Essay on Charles Dickens' Great Expectations

Dickens emphasizes this with Magwitch's brutal behavior, his threats of death if Pip does not do his bidding, but, as is a recurring theme in the novel, we need only the proof of his appearance to pass judgment upon him. Pip in contrast is defenseless, for in the inverted position Magwitch holds him, Pip can be likened to a new-born; Pip is innocent, naked, and ignorant of the world. It is from this point Pip begins the long journey toward the "identity of things" (24; ch.1).

Throughout Dickens’ novel Great Expectations, the character, personality, and social beliefs of Pip undergo complete transformations as he interacts with an ever-changing pool of characters presented in the book. Pip’s moral values remain more or less constant at the beginning and the end; however, it is evident that in the time between, the years of his maturation and coming of adulthood, he is fledgling to find his place in society. Although Pip is influenced by many characters throughout the novel, his two most influential role models are: Estella, the object of Miss Havisham’s revenge against men, and Magwitch, the benevolent convict. Exposing himself to such diverse characters Pip has to learn to discern right from wrong and chose

Pip’s early life is detailed to show that it is not an ideal one. With both his parents deceased, he is brought up by the hand of his sister Mrs. Joe, and her husband Joe the blacksmith. While visiting the cemetery one day, Pip meets Abel Magwitch, an escaped prisoner who hides in the marshes nearby. He is a “fearful man, all in gray, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and broken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his head.” (Dickens 2) In addition to his unruly looks, he “limped, and shivered, and glared, and growled” (Dickens 2) which added on to his menacing aura. He threatens and demands Pip to get him a file and “wittles.” (Dickens 5) Fearful and obedient, Pip does so. Stealing these items

It is said that right before someone dies, they see their life flash before their eyes. They are said to see the things most dear to them. However, no one on their deathbed regrets the amount of money that they have. In the moment of clarity, most realize that a number on a paycheck is not as important as emotional and mental possessions. People always tell each other that money can not buy happiness, yet most end up spending every waking moment thinking about money. Why do people waste their time and energy pursuing something that is not what they truly need? Often, they use social class to fill a void in their lives that can not be filled by materialistic possessions. Many people realize this, but it is often too late. Charles Dickens demonstrates the effects of social climbing in his novel, Great Expectations. This novel explores the connections and effects of human nature and society, which are the two most powerful forces that guide people’s decisions. Some may say that social climbing is good, but as will be proven, pursuing social class for the wrong reason can result in disastrous consequences. The motivation to obtain higher social status leaves those who pursue it dissatisfied with reality and with a wider void in their lives as shown by Pip, Estella, and Magwitch.

“ The eye is the lamp of the body. You draw light into your body through your eyes, and light shines out to the world through your eyes.” Mathew 6:22 closely ties to temptations and goals Pip has as he progresses in the novel. In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip learns the rigorousness of life and utilizes them to make him a true gentleman. At the start of the story Pip rebukes Magwitch for his appearance; his dirty rags, and how poverish he is. As the story progresses, he realizes Magwitch’s prodigious effect on his life and begins to transmute his views on him. Towards the conclusion of the novel, Magwitch has died and Pip has become an incipient person with a new flair of deference. As the story progresses, Pip finds his

at first "A fearful man, all in coarse gray, with a great iron on his

Charles Dickens uses his own opinions to develop the larger-than-life characters in Great Expectations. The novel is written from the point of view of the protagonist, Pip. Pip guides the reader through his life, describing the different stages from childhood to manhood. Many judgments are made regarding the other characters, and Pip's views of them are constantly changing according to his place in the social hierarchy. For instance, Pip feels total admiration that, later, turns to total shame for the man who raised him, Joe Gargery. The primary theme in this novel questions whether being in a higher social and economic class helps a person to achieve true happiness. This idea is shown through Pip's innocence at the forge, visits

From here these two partner up and in Magwitch’s own words, “Compeyson’s business was the swindling, handwriting forging, stolen bank-note passing, and such like” (Dickens 336). Magwitch is able to almost throw himself into a literal jail due to his actions, or in other words the job he chose. As a result of these actions, Magwitch is in a similar situation to jail, which is that he needs to go into hiding. At this point, he is almost living within the shadows and he limits himself to few options. To add to this, Magwitch is in hiding because of a plan.

