Page 154 - DENG404_FICTION

Fiction

Notes Relations between he and Biddy and Joe do not improve, however, especially when he asks
Biddy if she would try and educate Joe so that he could bring him up to another social level
once the full extent of Pip’s sponsor’s fortune is given to him. Biddy brusquely tells Pip that
Joe has no need, and does not want, to be brought up to another social level.
Pip visits Miss Havisham. She hints subtly that she is his unknown sponsor, and does it in
such a way that Sarah Pocket, standing near, is given to believe it. The week finally over, Pip
leaves for London. Even while he is in the carriage, however, he considers turning around and
spending another day saying good-bye to Joe and Biddy.

Analysis
Pip is in the height of his own vanity here, and it is reflected in a new pomposity to his
language. He even goes as far as to correct the grammar of Biddy, who was his first teacher.
He feels himself being remeasured by society, just as the tailor in town remeasured him for
clothing even though he already had Pip’s sizes. At the same time, Pip is treating the people
he meets differently as well, especially Joe and Biddy. He actually finds himself enjoying the
bombastic idiot Pumblechook whom he had hated for most of his life.

Symbolically, Pip goes to say good-bye to the marshes, which have always represented his
lowly past. This time, however, he finds them beautiful in a way he hadn’t recognized before.
Nevertheless, he wants to “get them done with.” We are, of course, left with the feeling that
Pip will never be done with the marshes, or his past.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. Phillip Pirrup (Pip) is an ......... .
2. Young Pip is staring at the ......... of his parents.

3. Pip’s first taste of ......... is a bitter one.
4. Pip spends an uncomfortable evening with ......... and ......... .
5. Pip goes to say ......... to the marshes.

12.3 Summary

• Dickens introduces us immediately to Pip, who serves as both the young protagonist of
Great Expectations and the story’s narrator looking back on his own story as an adult.
• A common criticism inherent in many of Dickens’ novels is the abuse of children in
society at large.
• Pip returns home to find Mrs. Joe preparing the house for Christmas dinner.
• Pip describes a little of his education with Mr. Wopsle’s great aunt, a “ridiculous old
lady” who had started a small school in her cottage.
• Joe’s analysis, though phrased in what Pip would call “common” language, is accurate:
Pip is trying to become “uncommon” by lying about his experiences.
• Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens uses meals as a reflection of the relationships
at hand.
• Pip is in the height of his own vanity here, and it is reflected in a new pomposity to his
language.

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