Reading Assignment 6

Jaggers' house keeper, Molly, is a very reserved woman. She is also very big and strong. Obviously able to defend herself. But in the one scene at the dinner table, Jaggers asks her to present her hands to the other men at the table. A large scar is present on her wrist which could imply acts of abuse or possibly suicide. Which puts her physical traits in a war with her mental or emotional traits. Is she as strong emotionally as she is physically?

"So, throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we despise."

This quote can refer to how Pip has become something completely opposite from himself for someone he despises, in this case Estella. He is now treating Joe in a way that he should not be treated for the sake of Estella. He has become corrupted by the money and status he has gained and has forgotten where has come from to get this far.  He has become weak for a love he himself is not even sure is there. 

Reading Assignment 5

Jaggers takes Pip to London. Pip is extremely disappointed by this thought to be "great" city. The filth presented by the place was very depressing to Pip. He said that it seemed to "stick to him." 

An example of parallelism in chapter 21 is Pip describing everything with a negative point of view, everting is bleak and gloomy to him. This mood is probably brought upon by his disappointment in London.

the significance of Herbert changing Pip's name to Handel comes from Pip's background as a Blacksmith. Handel had written the song The Harmonious Blacksmith. I believe Herbert was trying to tell Pip, in a way, to not forget what he came from to become what he is now. This reference to Pip as a blacksmith was meant to humble him.

Reading Assignment 4

Joe and Pip go to Miss Havisham's to finalize Pip's apprenticeship papers. Estella laughs at Joe's appearance. Pip receives twenty-five pounds from Miss Havisham. Pip begins work in the Forge with Joe. He daydreams about Estella and the Satis house. Orlick, Joe's worker, makes Pip feel even worse. Mrs. Joe does not like Orlick. One day they erupt in an arguement and Joe jumps in to defend Mrs. Joe and fights Orlick. Mrs Joe faints. Pip goes back to Miss Havisham's to see Estella but she isn't there. On his way home he meets with Orlick. They return to find that Mrs. Joe was attacked and has suffered brain damage. Everyone believes the attacker to be Orlick. Biddy moves in with the Gargery's to help nurse Mrs. Joe.  At the pub, a strange man pulls Pip and Joe aside. He introduces himself as the lawyer Mr. Jaggers. He explains that a secret benefactor is going to help Pip become a gentleman. Pip suspects his benefactor to be Miss Havisham. 

Reading Assignment 3

Mr. Pumblechook invites Pip to live with him while he attends Mrs. Havisham's.  He is constantly quizzing Pip with math.  When Pip arrives at Miss Havisham's, a young girl answers at the front gate.  Pip learns her name to be Estella.  Though she is very pretty, her personality is very ugly.  She is very conceited and treats Pip as less than human.  She leads Pip into the house and down some very dark corridors until they reach Mrs. Havisham's room.  Pip is shocked when he enters.  He finds her sitting in a dimly lit room, every clock stopped at the same time, with her wearing a wedding dress that has faded with the years.  A wedding cake, old and rotten, sits in the room as well.  Mrs. Havisham tells Pip and Estella to sit and play cards.  As they do, Mrs. Havisham watches them. When the visit is done and Pip returns home, Mr. Pumblechook and Mrs. Joe ask Pip of his visit to Mrs. Havisham's.  He lies because he doesn't want them to think of her as crazy. They would refuse to send him back and I believe that he wants to go back because of Estella. 

