Thoughts on Great Expectations

I was not thrilled by the end of the book!  It was boring, inconclusive, and overall just an unsatisfying close to a very long story.  I am sure that everyone hopes that Pip and Estella will fall in love at the end, just as I do.  Despite my disappointment, I enjoyed reading Great Expectations, and I feel like it helped me grow and evolve as a student.  While reading certain sections, I had trouble putting it down.  Other times, however, I had to force myself to sit down and read.  The storyline was a great one, one that we can all relate to.  As small children, we take things day by day and enjoy every minute of life.  As we grow older, we look forward to things in the future and expect more.  We are less easily satisfied with our lives.  It is a sad but true fact, one that Dickens captures perfectly in Pip.  Pip's life story was one with many turns!  I have to admit, I didn't guess the answers to any of the mysteries before they were revealed.  I was surprised by every outcome!

Reading Great Expectations wasn't a chore, but it wasn't always enjoyable.  I usually ended up reading late at night after I had finished my homework, so I didn't absorb as much as I would have reading with an alert mind.  Each time I sat down, I would force my eyes along the page so that I could finish and go to sleep.  Only when I reached an exciting part did I get lost in the story.  I wish that we could have read less each night.  It would have made the reading easier and less tedious.  It was all very achievable unless I didn't understand something.  I tried looking on Sparknotes, but the site  doesn't add details and is sometimes wrong.  I would end up forgetting what I didn't understand, which would lead to further confusion later on.  Another thing that slowed me down was annotating.  I strongly dislike having to stop reading every 45 seconds, get out my pencil, and shove a little sticky note into the book.  It required so much hassle that I would usually lose my place and have to start at the beginning of the page again.  I began simply writing in the book with pencil--I am not looking forward to erasing it all!  I understand that it is important to mark important events in our books for later reference, but it reduces what I absorb during my reading sessions!    I wish there were another way to keep track of certain places in the story without distracting myself and making it impossible to get lost in the Pip's world.

Photo Post

I feel that this photo accurately represents Great Expectations.  Each and every character says one thing, and does another.  Although actions speak louder than words, they are usually only a shadow masked by a false exterior.  Miss Havisham leads Pip to believe she is his benefactor.  Compeyson acts like a smooth gentleman; when in actuality he is a mischievous, evil conman.  Pip grows ashamed of Joe, someone who truly loves him.  Betrayal is a common motif in Great Expectations, and this picture depicts it perfectly.

Making Connections

               In Great Expectations,  I personally see the main purpose of the book as a message.  I think that Charles Dickens was trying to convey how he feels about life.  He believes that life is a more fulfilling, beautiful thing when it is simpler.  When life gets complicated and one comes into money, or is suddenly powerful, it is more challenging.  Happiness is determined by your attitude and a simple way of life.

               The story about Pip begins when he is at his most innocent.  He lives in a small town near the marshes and leads the life of a common person.  He seems content being who he is, for the most part. Life is good.
  His perception is drastically changed when he catches a taste of being more.  This change in viewpoint happens when he meets Estella.  Suddenly and all at once, his expectations are fulfilled.  He has more than he ever dreamed of having, yet he is not happy.  He buys all the fancy furniture and fine food he could ever need, but something inside him still isn't content.

               Pinocchio, in my eyes, has a very similar message and storyline.  It begins with a small wooden marionette puppet.  This puppet's maker, Geppetto is exactly like the character Joe from Dicken's work.  He is kind, sweet, and truthful.  Pinocchio wants to be a real boy, and that is all he longs for.  When his expectations are fulfilled, however, he wants more.  He becomes greedy and self-centered.  Like Pip, he is controlled by strings, both literally and metaphorically--money and power.  He betrays Gepetto.  He doesn't prove that he can be compassionate and truthful until he hits rock bottom. 

               I have been keeping up with the reading on the calendar, and have not read ahead.  But I am guessing that Great Expectations will end in a similar way to Pinocchio.  I think that Pip will do something horrible and finally see what he has become.  He will correct his wrong doings and make things right, going back to his original way of life. 

