is here that he is referred to only as boy. It is here that he forms his â€Å"Great Expectations†. From these experiences Pip finds out about what he considers polite society, but Satis House is a place where society is anything but polite. This is exemplified by Estella’s blatant lack of regard for Pip’s feelings; she points out to him for the first time his faults such as his â€Å"coarse hands†¦. thick boots† and the fact that he is nothing but â€Å"a common labouring boy†. This not only points out Pip’s own faults but also leads to his awareness of Joe’s. Estella is the main incident in Pip’s life that ultimately leads to his obnoxious and contemptible behavior in the future. This is because of his love for her, even after their first encounter he describes Estella as â€Å"very pretty† yet â€Å"very insulting†. Unperturb... Free Essays on Great Expectations Free Essays on Great Expectations Is chapter one of Great Expectations an effective beginning to the novel? Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations under a large amount of pressure, but this did not diminish the quality of his novel. In the nineteenth century novels of this kind were published in weekly instalments in magazines. The first instalment was published before Dickens had even questioned the rest of the storyline. To go with the pressure of writing these instalments in such short spaces of time, Dickens had to make each one uniquely exciting and unpredictable so the reader would buy the magazine week after to week to find out what happens in the novel. Dickens managed to capture the reader each week by using, suspense, humour and mystery throughout the novel. Dickens used these devices a great deal in the first chapter of Great Expectations to encourage people to buy the magazine, All the Year Round, each week. Dickens succeeds in composing an effective beginning to the novel because of the setting he chooses, the characters, the language as well as his use of narrative style in the chapter. We eventually find out that this powerful beginning is the source of all conclusions, which are reached towards the end of this dramatic novel. The setting Charles Dickens chooses to use in Chapter one of Great Expectations is a very effective and important part of the beginning of the novel. The setting is not only used to help us imagine the place Dickens is writing about but it also helps to emphasise the way Pip, the main character, is feeling. The setting emphasises Pip’s isolation and vulnerability as he stands in the graveyard among the bodies of the dead. Pip stands in the â€Å"marsh country† on the â€Å"dark wilderness† beyond the churchyard. Pip is very much alone at the beginning of this chapter and Dickens uses John Ruskin’s idea of pathetic fallacy to express this. The â€Å"green mounds† and â€Å"nettles† all portray the hostility of everything a... Free Essays on Great Expectations Explaining Pip's Redemptive Process in Great Expectaiongs The way that Pip falls, and redeems himself is important in great expectations. Dickens uses Pip's deterioration from an innocent boy into an arrogant gentleman and his redemption as a good-natured person to show the idea that unrealistic hopes and expectations can lead to bad traits. In the beginning of the novel, Pip is a harmless, caring boy. His parents are "dead and buried", and as an orphan he has never seen "any likeness of either of them" (p. 1). Sympathy for Pip increases, when he robs his own home. For example, when Mrs. Joe leaves the Sunday dinner to retrieve the "savoury pork pie," which Magwitch had enjoyed heartily, Pip is tortured by the thought of his actions, while his mind screams, "Must they! Let them not hope to taste it!" (p. 27). He is tortured by his conscience. As Pip develops unrealistic hopes and expectations for his life, undesirable characteristics replace these positive ones. The expectations that cause Pip's character to become less likable are those that he develops after being introduced to Miss Havisham and Estella. After just one afternoon at the Satis House, Pip develops a desire to become more acceptable to Estella, in hopes that her callous attitude toward him would change. As a result, Pip begins to feel ashamed of his life. He realizes that his personality and outlook on his life are changing as he states, "That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me" (p.70). He hopes, "that perhaps Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune when my time was out" (p. 133). Then, when Mr. Jaggers informs Pip of the "great expectations" that have been given to him, Pip thinks, without a doubt, "Miss Havisham was going to make my fortune on a grand scale" (p.139). Also, he begins to believe that Miss Havisham has destined him to marry Estella. Immediately, Pip's ego grows tremendously, and he be... Free Essays on Great Expectations One of the most important and common tools that authors use to illustrate the themes of their works is a character that undergoes several major changes throughout the story. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens introduces the reader to many intriguing and memorable characters, including the eccentric recluse, Miss Havisham, the shrewd and careful lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and the benevolent convict, Abel Magwitch. However, without a doubt, Great Expectations is the story of Pip and his initial dreams and resulting disappointments that eventually lead to him becoming a genuinely good man. The significant changes that Pip's character goes through are very important to one of the novel's many themes. Dickens uses Pip's deterioration from an innocent boy into an arrogant gentleman and his redemption as a good-natured person to illustrate the idea that unrealistic hopes and expectations can lead to undesirable traits. In the beginning of the novel, Pip is characterized as a harmless, caring boy, who draws much sympathy from the reader even though he is at that point content with his common life. The reader most likely develops warm and sympathetic feelings toward Pip after only the first two pages of the novel, which introduce the fact that Pip's parents are "dead and buried" and that the orphan has never seen "any likeness of either of them" (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, New York, Penguin Putnam, Inc., 1998, p. 1). Pip's confrontation with the convict presents