Page 194 - DENG404_FICTION

Fiction

Notes Miss Skiffins

Wemmick’s sweetheart.

Clara

Herbert secret sweetheart. She is secret because Herbert knows his mother would say she is
below his “station.” She’s actually a sweet, fairy-like girl who takes care of her dying drunk
of a father.

Magwitch
Magwitch is the convict that Pip helps at the beginning of the movie. He later returns as Pip’s
benefactor under the name of Provis. He is a rough ex-con, but seems to have a good heart.

Compeyson

Magwitch’s mortal enemy and the other convict Pip saw in the marshes fighting with Magwitch.
Compeyson is a gentlemanly swindler who was the fiancé that swindled Miss Havisham out
of her heart.

16.1.1 Analysis of Major Characters
Pip

As a bildungsroman, Great Expectations presents the growth and development of a single
character, Philip Pirrip, better known to himself and to the world as Pip. As the focus of the
bildungsroman, Pip is by far the most important character in Great Expectations: he is both
the protagonist, whose actions make up the main plot of the novel, and the narrator, whose
thoughts and attitudes shape the reader’s perception of the story.

Notes As a result, developing an understanding of Pip’s character is perhaps the most
important step in understanding Great Expectations.

Because Pip is narrating his story many years after the events of the novel take place, there
are really two Pips in Great Expectations: Pip the narrator and Pip the character—the voice
telling the story and the person acting it out. Dickens takes great care to distinguish the two
Pips, imbuing the voice of Pip the narrator with perspective and maturity while also imparting
how Pip the character feels about what is happening to him as it actually happens. This
skillfully executed distinction is perhaps best observed early in the book, when Pip the character
is a child; here, Pip the narrator gently pokes fun at his younger self, but also enables us to
see and feel the story through his eyes.

Task What is the Bildungsroman genere and how will does Great Expectations fit into
it? Trace Pip’s development under the definition of Bildungsroman using specific
examples.

As a character, Pip’s two most important traits are his immature, romantic idealism and his
innately good conscience. On the one hand, Pip has a deep desire to improve himself and
attain any possible advancement, whether educational, moral, or social. His longing to marry

188 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY