Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations“Great Expectations” is a Bildungsroman. A Bildungsroman is usuallythe story of a single individual’s growth and development within thecontext of a defined social order. “Great Expectations” is recognizedas a Bildungsroman since it has elements of autobiography. This isestablished in the text as it is old Pip looking back at his life andself development this is given away when the word ‘I’ is used. ABildungsroman should contain education Charles Dickens has shown thisthrough out the text. As Pip gets older his understanding of Victorianlife becomes clearer to him. Ancestry is emphasised in the beginningof the novel when Pip talks about his family’s history. The socialconditions in “Great Expectations” is revealed through Charles Dickensuse of language. Pip is an orphan and is in a blacksmith family
In Chapter 1 we are introduced to the narrator as a child the effectof this is an older reader gives an insight into his behaviour. Thefirst chapter of “Great Expectations” we learn many things about Pip.At the beginning of the chapter Pip describes himself, Pip is shown tobe isolated because he seems to have made up his own name which showsthat he has not been cared about “My father’s family name beingPirrip, and my Christian name being Philip, my infant tongue couldmake of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, Icalled myself Pip, and came to be called Pip”. Pip describes hisfarther and mother by looking at the shapes on their tombstones. Thisgives the audience a sense of Pip’s intelligence and imaginationmeaning he did not relay on anyone to help him get through life. Thequote “ours is the marsh country” Shows that the place t…
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…ectations reflect the real life in Victorian society. CharlesDickens shows his beliefs in the main character Pip. Pip’s conditionsare the same as typical Victorian people he is forced to live in landthat no one wants. Pip is very respectful towards the convict eventhough he has disrespected him by turning him upside down. This istrying to say that convicts should be respected the same as everyoneelse.
In conclusion Dickens establishes the identity of Pip immediately andgains the readers sympathy for him by describing the surroundings andthe struggle that he has to get through. Charles Dickens uses languagedevices to skilfully get his point across. Through Great Expectationswe can see Dickens own ideas and the society he lived in. Through theuse of devices such as setting, other characters and Pip’s thoughtsDickens establishes Pip’s feelings.
