Charles Dickens Great Expectat
"Dickens, in Great Expectations, presents us with a range of ideas, but the most powerful is that the individual is shaped by the worlds they live in and the experiences they have." To what extent did you find this to be true?
To what extent one's environment and life experiences shape the individual is an often debated topic that can be pursued to many different levels. I agree with the statement that the most powerful idea presented by Dickens in his novel Great Expectations is that the individual is shaped by the worlds they live in and the experiences they have. However, I must add that these worlds and experiences consist of other people, and it is this interaction with different ...
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people involved in their lives. Both Miss Havisham and Estella are prime examples of the impact one's environment can have on the individual. While the opposite is shown through Joe and his ability to maintain personal integrity despite his harrowing past.
The shaping of Pip's character begins during his childhood years under the loving care and companionship of his brother-in-law Joe Gargery, and the strict rule of his sister Mrs. Joe. Dickens completely disassociates the world of Joe from the world of Mrs Joe, each having an adverse effect on the young child, Pip. The home is the world of Mrs. Joe, where Pip is 'raised by hand'. Home life was not a pleasant environment with Mrs. Joe constantly 'on the rampage' chasing after Pip with a stick of cane nicknamed 'Tickler'. For the majority of his childhood, Pip was constantly subjected to an array of verbal and sometimes physical abuse, that was quite common in bringing up a child during Dickensian times. However the endless reminders ...
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Joe and Pip. The fire also represents a shimmer of hope amidst the many false hopes of the world, in that, Joe, as simple as he appears, is much more a gentleman, when looking at the true meaning of the word, than the kind Pip strives to be later in the novel. It is Joe who teaches Pip many of the fundamental Christian values, embedded deep within Pip, that are at times forgotten but surface again towards the end of the novel. Pip calls upon these values after meeting his true benefactor, and the kindness of Joe shines in Pip as he helps Magwitch escape the country, as he forgives Miss Havisham for the years of pain she caused him, the pain he realises he let her cause him, and as he begs ...
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"Charles Dickens Great Expectat." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 24 Dec. 2003. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Charles-Dickens-Great-Expectat/390>
"Charles Dickens Great Expectat." Essayworld.com. December 24, 2003. Accessed April 24, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Charles-Dickens-Great-Expectat/390.
"Charles Dickens Great Expectat." Essayworld.com. December 24, 2003. Accessed April 24, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Charles-Dickens-Great-Expectat/390.
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