Great Expectations
Great Expectations The novel, Great Expectations, presents the story of a
young boy growing up and becoming a gentleman. He must learn to appreciate
people for who they are, not shun them for who they aren’t. Nicknamed Pip,
Philip Pirrip, the main character, goes through many changes in his personality,
as he is influenced by various people. Pip experiences tough times as a boy and
a young man, but at the end he has become a fine, morale young man. In the
beginning, Pip, an orphan, considers himself to be a common laboring boy, but he
has a desire to improve his station in life. He is raised by his sister, and her
husband, Joe Gargery. Then Pip meets Estella, the adopted daughter of Miss
Havisham, an old lady who is bitter and eccentric. Estella taunts Pip and is
very cruel to him, but he still falls in love with her. Miss Havisham is
teaching Estella to hurt men, because she herself was deserted by her fiancé on
her wedding day. One day, Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer, reveals to Pip, that there are
“Great Expectations” for Pip. He is given the money to become a gentleman and
receive a good education; he assumes that his benefactor is Miss Havisham. In
London, Pip makes many new, high-society friends. When Joe Gargery comes to
visit Pip in his new way of life, Pip is ashamed of Joe, because he is a
commoner. At this time, Pip is around twenty years old. Estella is still the
center of his attractions. When she comes! to London, he meets her, but she
tries to warn Pip to stay away from her because she might hurt his feelings.
She
is being kind to him in the only way that she knows how. Around the same time,
Pip receives a letter telling him that Mrs. Joe Gargery had died. A man from
Pip’s past steps out, an ex-convict, named Magwitch, who he had fed many years
ago; this man is his true benefactor. Pip finally knows the truth about this
man. Magwitch is Estella’s father, and Mr. Jagger’s housekeeper is Estella’s
mother. A short time later, Estella is wed to Bentley Drummle, but she is very
unhappy. Pip falls ill, and Joe comes to take care of him. While he is being
nursed back to health, Pip starts to appreciate Joe and begins to look past the
fact that he is “common.” He receives the news that Miss Havisham is dead. Pip
visits Joe’s home and is told that Joe and Biddy, Pip’s friend, are married. Pip
then returns to London and continues his life for eleven more years. Pip finally
goes back to Joe’s house, to find that Joe and Biddy have a son, and they have
named him Pip. During that last visit, he returns to Miss Havisham’s old
run-down home. There he meets Estella, grown into a woman, her husband dead.
There, Estella asks Pip to for! give her, he does, and all is well. So the story
ends, with grown Pip and a changed Estella both at peace with each other. In
conclusion, I thought that this was a very well written book. It took me a while
to get into it and understand the plot, but now I see that Dickens wrote Great
Expectations with a very complex plot and well described characters. From Joe
Gargery to Miss Havisham, I really got to know the characters as if they were
people. I would describe this book as a delightful story with a sprinkle of
mystery and a handful of romance, with a pinch of fun all mixed in.
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