Second Stage

A very significant event that occurred in the second stage of Pip's expectations was his arrival to London.  He was disappointed.  He thinks, "While I was scared by the immensity of London, I think I might have had some faint doubts whether it was not rather ugly, crooked, narrow, and dirty." (Dickens, Pg. 161)  It is obvious that becoming "a gentleman" and living in London could be less than glamorous.  This occurrence displays how Dickens feels about living in the upper class--it leads to a life without joy or gaiety.

In the first stage, Pip is innocent and eager.  Becoming a gentleman is his dream, and he can imagine that such an opportunity would be nothing short of fantastic.  I am sure that before his wildest dreams came true, he would have been amazed to be in London.  Everything was exciting to him.  Since a mysterious benefactor has become interested in him, however, he is less easily awed.  Becoming a gentleman, in the book, is a common motif throughout.  I suspect that Dickens is also saying something about life.  He is using Pip and the characters around him as instruments to suggest that becoming "a gentleman" can have a negative effect on someone's life.  Being a part of higher society can lead to a less fulfilling life, despite the benefits.

Pip Quote

"Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."


At Mrs. Havisham's, Pip is embarrassed of Joe's illiteracy and shyness.  He thinks, "I am afraid I was ashamed of the dear fellow-I know I was ashamed of him..."  This one event causes a long line of events to occur, leading Pip to realize that he doesn't want to be like Joe.  He wants to accomplish great things, and not be a blacksmith.  In the first few chapters, Pip acts like a child.  He has his own opinions, but needs to be taken care of.  He goes with the flow like most children, and just assumes his life will go where fate takes him.  Later, however, he understands that he needs to fight against the current to find his place and to achieve his goals.  He matures greatly in the most recent chapters.  Pip has a moment where he realizes that one decision can alter his life forever.  


One day in 8th grade, I realized that decisions I make in the moment should be based on more than what my friends are doing or what I think might fun at the time.  I decided to be my own person, and make choices that reflect my character.  Choices that possibly could harm my body or future are easy to make.  Every time I face a decision, I think about how bad decisions could haunt me for the rest of my life.  I remember that everything I do defines who am, link by link.  

Great Expectations: Confusion

The entire dinner conversation from pg. 23-27 is completely confusing me.  The sentences in this passage are long and "wordy."  Also, every sentence seems to have a different meaning that I cannot decipher! 

Here are a few sentence from the passage:
Mr. Pumblechook says to Pip, "Think what you've got to be grateful for.  If you'd been born a squeaker-"
"He was, if ever a child was," said Mrs. Joe.
Joe gave me some more gravy. 
"Well, I mean a four-footed squeaker," said Mr. Pumblechook.  "If you had been born such, would you have been here now?  Not you-"
"Unless in that form" said Mr. Wopsle, nodding towards the dish [of swine].


 What is the point of the seemingly ridiculous dinner conversation?  What are the guests discussing, literally and metaphorically?  Help needed!  Thank you!! 

               In the play, Gwendolen speaks eloquently and politely in an attempt to get her way.  Gwendolen chooses diction that appears harmless on the surface, even if she has negative intentions.  She does this so that people will listen to her.  To Algernon, she says, "Algy, kindly turn your back.  I have something very particular to say to Mr. Worthing."  If she had said directly that she was going to say something negative, he wouldn't have listened.  Instead, she used a sweet tone and polite language to make him feel secure and obey.  Gwendolen also uses language to mask her true feelings.  She says to Jack, "The simplicity of your character makes you exquisitely incomprehensible to me."  Although she is saying he is either unintelligent or shallow, she words it beautifully in order to distract him from her statement.  Gwendolen is using beauty as a tool to gain power.  Gwendolen even uses the beauty of others to gain social respect.  She says, "What wonderfully blue eyes you have, Ernest...I hope you will always look at me just like that, especially when there are other people present."  She doesn't simply enjoy Ernest's eyes for their beauty, she is only interested in how others view her because of them.  She expects others to have the same views on beauty as she does.  In the play, Gwendolen sees beauty as simply a ladder up to respect and social status.

Above is my body paragraph.  I loved that I got the opportunity to write about Gwendolyn, because I thought that it was so clever of Wilde to create her!  At first, I was going to discuss her shallowness, but I decided that it didn't really fit with the aesthetic principles.  Do you think that my third concrete detail fits with the rest of the paragraph?  Also, does my concluding sentence seem long enough?