his harmless, innocent nature. As Magwitch first seizes the young boy, Pip simply responds, "Oh! Don't cut my throat, sir, Ãâ€" Pray don't do it sir" (p. 2). Then, Pip is forced into submitting to the convict's demands, mainly due to his naive fear of Magwitch's fictitious companion who "has a secret way pecooliar to himself of getting at a boy, and at his heart, and at his liver" (p. 4). Even though he aids the convict, the rea! der's sympathy for Pip soon increases, as his rob... Free Essays on Great Expectations Pip as a young boy, grows up with his sister and her husband. When Pip was younger he had â€Å"Great Expectations†. One day Pip decides that he wants to be and grow up to be a blacksmith just like Joe. Pip as a young boy helped Joe and his sister out and was just a normal little boy, until one day that had all changed. One day he was asked to go to Miss Havisham’s house. When he went there he say a beautiful girl to him, and her name was Estella. Throughout the times while Pip was there, Estella treated him poorly. She was very cruel and rude to him, but no matter what she did, she could never make Pip stop loving her. He has loved her from the moment that he saw her. But then she goes him. But after a while he realizes that he is not good enough for her, so he later in his life wants to become a gentleman. He wants to do this because he thinks that this will make Estella like him better. That was his one dream that one day he could become a gentleman, when he found out that he had a benefactor and was going to be able to be a gentleman. After a while, Pip is fulfilling his dreams and he is living in a lot better conditions than he was. He thought that this was a very good thing, but the thing that he did not know was who was his benefactor. There were some people who had taken credit for doing this, but one person that Pip thought had actually done this was Miss Havisham. Little did he know that it was not her, but someone else, she led Pip on to believe that it was her and she just plainly went along with the whole thing. While he is a gentleman, he refuses to go see Joe and Biddy when he returns home. Then later on, Pip finds out that the true benefactor is, it is Able Magwitch. He was very upset and did not believe it at first when he had first heard that it was him. Pip wanted it to be Miss Havisham and not just some escaped convict. But the thing is that the convict, that was his benefactor, was the person tha... Free Essays on Great Expectations In the novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens the principal character, Pip, undergoes a tremendous change in character. I would like to explore with you the major incidents in Pip’s childhood that contribute to his change from an innocent child to someone consumed by false values and snobbery. Pip’s transition into snobbery is, I believe, a steady one from the moment that he first meets Miss Havisham and Estella. Even before that Pip started to his fall from innocence when he steals from his sister to feed and free â€Å"his† convict. But that was not easy for young Pip as his conscience played on him as he heard the floor boards screaming in vain attempts to alert Mrs. Joe. It is obvious that Pip was not comfortable doing this deed for â€Å"his† convict as he thought for a while before taking the pork pie, which was so appreciated by Magwitch. At Satis House it is almost straight away made clear to him from Estella’s language, that she considers him to be inferior. It is here that, he is for the first time introduced to a girl whom he is later to fall madly in love with. It is here that he is referred to only as boy. It is here that he forms his â€Å"Great Expectations†. From these experiences Pip finds out about what he considers polite society, but Satis House is a place where society is anything but polite. This is exemplified by Estella’s blatant lack of regard for Pip’s feelings; she points out to him for the first time his faults such as his â€Å"coarse hands†¦. thick boots† and the fact that he is nothing but â€Å"a common labouring boy†. This not only points out Pip’s own faults but also leads to his awareness of Joe’s. Estella is the main incident in Pip’s life that ultimately leads to his obnoxious and contemptible behavior in the future. This is because of his love for her, even after their first encounter he describes Estella as â€Å"very pretty† yet â€Å"very insulting†. Unperturb... Free Essays on Great Expectations Great Expectations: Father figures, mentors and patrons Pip’s quest for identity is until the return of Magwitch, based on false values. In this quest he is influenced by (for good or for ill) a number of figures whom he regards almost as surrogable parents. Write an essay, which closely considers the role of each the role of each of the following father figures, mentors and patrons, evaluating their influences on Pip in terms of the novels themes. Use detailed reference to the text and brief relevant quotations to illustrate your observations. Jaggers Jaggers is Pip’s guardian, by the exiled Magwitch. He is a well-known barrister and his widely respected by everyone, criminals and â€Å"gentlemen†. He is a barrister, who will always try and get his clients off their sentence, using any means possible, even if they are illegal. He may use false witnesses and plant evidence to get his clients off the sentence. In this sense, he is no better than his clients and he knows this but he always tries to distance himself from the underground, poverty oppressed world that he ends up defending. He does this both mentally and physically, by washing his hands after speaking to a client, to almost wipe the problems of his clients away, sot that he can mentally picture himself taking the moral high ground. Morals- this is another interesting factor. There are no morals and each man has to be greedy to succeed. Jaggers is amoral and immoral at the same time, he knows that to succeed he has to cheat and fake witnesses, but he know what is right and wrong and good and evil. He knows that his actions are immoral, but society was not governed by morals at that time. He is also so careful to makes sure that no one can detect his corruption, in the language he uses,â€Å"use informed Pip, not told,† as so not to implicate himself and speak in an almost kind of code, in case of any people listening. He said this when he was being supportive to...