Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens

Phase 1 ReviewChapters 1-19

Chapter 1

• Pip (Philip Pirrip) introduces himself– Our young protagonist– Story’s narrator; first-person point of view– Pip is looking back at his story as an adult; leads to

foreshadowing future events

• Staring at gravestones of parents who died soon after his birth

• Man appears who threatens to cut Pip’s throat if he doesn’t stop crying– Dressed in a prison uniform– Great iron shackle around his leg– Grabs Pip and turns him upside down; empties his

pockets

• Terrified, Pip tells him he is an orphan; lives with his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, wife of a local blacksmith

• Man tells Pip to bring him back some food and a file if he wants to continue living

• Pip agrees to meet him the next morning– Although the relationship starts as one of power

and fear, they share a common loneliness and separations from society – the orphan and the escaped convict

Chapter 2

• We meet Mrs. Joe Gargery– Loud, angry, nagging woman– Constantly reminds Pip and Joe of the hardships

she has had – raising Pip and taking care of the house• Makes us sympathize with Pip• Reference to abuse of children in society during the

time period

• We meet Joe Gargery– Treated like a child by his wife– More Pip’s equal that a paternal figure– Pip finds solace in Joe; they are united under a

common oppression (Mrs. Joe)

• During dinner, Pip steals bread• Next morning, Pip steals food, brandy, a pork

pie, and a file• Runs back to the marshes to find the convict

Chapter 3• Arrives at the marshes• Finds who he thinks is his convict, but it turns

out to be a different convict– Has a badly bruised face and wears a broad-

brimmed hat– Runs away from Pip without speaking

• Pip finds his convict and gives him the food– This meeting is more civil than the first

• Is angry when Pip tells him about the other convict– Where the secrets begin…someone is always

hiding something from someone else– Sometimes the secrets are clear to the reader (Pip

has stolen food from home); other times the reader is left out of the secret (the connection between the two convicts)

• Pip leaves him filing his shackle and returns home

Chapter 4• Pip returns home and finds Christmas dinner being

prepared– Guests include Mr. Wopsle (church clerk), Mr. & Mrs.

Hubble, Uncle Pumblechook (presented as a loud mouth idiot, who is full of himself)

– Dinner discussion focuses on how grateful Pip should be for being brought up “by hand”• Joe is the only one who makes gestures of support toward Pip• Social commentary by Dickens…It is often the dim witted and poor

(Joe) who act with more grace and charity than wealthy loud mouths (Uncle Pumblechook and Mr. Wopsle) who claim that they do.

• Uncle Pumblechook nearly chokes on some brandy…Pip realizes he poured tar water in the brandy bottle after he stole some for his convict

• Mrs. Joe announces that she will be presenting the pork pie– Suspense has been building all through dinner as

we wait for items to be discovered missing

• Pip is sure that he will be caught for his crime and runs for the door

• Pip is met face to face with a group of soldiers who appear to be there to arrest him

Chapter 5• Soldiers are actually there to have a pair of

handcuffs fixed by Joe• They are invited in and Uncle Pumblechook

offers them Mrs. Joe’s sherry and port while Joe works

• It becomes clear that the soldiers are hunting two escaped convicts who were seen in the marshes

• Joe, Pip, and Mr. Wopsle follow the soldiers on the search

• They find the convicts wrestling in the mud– Reader wonders why they are fighting???????– The one with the hat accuses the other of trying

to kill him– Pip’s convict replies that he would have done it if

he really wanted to– Also says he is the one who called for the

soldiers…was willing to sacrifice himself just so the other would get caught again

– What hatred did this man have that would make him go back to prison just to see the other suffer as well???????