Reading Assignment 2

Pip returns to the marshes with the file and food. Through the mist he sees a man sitting on the ground. He believes this to be the convict he had become acquainted with the previous day and was now bringing supplies to. He approaches the man and taps his shoulder only to have him turn around and reveal that he is not the man Pip had met. He fears that this man is the one that would rip out his heart and liver and eat them. The man quickly takes off into the mist. Pip continues on to find the man he knows in the marshes. He gives him the file and wittles and tells him of the man he saw. The convict looks in surprise and starts filing vigorously at the iron on his leg. Pip takes off to his house. When Pip returns he goes with Joe and Mrs. Joe to church. When they return home they have Christmas eve dinner with Mr. Wopsle, Mr. and Mrs. Hubble, and Mr. Pumblechook, Joe's uncle. Pip starts to panic as Mrs. Joe goes to get the food he had stolen. Pip runs to the door and runs into a group of soldiers who have come to Joe, with handcuffs in need of fixing. They tell of two convicts who had escaped from the prison ships and how they are going to search for them. The offer for Pip and Joe to come and they agree. they search the marshes and eventually come upon Pip's convict and the other man. They get into an argument and are taken to the hulks. while boarding them the convict tells Joe that it was him who ate his food but did not mention Pip's role in it.

Reading Assignment 1

Pip, an innocent boy, one who has never done anything to anyone. So why is it then that his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, treats Pip like the spawn of Satan. I believe that Mrs. Joe is angry over the fact that her parents are dead. When she sees Pip she thinks of her parents which causes her much much emotional distress. Mrs. Joe is obviously a person who has trouble showing her emotions, so instead of getting sad and emotional she gets angry. This anger she takes out on Pip and Joe. I also believe she has some resentment towards Pip. Because she had to raise him from a very young age she never had any time to have children of her own.

Joe Gargery, on the other hand, sees Pip as a close friend. He treats him as an equal, because he knows that it's not his fault that they had to raise him. He sees past the fact that he has no children of his own and I believe sees Pip almost as a son. He sticks up for Pip when Mrs. Joe is disciplining him. Joe sees Pip's potential as a person in society and encourages him to be a good person in life even though most people in life aren't good to him.

A Time of Great Change

The Indusrial Revolution was a time period from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, when the introduction of new ways of mass producing goods changed the economic and social aspects of life in Great Britain. Efficiency had increased by such a large percentage, that Great Britian had become one of the top exporters for the entire world; producing textiles, chemicals, glass products, and mine products that are more easily acquirable with the use of machines. The need for new ways of transporting the goods had called for an all new transport infrastructure. A new turnpike road system, canals, and water networks were built to fulfill the need for transportation. The Industrial Revolution also created new social classews based on virtue of ownership, the middle calls eventually triumphed over the noblemen because of the need for factory workers. Most cildren suffered though, because of the use of child labor, even though infancy deaths had greatly improved. The government tried to limit child labor with the implication of laws, but factory owners resisted because of the cheap labor children offered. Eventually a law was passed that limited the working age to nine years old. Urbanization was also an increased occurance in the Industrial Revolution as most jobs were in the cities with the factories. A second Industrial Revolution took place between 1870 and 1914, giving way for the advancements in technology that are used today.

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens, author of Great Expectaions, was born February 7, 1812. He was one of eight children of John and Elizabeth Dickens, and seemingly insignificant. But this small  boy would grow to be one the most influential authors of the 19th century writing such classics as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations.

He had started working in Warren's Blacking Warehouse at age twelve pasting labels on cans of shoe polish for six schillings a week.  But being born in this time period meant poor treatment of workers and even worse treatment of children. He then worked as a clerk at a law office and then as a courtroom stenographer.  

Dickens started his writing career as a political journalist in 1834. His first novel was The PIckwick Papers, "a sequence of loosely-related adventures."

In April 1836 he married Catherine Thompson Hogarth with whom he had ten children. Over the next 14 years he is going to write thirteen books including: Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield. David Copperfield was a novel with information taken from Dickens's own life and is one of the most renowned and autobiographical of his works.

Three more novels came before he wrote A Tale of Two Cities another famous work of his with its well- known opening sentence, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." It was after this he wrote Great Expectations, a story of a boy named Pip and his journey through his life's expectations.

His last work was The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  While working on this book he had suffered a stroke and died in his home in Gad's Hill Place, Higham, Kent, England on June 9, 1870.

His legacy will live on in his works that are read by readers all over the world.