This is a presentation on Diction and Syntax for Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations". Chapters 1-8

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.

Pip believes that she isolated herself because of her fame and wealth and that she is too good for people. But in reality, she isolates herself from everyone because of her mental capacity and how depressed she is because of her dreadful past. She uses her horrible past and expresses her anger and depression on others. These topics are one of the fews themes that are expressed in the book and show and introduction on how it affects Pip. Because of her isolation, he believes she was the secret benefactor based off her essence, but turned to be false.

To begin with, Pip shows the danger of only pursuing class, as he realizes that money does not make him happy. To illustrate, Charles Dickens begins Pip’s awareness of social class in his novel, Great

The class system becomes a focal point in young Pip's life. Pip first began to think about his place in society when he was sent to visit the wealthy, old lady, Miss Havisham at her mansion. Through these visits Pip becomes socially conscious and begins to dislike his commonality. Almost instantly he wants to become uncommon. The adopted daughter of Miss Havisham, Estella, becomes a focal point and goal for Pip to obtain. Any morality Pip used to have slips away with each visit. Pip walks in circles in a barely lit room with Miss Havisam holding onto his shoulder and in doing so, Pip is somehow leaving behind all the values he was raised with. Miss Havisham and Estella end up corrupting Pip with the rich life. Greed, beauty and hubris are Pips downward spiral into an immoral life. Pip finds Estella very attractive, but Estella calls him common and this does not sit well with Pip. All of Pip's expectations of becoming a rich gentleman are due to this love of Estella.

This idea that being a gentlemen is all you need in life is introduced within the first few chapters of the book and preached all through the novel as the author's way of demonstrating Pip's mind change as he grows. In his journey, he achieves this but in all the wrong ways; by focusing solemnly on the importance of social class and self improvement. He goes too far, and ends up hurting some of the people he loves. Pip begins to lie and look down on others of his original lower class as he rises in status. Like Odysseus, Pip encounters countless struggles along his journey; from falling in love with Estella to just barely escaping murder

“‘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.

The premise for Pip’s questioning of the world around is based upon his ignorance towards his parents’ lives and social standing. Early in the novel, Pip reveals that he had never met his parents, and instead draws narratives of their lives based on the observations of tangible items such as the shapes of their tombstones. Consequently, in the absence of guidance, Pip becomes unable to grasp the current concepts of class and hierarchy. Pip reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of his parents social lives when at the graveyard he “read ‘wife of the above’ as a complimentary reference to [his] father’s exaltation to a better world” (38). However, it is such misinterpretations such as surmising that the term “above” refers to status rather than

Charles Dickens, author of Great Expectations, provides a perfect example of the hope of class mobility. The novel portrays very diverse and varied social classes which spread from a diligent, hardworking peasant (Joe) to a good-natured middle class man (Mr. Wemmick) to a rich, beautiful young girl (Estella). Pip, in particular, elevates in the social pyramid from a common boy to a gentleman with great expectations. With his rise in society, he also alters his attitude, from being a caring child to an apathetic gentleman. During this process, Pip learns how he should act and how to become a real gentleman. Social mobility and wealth, furthermore, carves a disposition and how a character is looked upon.

Dickens begins the novel with a pro-revolutionary tone. His regard for the idea of the upcoming and inevitable revolution in a positive light is reflected by the atmosphere he sets for the reader. Dickens is able to make his readers pity the peasantry and sympathize with them. Through inclusion of detail, Dickens portrays the plight of the lower class writing, “gloom [gathers] on the scene that [appears] more natural to it than sunshine” (21). This allows the reader to imply that the suffering of the lower class has fallen into a continuous pattern, and they can understand the need for revolution. Additionally, Dickens uses anaphora with the phrase “Hunger [is]” (21). This gives the reader a sense of how much hunger dominates and defines their lives, effectively making their

Pip feels that because he has thick boots, course hands, and a lower education because of his amount of money and life style, he is a lower class. He feels bad enough about this that he wants to change so he looks and sounds as if he is from a higher class. Just to impress Estella; which he feels will make him happier. But when he does get that, he realizes how wrong he was. How it isn't as good as just being with his family and the ones who love him as he is.

This tension between an urbane, educated, retrospective narrative voice and other, more urgent forms of direct speech is a feature of the book throughout. The dominant tone is that of Pip telling his story, but there are a great variety of other languages, different voices and more eccentric styles within this dominant discourse. This is not to suggest that Pip's own voice lacks range and variety. As we can see, he can investigate his own childish terror vividly, but he can also recreate Pumblechook's nemesis with the tar-water to great comic effect.

Pip’s mindset regarding classes and success in life is drastically altered after his initial visit to the aristocratic Miss Havisham. “She said I was common” (69) spurs the realization in Pip that he is indeed innocent but unfortunately much oppressed. Pip is very distraught with his birth place into society, to the point that he “was discontented” (130) -- he increasingly desires to be a gentleman. He primarily desires this as a means of impressing Estella and winning her over. At this point in the novel, Pip is willing to give away what he loves (Joe – family setting) to obtain a superficial and insulting girl. One day Pip receives word that he now has the ability to grow up to be his ultimate dream, to be a gentleman. Pip awakens to a new world and those he once loved are no longer good enough for Pip. Moving to London, he becomes far more sophisticated, but at the same time loses his natural goodness. (Chesterton 142). Pip is leaving happiness and his real family to attain a life he thinks will make him more content. Before departing, he dreams of “Fantastic failures of journeys occupied me until the day dawned and the birds were singing” (148). This relates the dream that Pip has just before he sets out to London for the first time, with all of his "great expectations" before him. Pip’s dream is permeated with the sadness and guilt caused by his imminent departure from Joe and Biddy and his aspirations for a new social station.

In this first chapter, we are introduced mainly to just Pip and Magwitch, but are told briefly about Mr and Mrs Joe, and their relationship with Pip-Mrs Joe being Pip’s elder sister and carer, and Mr Joe Gargery her wife, and also the local blacksmith. Pip is the narrator throughout the novel. He tells the story making it easy to relate to, and easy to understand. This helps the reader to gain a deeper understanding of Pip’s character, as we see two Pips- a young Pip, and an older Pip, therefore we see what happens clearly, through two points of view. The younger Pip has a childlike view of the world and his surroundings, he is terrified and naïve, and is scared of Magwitch and believes everything that he says, whereas the older Pip puts things into perspective, is much more educated, and tells the truth.

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

When looking at Pip before he first starts visiting Miss Havisham, it is very clear that he is not a very self-aware boy. Rather, he is a boy who does not recognize a social hierarchy in life, in fact, the closest he comes to acknowledging a social hierarchy would be when he describes his house as “a wooden house, as many of the dwellings in our country were”. In this small passage, it is clear that he recognizes that many people around him are in a similar situation that he is in, however, at the same time he does not see anything wrong with the lifestyle he lives either. Although this changes very abruptly, seeing as how when he goes to Miss Havisham’s house and plays with Estella, she is quick to criticize by pointing out his hands and exclaiming that they are “coarse”. After getting scorned for his hands, Pip starts to