Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

Synopsis

Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations follows the life of a young boy who, like many of us, has big dreams and wants to make a better life for himself. But as soon as that opportunity arises, Pip wastes no time in rejecting his old life as a Blacksmith’s apprentice and everyone who knew him as such. What once was a fulfilling life becomes looked at with increasing dissatisfaction and contempt, not only towards himself but to all those who remind him of who he used to be. However, the more he tries to adapt to his new life, the more apparent it is that he doesn’t fit in either. A life that he believed would be filled with Great Expectations becomes less than ideal as he loses himself and everything he had worked towards

Likes

Dickens presents Pip as a young boy who we can all relate to due to his ambitions, to one we soon dislike for his arrogance, and then finally pity because of his ignorance. Making the holder of such great expectations so plain and ordinary allows the reader to familiarise ourselves with him as Pip is often a reflection of many of us. This allowed me to better engage with the novel which I may not have done if Pip were more than plain and ordinary. It also allows for the moral of the story of being grateful for all that we have to better resonate

Pip had such an unconventional character development as he did not go from strength to strength, nor from weakness to weakness but experienced inconsistent periods of peaks and troughs which made him all the more relatable. When things were good, they were really good and when things were bad, it might as well have been the end of the world for him. I liked him, I disliked him, I was ashamed of him and I felt sorry for him. Even after reading the novel, I can’t quite pinpoint how I feel about Pip because although he messed up, he just wanted a better life for himself. Despite his many flaws and well-deserved ending, you can’t help but feel bad for the sad life he set himself up for. Dickens does a great job of evoking so many feelings and emotions towards Pip, maintaining my interest in his story and character

Throughout the novel, we notice the growth of Pip from the young boy he was at 7 years old, to the 33-year-old man he became. Dickens writes in a way to suggest that Pip is getting older without having to explicitly state this fact due to the gradual change in tone from silly and observant of the world around him to mature and introspective. For example, to demonstrate Pip’s youth he is often very descriptive and uses similes and hyperbole to entertain the reader but as he gets older that changes to more emotive language used to express himself. Despite the shift in tones, Dickens never loses Pip’s sense of humour but merely adapts it to fit his age, which I greatly appreciated as I enjoyed the humour

Dislikes

At times I felt as though some areas were overly descriptive or too metaphorical, so much so that I had to re-read sections as I felt that they were a little convoluted. It also didn’t help that some of the sentences were a good paragraph’s length long. But thankfully this did not occur very often, so although these instances would throw me off, it didn’t take much away from my overall enjoyment of the book

General Thoughts

Joe is one of the loveliest characters that I have ever come across in a book. He’s so sweet, kind patient and forgiving. Yet Pip did him so wrong! It was frustrating to read about Pip’s treatment of him when Joe had been nothing but good to Pip. But Dickens used Pip’s downfall to show just how loyal and good Joe was, which only made me like him that much more

I really liked Pip’s relationship with Wemmick. Had it not been for him, Pip would have been far less likeable as Wemmick was able to bring out the good nature in him. As the story develops, so does their friendship and you can tell that they have a deep care for one another. Pip was often surrounded by people who were too good for him but I’m glad he did one good thing with his newfound wealth for his friend, Herbert (who was also too good for him)

Pip was such a fool! Estella made it very clear that she had no interest in him, yet he continued to chase her. Everything he did was for her and nothing she did was for him. Pip only had himself to blame (and perhaps Miss Havisham to a small degree). I felt sorry for him but just a little, although even that level of sympathy was difficult to achieve. However, I did feel sorry for Estella. She didn’t have the opportunity to be whoever she wanted to be but was moulded by Miss Havisham to be heartless from a young age which ended in her own detriment

Something else I wanted to note was my reaction to Magwitch. At first, I was quite repulsed by him, which I shamefully admit but after getting to know him, my opinion did change as all he wanted to do was give thanks to the boy who had helped him escape from captivity (although Pip only did so out of fear). His thanks went to such depths that he risked his life by returning to the city he had fled just to meet Pip again. When things went so terribly wrong for him, he never once complained but always looked on the bright side. He was a great man with good intentions but was not given a great start in life. Although not a very vocal character, he was easily one of my favourites (alongside Joe) and I loved his character development. I’m glad Pip stayed with him right towards the end as he was able to salvage the modicum of respect I had for him by doing so

Miss Havisham was such an incredibly cruel woman. I can imagine the heartbreak she experienced after being jilted at the altar, but her actions towards others were incomprehensible. The fact that her being hurt by a man was enough justification to make Estella hurt others in retaliation was not only vindictive but utterly bizarre as they had nothing to do with what happened to her. As the days and then years passed, her bitterness and resentment towards men grew which she further fed into Estella. Miss Havisham was a woman who very clearly needed help and I wish she had had someone to help her move on with her life but that unfortunately was not the case. I would imagine that the state of her home was a reflection of her mental health. Despite this and what she had gone through, her actions made it difficult for me to offer her any sympathy, even after reading about how she died

Pumblechook was so incredibly annoying. Such a pretentious man who needed to mind his own business. Thankfully his appearances throughout the book were few and far between but just the mere mention of him was exasperating. I don’t know how Pip resisted the urge to high-five his face

Pip went from being someone destined for such great expectations to one living a less than ideal life and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. The ending was very befitting for him and I loved the storyline

Rating

I really enjoyed this book and I know that I’ll read it a few more times. It’s my guilty pleasure – a story about a man who wanted so much more for himself to the point of rejecting his friends, family and happiness in the process, just to realise that the little he had was the best he ever had is not a new one but is one I felt was well executed by Dickens through this book

Based on this, I would give this book a 4/5

Would I recommend?

This book was written in the early 1860s so has a very different literary style from what you can expect in today’s world. However, if this is something that you don’t mind, I would recommend this book as it’s one that reminds me to stay grounded and be grateful for all that I am and all that I have while working towards something greater. I would say that it’s quite a humbling book which I appreciate and would imagine others would too 

Favourite Quotes

‘”Ask no questions, and you’ll be told no lies”’

‘I was always treated as If I had insisted on being born, in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality’

‘But I loved Joe – perhaps for no better reason in those early days than because the dear fellow let me love him’

‘I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong’

‘”I am what you have made me. Take all the praise, take all the blame; take all the success, take all the failure; in short, take me”’

‘”I lived rough, that you could live smooth; I worked hard, that you should be above work”’

‘”. . . he was humble and contrite, and I never knew him complain”’

‘P.S. Ever the best of friends’

‘. . . I often wondered how I had conceived that old idea of his inaptitude, until I was one day enlightened by the reflection, that perhaps the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me’