Great expectations Essay

Charles Dickens ‘Great expectations’ was written in the 1800, and at that time there was a great divide in the social structure and this was between the lower and middle classes, because of Charles was born in the lower class of society he was forced into leaving school at the age of twelve and to go to work to help bring in food. Ni this assignment I am going to analyse three characters which are Pip a young orphan that I think that he is very lonely, Miss Havisham a middle class eccentric who appears to be lost in time and Magwitch a convict that is on the run and is very self conscious. When we are first introduced to Pip he is in a churchyard looking at his mothers and farther gravestone scripts, this first tells us they are both dead and he is trying to imagine there appearances, his farther a square, stoot, dark man, with curly black hair, the mood of the graveyard is cold gloomy and foggy, which further more depresses Pip and also ha s the effect on the reader to feel sorry for him and also I think makes the reader feel closer to Pip because every one has felt some sadness and depression. Extract one is written in Pips point of view this encourages the reader without knowing to think they understand pip and have a bond, without ever meeting him or knowing if he’s real or not. When first encountering Magwitch, Pip is shocked and scared for his life because the only place he might feel safe next to his parents graves he is grabbed by a convict on the run and puts Pip upside down. The way Pip reacts to Magwitch on there first encounter tells us that Pip is very polite and obedient because he does what Magwitch wants him to do and does it without question and no answering back and the way he kept his ‘cool’ tells the reader that he is brave. When Pip is described as a ‘bundle of shivers’ Dickens wants us to feel that pip is scared and a helpless boy, so the reader is more sympathetic towards him. The techniques that Dickens uses to make you feel sympathetic for Pip are good because he makes Pip real inisant. When we first meet Magwitch he is lurking in the grave yard bushes and he is there because he is a convict on the run and when he grabs Pip, and finds out that he is living with the blacksmith he wants Pip to bring him some tools and food so he can get rid of his ball and chain and eat. From Magwitches first encounter the reader finds him very selfish and self conscious and rough because of the way he handles Pip by putting him upside down and shaking him. On lines 33-37 there is a description of Magwitch and from this I think the reader is meant to imagine how he looked and imagine what they would do if a man in that state even approached you, and by doing this also brings and sense of more sympathy for Pip, and maybe some slight sympathy for Magwitch. The church yard setting in which Pip and Magwitch first meet is very gloomy and dull something that you would imagine a haunted house setting and this adds to the impact upon Pip from Magwitch because that’s is the situation that you only dream of meeting a beaten convict. The way that Magwitch speaks to Pip (short and suddenly) says that he hasn’t got much time and he’s tired and this shows the reader the impression Dickens wants Magwitch to show that he is a scary, ugly, frightening and a man who hasn’t got time for little boys who are getting in the way. Satis’ s house is quite large and it is a lighted by wax candles and so seems to be quite dirty because on line 18-19 in extract 2 it says that ‘had lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow’ and he also says that she is half dressed in a bridal dress and she had withered away and so the dress was to big for her and she only has one shoe on, this tells us that she has been stood up by a husband or she has had second thoughts and stood up her future husband years ago and she has never taken the dress of because she either wants to remember that she had a future husband at one point and wonders why she got stood up or she regrets standing up the man she stood up. Miss Havisham speaks with anger because in line 70 in extract 2 she says ‘you can break his heart’ and this my indicate she got stood up and so taking it out on Pip since he like Estella and he is only a working boy and she is an upper-class girl she Miss Havisham says break his heart, this sho ws both social differences and Miss Havishams revenge and anger. Dickens wants us to feel sorrow and also anger at Miss Havisham because she seems depressed and to be in a wedding dress so long it has turned yellow and also she does not know what day or month it is. Dicken creates a sense of inisance around Pip and a sense of sorrow around Magwitch I think is remarkable since these two characters have meetings all the through extract 1. in my opinion I found Magwitch the most rememborable character because I liked the way that Dickens court the basic characteristics so well in the way that he was ruthless and selfish but also I found that I could understand the actions that he did because I would probably do the same, and also I liked the description of him that he had scratches and was muddy and wet shows there was a struggle escaping and also still having the steal ball to his leg shows me that he had to have great desire and determination to escape.