Scaring Pip almost to death, he devours his food, taking "strong sudden bites" (R) in a way more doglike than human and imputes violence into Pip's life threatening to "cut [Pip's] throat" (R). First encountered in the graveyard , Magwitch is described as “fearful” dressed “in coarse gray, with a great iron on his leg” (r). Combined, Dickens presents a fairy tale-esque description like that of a classic monster. As a boogeyman figure in the novel, Magwitch manifests one of Pip's greatest fears: that Pip may one day turn out to be like Magwitch, someone he sees as so vile and disgusting he should never have been born. Pip already suspects he posses criminal qualities, and contact with Magwitch only exacerbates these fears, adding guilt into the

   "A warmint, dear boy" is the answer that Magwitch gives Pip when asked what he was brought up to be (305; ch. 40). This is what any person would expect from a man who has lived a life of crime. With further exploration, however, one will see that it is deeper than petty theft and prison. By using a character such as Magwitch, Dickens suggests the implications of using the Australian penal colonies as a way of rehabilitation for criminals. It is quite possible that Dickens has portrayed a view of penal colonies in a very positive way. After all, Magwitch is a successful, even famous, ex-convict who is responsible for Pip's wealth. By exploring the character Magwitch, one

While Pip is out trying to find a boat, he was cautious because “[he] thought with dread that [a rash man] was flowing towards Magwitch, and that any black mark on its surface might be his pursuers [will]...surely to take him” (403). Dickens uses the term black to express how in a moment, their plans of escaping could be ruined by a negative natured person. The author continues to develop this idea when Miss Havisham's dress catches on fire, and she gets burned very badly; when Pip went to check up on her after the accident, he noticed that “she still had something of her old ghastly bridal appearance, for they had covered her to the throat with white cotton-wool, and she lay with a white sheet loosely overlying that” (427). In fact, Dickens might have used this description to display how one can overcome the once evil characteristics and change into a light, positive character. Equally important, at the time when Magwitch and Compeyson have a brawl in the water, “presently a dark object was seen in it, bearing towards us on the tide” (473).

Dickens’ bildungsroman: Great Expectations dictates the life of a fortunate young gentleman who goes by the name of Pip, formally known as Philip Pirrip. Pip was born with only one relative to his name: Mrs. Joe, as she is referred to in the book. The book, typical of a bildungsroman, follows the protagonist -Pip- along his journey; originating from a relatively poor background and progressing to a more prosperous and wealthy future. The novel outlines the fundamental injustice of society and how one can prosper and build wealth. The character Magwitch outlines this idea; he creates his own artificial gentleman out of Pip to prove the stereotype of a gentleman wrong; that it is

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, Great Expectations is the story of Pip and his initial dreams and resulting disappointments that eventually lead to him becoming a genuinely good person. The significant changes in Pip's character are very important to one of the novel's many themes. Dickens uses Pip's

There are salient junctures in Pip’s upbringing that make him who the person he was; this is a tale that in which Pip was soliciting for awareness of himself, as well he realized that his life had major elements of obscurity; due to the fact, he was presented clearly, two radical different lifestyle choices; one, involving a life as a blacksmith and the other; involving the path as life as am affluent prosperous gentleman. Dickens carefully wrote in the periods of Pip’s life and how those set of circumstances; affected by choice, as well affected Pip’s later choices he had made. The temptation of class and wealth perverted the actions of Pip and other people around him; Pip is therefore contemplating on how he was saved by reminiscence of the stages of his life. In the first stage; Pip encounters Magwitch; by accident, this affects the outcome of later events of his life; Pip is than introduced to Miss Havishism and Estella, he fell in love with Estella, and was dramatically persuaded by the promises he made to himself, from his encounters with Miss Havhishism and Estella. Dramatically; Pip than learned the truth about his wealth and that Magwitch was Estella 's father; this collapsed Pip’s vision of reality and forced him to alter his exceptions concerning the truth; Pip than had to save himself from his own selfishness, as well as his malice actions, to the ones who were faithful to him; finally, at the end Pip is a full grown adult and had gain

rightfully afraid of any man bearing the appearance of Magwitch and one who threatens to eat you. Pip’s character, for the most part at the beginning of the novel, is replete with fear and cowardice. At the same time, one might say that these characteristics are the result of his exposure to certain overbearing and threatening persons. Of course this is seen with Magwitch but more so in the presence of Pip’s sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery. She boasts that she has “brought me [Pip] up ‘by hand’ ” (Dickens 6). Her character is so sour during the first few chapters of the book and her display of brutality toward Pip and Joe is such that gives us reason not to pity Mrs. Joe but to pity Joe and Pip. She is described as “not a good looking woman” and having a habit of going “on the Ram-page” (Dickens 6-7). Furthermore, Pip describes her doing things in a very violent way; e.g. “a trenchant way of cutting our bread and butter”, “her housekeeping of the strictest kind”, among many other violent and abusive examples (Dickens 8). Therefore one might say that Pip’s character is justified. However, there is a ray of hope of some kind of bravery in Pip. Pip promised Magwitch he would get him food and a file; Pip does fulfill his promise, despite the threats of Mrs. Joe, and therefore shows some good “heroic” qualities of honesty and bravery in the midst of threats. Although coercion and the threat of death spur such actions, these characteristics are there in Pip. Pip is more or less a puny,