How does Dickens make the reader feel sympathy for Pip in extracts from 'Great Expectations'?

Dickens structures series of expanding clauses to emphasize the progression of Pip’s relationship with criminals to express how his life was affected in this crisis. In the first half “ . . . how strange it was that I should be encompassed by all this taint of prison and crime”, Dickens uses flashbacks to illustrate the scene of how Pip’s life was surrounded by convicts. He delays the main clause (“that it should in this new way pervade my fortune and advancement”) until the end of the sentence in order to build tension of how convicts always altered his life numerously. By using the phrase “that it should” after the semicolon, it adds a suspension in order to describe the feeling of eerie - how Pip’s life should have been different if he

He is described as “a fearful man in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg” and “smothered in mud, and lamed by stones.” These descriptions immediately adds to the tension and the manner in which he approaches Pip “glared and growled” and “seized,” shows the violence in his merciless actions and his intimidating behaviour. He threatens Pip by saying “I’ll cut your throat,” to which Pip responds by having “pleaded in terror,” emphasising his helplessness and causing the reader to sympathise with his situation. The tone in which Magwitch speaks with him in, is intimidating and authoritative for example “Tell us your name!” which sounds more like a command than a question. Despite his insolent attitude towards him, Pip replies in a polite and respectful tone of voice - “If you would kindly please...” this creates a sense of urgency and shows that he is powerless and vulnerable. Magwitch continues to use daunting imagery to threaten Pip by saying “Your liver shall be tore out, roasted and ate.” He also forces Pip to swear an oath, which he feels obliged to do as he is powerless to act otherwise. This scene as a whole causes the reader to feel resentment towards Magwitch and pity for Pip’s situation, further adding to the sympathy.

Great Expectations tells the ultimate rags to riches story of the Orphan Pip. Dickens takes his readers through life changing events that ultimately mold the identity of the main character. Dividing these events into sections will provide the basis for interpreting which events had the most profound effect on Pip’s identity towards the end of the novel. These life-changing events provide the catalyst for the development of Pip’s character from childhood, his adolescence, maturing into a social gentleman, and finally becoming a self-aware man of society.

The main storyline has to do with Pip’s expectations of becoming a gentleman. To do this he received help from a secret benefactor. For the first half of the novel Pip is convinced that Miss Havisham is the one doing this so one day he and Estella can be together. Dickens creates a story around Pip’s assumption to make this a very logical explanation. Coincidentally right after Pip realizes and confirms he was wrong about his benefactor, an unexpected character reappears. “You acted nobly, my boy,” said he. “Noble Pip! And I have never forgot it!” (Dickens 248) These words ring out of his benefactor’s name. Who appears to be the escaped convict from the beginning who threatened him, known by the name of Magwitch. Magwitch reveals that ever since that day in the graveyard when Pip returned to give him what he requested he has found a job to help Pip out for what he did for him. By doing this secretly for all this

In the novel “Great Expectations”, the author, Charles Dickens, shows the views of the people of different social classes. The main character, known as Pip, shows these many views throughout his own life. Pip’s misguided interpretation of what it is to be a gentleman leads him to push people away that matter most to him, follow deceptive dreams, and reject the love that is continually shown to him.

“‘Take nothing on looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.’” (339) Do not make judgements based on appearances, because appearance is not all there is. Here Pip, the main protagonist of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, misses the important message that his guardian is trying to convey to him, and will only come to learn his lesson at the end of the story. Pip is the recipient of a great fortune from an anonymous benefactor and is left to wonder who this mysterious person is throughout the novel. He has an idea as to who his benefactor may be, but as he is sworn to secrecy, he cannot discuss the idea with his fellow acquaintances and is left to his own thoughts and assumptions. This later on leads him to create many ideas as to what his life will turn out to be, and only leads him to his own suffering. Pip’s suffering throughout the novel is a result of his self deception and falling victim to his love for a particular, cold-hearted lady, but ultimately learns through his suffering the value of one’s actions and character.

pip’s convicts reaction was he was angry and wanted to search for him and evidence pip's convict knows the other man is because he looked like the other man, had a bruised face, and he became very nasty and blunt when hearing about the other guy.

As a “common labouring boy,” Pip lacks the proper surroundings, in which to realize his numerous ambitions, from his “desire to be wiser” to capturing the love of Estella, who is the daughter of “an immensely rich and grim lady” (192) (89). With no access to quality education and rejected by his love interest because of his status, Pip first-handedly witnesses the divide in the society and the disparity that exists between classes. Consequently, his unpleasant memories of domestic abuse, together with experiencing unavoidable social barriers, renders his childhood a traumatic experience and his background a prison that he seeks to

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

Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens that thoroughly captures the adventures of growing up. The book details the life of a boy through his many stages of life, until he is finally a grown man, wizened by his previous encounters. Dickens’ emotions in this book are very sincere, because he had a similar experience when his family went to debtor’s prison. Pip starts as a young boy, unaware of social class, who then becomes a snob, overcome by the power of money, and finally grows into a mature, hardworking man, knowing that there is much more to life than money.

As humans grow up, they must all experience the awkward phase of the teen years, as they leave behind childhood for adulthood. In these times of transformations, one often finds themselves marred by the wicked ways of naïve love and the humiliation many experience. In Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, one is able to watch an innocent boy’s transformation into a mature gentleman who is still a child at heart. Pip is plagued with the daunting responsibilities of adulthood and deciding where his loyalties lay. Torn between the alluring world of the rich and his roots in a destitute village, Pip must make a decision.

At the beginning of the novel “Great Expectations”, Dickens places Pip in a graveyard. While Pip mourns the death of his parents, he encounters a convict whose name is not given. During this scene the convict states “You young dog, what fat cheeks you ha’ got there.” Through the use of colloquial language, Dickens depicts the time period. Moreover, this scene portrays Pip’s true identity; partially before his visit to Satis house. The Pip that Mr. Joe knows as “Pip old chap” promptly shifts into a new persona.

4). Even though he aids the convict, the reader's sympathy for Pip soon increases, as his robbery of his own home weighs greatly on his conscience. 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 seems to sincerely regret his actions and the fact that he "had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong" (p. 40). Approximately one year after his encounter with the convict, Pip is still shown to be an innocent, caring boy. One night, when Pip and Joe are alone at the forge, Joe explains his various reasons for enduring Mrs. Joe's constant abuse. After their conversation, Pip realizes that he cares deeply for Joe and appreciates everything that the blacksmith does for him. Also, he develops "a new admiration of Joe from that night" and "a new sensation of feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my heart" (p. 48). Unfortunately, as Pip develops unrealistic hopes and expectations for his life, these positive characteristics are replaced by undesirable ones.

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

For this essay I will be focusing on the opening chapters of Great Expectations, a novel written by Charles Dickens. I am going to consider the Victorian society at the time and dickens’ use of language to express themes, settings and characters.