Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

4. PIP

We are going to see how Dickens creates sympathy for Pip by concentrating on Chapter One.

And now we need to work on it...

Dickens's Character of Pip

In Great Expectations, Pip is not always nice. He treats Joe in a terrible way, and for some of the story he really is the most dreadful empty-headed prig. But still we like him, and want the best for him! Dickens is ever so clever in the way he keeps us 'on Pip's side', even though Pip may be 'getting it wrong' at a particular point in the story.

To understand how Dickens creates sympathy for Pip, you need to think about the character of Pip at TWO levels:

FIRST, AT STORY LEVEL:

Look back at your cloze exercise notes on the Bookrags summary of Great Expectations.

make a list of all things that make you like Pip as a person.

SECOND, AT TEXT LEVEL:

Study this short passage from Chapter One describing Pip's world (at the age of seven):

Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles from the sea.

My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond, was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip.

Make a list of the best FIVE ADJECTIVES that Dickens uses in the passage.

Make a list of the different LISTS that Dickens makes in the passage (there are three - can you find them).

What is the 'SETTING' of the action?

Find the two best words which describe the 'FEEL' of the passage ('mood').

Finally, think about each of these to consider how Dickens uses them to affect the way we think about Pip.

You could draw up a table like this to help you organise your notes:

Literary device:

Examples/ notes

How this makes us feel about Pip

Five adjectives

a

→ a

b

→ b

c

→ c

d

→ d

e

→ e

Three lists

a

→ a

b

→ b

c

→ c

Setting

→

Mood

a

→ a

b

→ b

OK, now write up your notes as the first section of your essay:

How does Dickens create sympathy for Pip in Great Expectations?

Start by writing a sentence something along the lines of:

"Dickens creates sympathy for Pip, first, by making him a nice person in the story..."

then write a paragraph about all the nice things about Pip and how they make you like him

Then write a sentence something like:

"Dickens also creates sympathy for Pip, by the literary devices and techniques he uses..."

... and write four paragraphs dealing in turn with Dickens's use of:

● adjectives

● lists

● setting

● mood

... MAKING SURE FOR EACH ONE THAT YOU:

a. put quotes from Chapter One and explain them

b. explain how Dickens is using this device to make you feel sympathy for Pip.

(nb if you don't do this last thing, you have not answered the question and will get zero.)

< Previous Next >

Literary device:	Examples/ notes	How this makes us feel about Pip
Five adjectives	a	→ a
	b	→ b
	c	→ c
	d	→ d
	e	→ e
Three lists	a	→ a
	b	→ b
	c	→ c
Setting		→
Mood	a	→ a
Mood	b	→ b