In A Word I Was Too Coward

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.

Soon after the incident in the graveyard, Pip is introduced to a class of people deemed superior to his own only by virtue of their wealth. From them, Pip learns to judge others, and himself, by the quantity and quality of their material possessions, rather than the quantity and quality of their humanity. Thus blinded by the tangible, or material, Pip adopts the values of this better class and goes off in blind pursuit of such possessions as will make him an acceptable member of their numbers.

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

Mysterious and misunderstood, always captured and imprisoned but never free. At first glance he was starved and chained, deprived of his freedom. When he gains freedom he runs off to chase Compeyson. His actions caused him to be captured once more. His backstory is quite unfair compared to the 21 century. In fact he was punished more heavily than Compeyson, enraged he seeks revenge. To carry out his plan he turns Pip into a snob with high rank. Lastly when he tries to obtain freedom he is imprisoned once more. Thus Magwitch was destined to be imprisoned even during his last

The proverb, “once a thief,always a thief” comes into my head when reading this quote. Even though Magwitch adds on linen clothing and he refines his name, he is still a criminal. You can’t turn a criminal into a gentleman. I also feel that even Pip won’t ever become a gentleman, because he doesn’t know the criteria to become one.

“ 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

Magwitch and his kindness is introduced early in the novel when he meets Pip in the churchyard. He is portrayed as a convict who had just escaped the Hulks. After Magwitch escapes the prison ships, he goes to the churchyard in the marshes to find safety. He sees, then threatens young Pip: “‘You get me a file’... ‘You get me wittles’... ‘Or I’ll have your heart and liver out”’ (Dickens 5). This traumatizes Pip and forces him to return home and steal from his own family. After this experience, Magwitch becomes appreciative of Pip and what he has done to protect him, and his appreciation for Pip causes him to change and begin to repay him for his help. Magwitch expresses his

People were expected to adapt to society and always practice the use of etiquette. Nineteenth century etiquette was comprised of a carefully structured group of social expectations that were incredibly hard to defy. In fact, no social expectations were easily defied then; those who attempted to combat them were often outcasted from society. People were held to an impossibly high standard, meaning that often more was expected of them than they were able to suffice. Though the idea that someone should always sit up straight, speak politely, and use their manners may seem ridiculous to the majority of those in the 21st century, this idea was one that was promoted extensively at the time. More was expected from individuals engaging in society than mere existence. Entire books were published (American Etiquette and Rules of Politeness) to set examples for how the normal people of society were expected to behave. People of lower classes were not to speak to those of the upper class without permission, and even after permission was granted it was crucial that the sentence spoken by the lower class individual be kept short so as not to waste the time of the “better” individual. A woman was not to be left alone with a man; if she were, her reputation would be tarnished, and the man would likely become subject to mockery. Burping in public was the equivalent to social suicide. As previously stated, these

The entire story is told through the eyes of an adult Pip, even though Pip is a small child during parts of it. In his early years, Pip was strongly influenced by his guardians, Joe Gargery and his wife, Mrs. Joe. Joe instills a sense of honesty, industry, and friendliness in Pip, while Mrs. Joe does a great deal to contribute to his desires and ambitions through her constant emphasis on pomp and property. Pip is generally good-natured and thoughtful, and very imaginative. His false values, which are bolstered by his love of Estella, decrease the amount of respect that he has for Joe. His alienation from Joe and Joe's values builds through the second part of the novel, as Pip becomes selfish, greedy, and foolish. During the period when his expectations are intact, his only morally positive act was to secretly help Herbert Pocket into a good position. Upon discovering that Magwitch is his benefactor, a new phase begins in Pip's moral evolution. At first, Pip no longer feels the same human compassion for Magwitch that he did the first time he saw him out on the marshes. Gradually, Pip changes his perception of Magwitch, unlearning what he has learned. Pip becomes concerned with the man, and not the expectations that he could provide. When Jaggers presents the thought that there may be a way for Pip to get his hands on Magwitch's property, the idea sounds hollow and utterly empty to Pip. Pip learns about Estella's parentage through

Impressions Gained of Pip's Character from Great Expectations 'Pip' is very much a child in the the first chapter. However, it is Pip narrating it as an adult ( retrospective narrator). You know he is a child by his 'childish' thoughts and his rather odd imagination. He manages to come up with the 'childish conclusion' that his father is a 'square, stout, dark man, with curly hair' just by looking at his fathers tombstone. Also, that his mother was 'freckled and sickly'.

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

be seen when Joe covers for Pip when he is late home or when he says

Throughout the novel, Pip goes through a lot of events that transforms him as a person. At the start of the novel, Pip, an uneducated and naïve little boy, does not care about social class and is happy with what he has. But as he

This startles the entire family; next, Pip's sister goes to get the pork pie.  Gratefully, they are distracted by the soldiers.  The soldiers have discovered the filed handcuffs; Magwitch had used Joe's file to saw them open.  The soldiers realize the file must have come from Joe's forge.  This is awful because then Joe looks guilty, and Pip feels horrible.  He has to decide whether or not to confess his crimes.  Fortunately, Magwitch covers for him, and he gets off the hook