• The two convicts are captured and Pip’s convict, after recognizing Pip, admits to stealing Mrs. Joe’s pork pie by himself…this gets Pip off the hook.– Relationship has grown…the convict wants to protect the

boy– Once again the two are united in secrecy

• Joe and Pip watch the convicts as they are brought back to the Hulks (prison ships)

Chapter 6

• Joe, Pip, and Mr. Wopsle walk home• Pip decides not to tell Joe the truth about his file and the pork

pie…he’s afraid of losing his respect– Joe is the only friend in the world to Pip

• Once they return home, discussion turns to how the convict got into the locked house

• Mrs. Joe assists Pip to bed

Chapter 7

• Pip briefly describes his education with Mr. Wopsle’s great aunt, who started a small school in her cottage.– The education is not very good– Learns some basics from Biddy, an orphan girl

who works for Mrs. Wopsle

•One night Pip finds out that Joe is illiterate–Joe explains that he never stayed in school long because his father, a drunk and physically abusive to him and his mother, kept him out of school–Also explains that it is for this reason that Joe stays humble to Mrs. Joe•“I’m dead afeerd of going wrong in the way of not doing what’s right by a woman.”•He sees how difficult it is to be a woman, remembering his mother, and wants to do the right thing as a man.•Pip understands and respects this in Joe.

• Mrs. Joe comes home and proclaims that Pip will be going to “play” for Miss Havisham (a rich lady who lives in a huge house)– Uncle Pumblechook mentioned Pip when Miss

Havisham asked if he knew of any small boys– Pip is to go tomorrow and spend the evening at Uncle

Pumblechook’s house before going to Miss Havisham’s house the following morning

» This will be a turning point for Pip…leaving the humble company of Joe to spend time with those of higher society

» Uncle Pumblechook and Mrs. Joe feel that there may be financial gain by sending Pip to Miss Havisham

Chapter 8

• Pip is brought to Miss Havisham’s after breakfast with Uncle Pumblechook

• The house is called the Satis House• Whomever lives in the house shall never want for anything

• They are met at the gate by Estella, a young woman– She lets Pip in, but sends Uncle Pumblechook away– Leads Pip through a dark house by candle and leaves him

outside a door – Inside he meets Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham

• Willowy, yellowed woman dressed in an old wedding gown• Calls for Estella to play cards with Pip…Estella

objects and calls Pip a “common labouring-boy.”• Miss Havisham tells Estella that she can break

his heart• Estella continues to insult Pip as they play

– After all the insults Pip cries as he eats his lunch in the yard

– He explores the garden and grounds always seeing Estella a distance ahead of him

– Pip walks the four miles home feeling very low– First experience in high society is a bitter one– Leaves him ashamed and embarrassed– Pip is a toy for both Miss Havisham and Estella– Pip’s new found respect and love for Joe is being

spoiled by his embarrassment of being brought up in a lower class family and his attraction to Estella (regardless of her mistreatment of him)

– More suspense is built in this chapter– Why is this woman always in the dark dressed in a

wedding gown?– Who is the young and pretty Estella and what is

she doing in such a morbid place?

Chapter 9

• Pip is forced to talk about his day with Uncle Pumblechook and Mrs. Joe

• Pip lies in a extraordinary manner about his experiences with Miss Havisham– Dogs being fed veal– Miss Havisham lounging on a velvet couch

• He lies for two reasons:– Spite for the way they have treated him – They would not understand the situation at the Satis

House (enough) even if he described it in detail– Later Pip confesses the truth to Joe along with his

embarrassment about being a “commoner” and being attracted to Estella

• Joe tells Pip he is not common– He is uncommon small and an uncommon scholar– “If you can’t be oncommon through going straight, you’ll

never get to do it through going crooked.”

Themes Emerging

• There is a desire to rise about one’s social station– As the story unfolds, we witness the different

ways in which Pip tries to climb the social ladder– Interesting to be reminded that the story is told by

Pip as an adult…provides commentary on how this theme will affect his happiness later in life

Chapter 10

• Pip is now set on becoming uncommon and asks Biddy for help in getting him educated

• Although it will be tough in a school that lacks the seriousness needed to become a scholar, Biddy agrees to give Pip some books to start with

• On the way home Pip stops at the Three Jolly Bargemen to pick up Joe– He is sitting with a stranger who asks Joe all kinds of

personal questions about Pip– The strange man then stirs his drink with a file…the file

that Pip stole for his convict

• Before Joe and Pip depart, the stranger gives Pip a coin wrapped in paper– When they get home Pip realizes it is a two pound note;

thinking it a mistake (somehow, Pip knows it is not), Joe runs back to the pub to give it back, but the man is gone

• By the end of the chapter, it is clear that Pip fears that his past will haunt him as he tried to climb out of being common