FREE ESSAY ON GREAT EXPECTATIONS

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

In Great Expectations, Pip, the protagonist and narrator of the story grows from a young
child to a mannerly gentleman with high social status. Throughout the story he goes
through many changes. However, in the end it turns out that Pip was handed too much too
quickly. Bad fortune falls upon him and he is sent back to his poor home in Kent. All
considered though, this novel is a true story of love and in the end true happiness for
Pip is obtained. 
Great Expectations was set in early Victorian times in England when great social changes
were sweeping the nation. The Industrial Revolution had transformed the social landscape,
enabling people to capitalize quickly and largely. Although social status was no longer
entirely dependent on heredity, the gap between classes was wide as ever. London had
become quite different from the nation's rural areas. Throughout England, the etiquette
of the upper class was very strict and conservative while gentlemen and ladies were
expected to have good classical educations and to behave correctly in every social
situation. These conditions were prevalent in Dickens's time and therefore were expressed
in the writing of his novels. Pip's sudden rise from laborer to gentleman in Great
Expectations forces him to move from one social extreme to another while dealing with the
strict rules and 'expectations' that governed Victorian England. This was an uncommon
occurrence in this time and proved almost impossible for Pip to handle. 
The novel begins in the marsh country of Kent, in the western part of England. Phillip
Pirrip, a young orphan boy who named himself Pip, was being raised by his sister and
brother-in-law, Mr. Joe Gargery. One evening when Pip was visiting his Mother and
Father's grave at the cemetery he was confronted by an escaped convict dressed in rags
and with his legs chained. The convict grabbed Pip and ordered him to bring food and a
file to release him from his leg irons. Terrified by what the convict might do if he were
to disobey him, Pip went home and the next day he brought the dark, scary man what he had
requested. When Pip returned with the food and file the convict thanked him but soon
scared him off into the fog. A few days later the convict that he helped was caught and
when he was being taken away he falsely confessed to Mr. Gargery that he had stolen the
brandy and pork pie from the kitchen to guard Pip from getting blamed for the deed. From
that point on Pip had gained an unusual liking for 'his' tormentor. 
One day Pip is taken by his arrogant uncle Uncle Pumblechook to play at Satis House, the
home of the wealthy Miss Havisham. During this visit here meets a beautiful young girl
named Estella, who unfortunately treats him quite coldly. For a good time Pip travels
back and fourth to the Satis house to visit Miss Havisham and he becomes closely
acquainted with her. However, more significantly, he grows very fond of Estella despite
her crud treatment of him. Nevertheless, he falls in love with her and dreams of someday
becoming a wealthy gentleman so that he might be worthy of her love and devotion.
At age 16 Pip is apprenticed to his brother-in-law Joe Gargery, the village blacksmith.
The apprenticeship didn't last very long however because one day a lawyer named Jaggars
appears with the strange news that a secret benefactor has given Pip a large fortune, and
he must come to London immediately to begin his education as a gentleman. Pip quickly
assumes that Miss Havisham is the secret benefactor but Mr. Jaggars refuses to tell him
who it is as that was the agreement. 
Pip soon leaves for London and there he becomes friends with and lives with a gentleman
named Herbert Pocket, a boy whom he had played with in Miss Havisham's garden. In London,
Pip befriends a young gentleman named Herbert Pocket. He also becomes friendly with Mr.
Jaggers' law clerk, Mr. Wemmick. As Pip progresses in climbing the social ladder he
beings to treat his former loved ones coldly, especially Joe who had been his only friend
at his home in Kent. The one thing that never changes is his constant thought of Estella
who he had not seen in several years. Several years go by in this way, until one night a
familiar person shows up in Pip's room. It was Abel Magwitch, the convict who pip had
stolen the file and food for many years ago. Contrary to his belief, Magwitch explains
that he is Pip's secret benefactor not Miss Havisham. He tells Pip that he was so moved
by his boyhood kindness that he dedicated his life to making Pip a gentleman, and made a
fortune in Australia for that very purpose. 
Pip is appalled, but he agrees to help Magwitch escape from both the police and
Compeyson, his former partner in crime. Everything falls into place however when Pip
discovers that Compeyson was the man who had abandoned Miss Havisham at the altar, and
that Estella is Magwitch's daughter; Miss Havisham had raised Estella to break men's
hearts, as revenge for the pain her own broken heart caused her.
As the weeks pass, Pip sees good in Magwitch and begins to care for him as if he were is
own father. When the escape is attempted, Magwitch and Pip are discovered by the police,
who have received a tip from Compeyson. Magwitch is sentenced to death and Pip loses his
fortune. However he is then forced to go home and reconciles with Joe and other loved
ones whom he so crudely regarded when he was in grasp of his fortune. 
For several years Pip works with Herbert and lives a saddened life after he has lost
Estella. But returning to Kent years later, he meets Estella in the ruined garden at
Satis House. He find that Miss Havisham had died after an incident which had caught her
gown on fire and had left everything to Estella. He also finds that Estella's husband
whom had died had treated her badly. Pip realizes that Estella's coldness and cruelty
have been replaced by a sad kindness, and the two leave the garden together, never to
part again.
Pip, the main character of the story starts off living in a poor part of England and
rises in his social status throughout the novel. There were two important factors in
Pip's life that were bound to affect him throughout the whole story: when he met and
furnished the convict's request, and when he was sent to Miss Havisham's where he met the
beautiful Estella. Pip is very passionate in the story and his strong perseverance
creates a positive outcome for him in the end.
Miss Havisham's beautiful young ward, Estella is Pip's unattainable dream in the novel.
He loves her greatly, and though she is usually cold, cruel, and seems disinterested in
him she really cares for him. As they grow up together, she repeatedly warns him that she
has no heart. Though she does not know it herself and though Pip does not learn it until
almost the end of the novel, Estella is the daughter of Magwitch, the convict whom Pip
aids as a child. In the end it is shown that Estella does have a heart as She and Pip end
the novel hand in hand, together.
Abel Magwitch, the most influential character in the story, is a fearsome criminal, who
escapes from prison at the beginning of Great Expectations. He terrorizes Pip into doing
what he wanted. Pip's kindness makes a deep impression on him in the end, and he
therefore devotes himself to making a fortune and elevating Pip into a higher social
class. Behind the scenes, he becomes Pip's secret benefactor, funding his education and
lavish lifestyle in London through his lawyer Mr. Jaggars.
The main theme of this story was the separation of social classes. It was shown
throughout the novel as Pip rose from the lower laboring class to the higher upper class.
As he rose in rank he regarded his past family and friends with little respect. He gained
an 'I'm better than you' attitude with them; and attitude similar to the attitude which
his uncle Mr. Pumblechook had displayed earlier in the book. This theme was prevalent
through the whole story and was mirrored in Dickens's early childhood years as he was
forced to work when his father was sent to prison. When his father returned home after
his sentence, Dickens returned to school and eventually became a law clerk, then a court
reporter and then a novelist. His first book was a big success and from that point on he
was a literary celebrity in England. Dickens wrote this book almost at if it was an
autobiography. It made the elements more valid. This book, as his others, served as an
expression of Dickens's feelings of the time that he lived in and for that reason this
book can be looked at not only as a novel but also as a source of history. Subsequently,
Great Expectations has and will continue to go down as a classic novel written by a
classic Author, Charles Dickens.
Bibliography
No bibliography included.