How Does Dickens Create an Effective Opening for The Novel Great Expectations?

How does Dickens create an effective opening for the novel Great Expectations?

Charles Dickens creates an effective opening for the novel “Great Expectations”. He was born in Landport on 7th February 1812 and died at age 58 on 19th June 1870. At age 12 he worked ten hours a day in a factory to pay for his dad’s debt, John Dickens who was arrested and put in prison. He was paid six shillings a week wrapping shoe-black bottles. Six months later one of John Dickens’s relatives died and left enough money in the will to pay off the debts and for John Dickens to leave prison. Afterwards his family moved to London in 1822 and Charles decided to become a reporter.

Charles Dickens life has affected how he writes novels and this makes the story seem more realistic as he is able to describe the events in good detail. The themes he liked to write about were poverty, children without protection, class system and injustice. He tries to give an important message to his readers, he wants them to judge each person by what they’re like and don’t stereotype. You can feel his emotions in the novel and what he thinks about inequality. “Great Expectations” has been influenced from his life and gives this message and illustrates some of these themes.

In “Great Expectations” the main character is called Pip who is an orphan living with his malevolent sister. This shows the theme of children without protection. The theme about class systems is also shown in this novel by showing Pip always wanting to become a gentleman. This novel also shows injustice as the higher class people exploit others as Compeyson leaves Magwitch to be convicted for their crimes.

In Victorian times this context will affect how Victorians think about gentlemen. They will start to think more about the “gentlemen” and how they are actually like which means they understand the message from Dickens.

When Pip is young he goes to see his mother in the graveyard, we know he is a young child who is vulnerable, alone and unprotected because it says “infant tongue” at the beginning therefore we know Pip is very young. “A man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch” which makes it seem like there are ghosts. This is when he runs into Magwitch who is in chains and starving, Pip is threatened by Magwitch which also shows he is vulnerable, unprotected and alone. His village is “a mile or more from the church” and he realises his parents and siblings were “dead and buried” which also shows he’s alone, unprotected and that he is an orphan. We know his siblings are dead because he mentions the “five little stone lozenges” where his little brothers lie. Pip feeds Magwitch. He is invited by a rich woman called Miss. Havisham to “play” with Estella; however it is actually to give Estella practice how to break men’s hearts. Estella thinks he is unworthy to be with her but Pip thinks if he becomes a gentleman, he’ll have a chance with Estella; therefore he doesn’t want to grow up like Joe anymore. After Pip visits Miss. Havisham regularly, one day he gets the chance to learn to become a gentleman using “her” money. However it wasn’t her money and later Pip finds out the money he’s spending was Magwitch’s hard earned money and realises that being a gentleman isn’t good as he thought it was.

Pip has a nasty sister called Mrs. Joe. We know she is nasty because she hurts him as well as others. Dickens has created an unpleasant character in Mrs. Joe. She is “Pip’s” sister and we are told she has brought him up “by hand”. This seems to mean she brought him up with physical violence. We want to defend him as we have already built a good relationship with Pip. However it could mean she fed Pip milk with a teaspoon which takes an awful long time. In those Victorian times bottles haven’t been invented yet.

Mrs. Joe is an unjust character and this makes us want to defend Pip as we have a relationship with him and don’t want to see him get hurt. The novel mentions her “redness of skin” and that she “washes herself with a nutmeg-grater” meaning she is not a mother figure and she is very mean. As Mrs. Joe is so nasty, we wonder why she is so mean and why she is married to Joe if she dislikes him. However it could be because it’s not what she thought he was like. We also get a general impression that she must have made Joe Gargery marry her by hand as she says “Joe Gargery and I were both brought up by hand”. At meal time there was “untouched bread and butter” and this shows she is worried about them. She still wonders, and then the bread suddenly disappears. Pip “bolted” it down. Then Mrs. Joe makes them both drink “tar-water” meaning she has pleasure making them suffer. Joe didn’t even do anything. We know she does everything with aggression as “she jammed the loaf hard and fast”. Mrs. Joie says how she “always wore a coarse apron” which means she always work implying Joe doesn’t. We also wonder why she has no children and it could be because she hates children. We don’t like Mrs. Joe as she is a malevolent person however we still want to find out what happens to her as we want to see what she deserves.

Pip and Joe wonder how their lives would be without her. Joe is not a defender as he sits there all quiet when she’s in a mood “as she applied herself to set the tea-things”. Joe is a father-figure to Pip. He tries to protect Pip from Mrs. Joe, his wife’s angry outbursts but finds that trying to protect him makes her hit him and Pip even harder. Joe seems to really love Pip and he is one of Pip’s only true friends. Joe seems powerless as he can’t seem to actually protect him and Pip from Mrs. Joe. Joe shares Mrs. Joe’s anger and frustration. The reader does care about Joe as he is a good person and the fact he is Pip’s only friend makes us want to know more about Joe. We do feel Joe isn’t brave as he can’t stand up to his wife and protect himself or Pip.

We know that Pip has survived because he is telling us the story. The effect of the older Pip looking back on events and himself as a child shows us how he grew up in such a harsh environment and how he felt.

Magwitch lived a life of crime, he put “stolen money” in use therefore he was sent to prison in Australia. Dickens uses vivid description and this language draws the reader in. Using vivid description recreates an experience and shares it effectively with others as they feel like they are there because the description includes use of the senses. Pip was a great influence on Magwitch and he was sent to work on a sheep farm which he became rich. He used this money to fund Pip becoming a gentle man as he thought, if it wasn’t for Pip, he wouldn’t be rich.

There are many different openings to a novel such as dialogue, short sentence, and traditional fairy tale opening, and unusual event, familiar event, setting, making the reader ask questions or facts and describing a character. In Victorian novels there are always good details which show Victorians have a good imagination. Now days we have technology, we watch films therefore we don’t have as well developed imagination as them, but back them they didn’t. A Victorian reader would read on if there were lots of details. I personally would like more action. In “Great Expectations” the opening is introducing a character, Pip who is also the voice of the narrator which shows he is the main character.

There are different narrative voices, novels can use first, second or third person, but in “Great Expectations” Dickens chooses to use a first person narrative voice. The narrator is Pip. Dickens uses first person to show us Pip’s views which makes everything seem real like as he’s telling us a story or talking to us. He uses “I” a lot and this make an effect on the reader. We start to build a relationship and start to care therefore we want to know what happens to him later on as first person minimises the distance between the reader and narrator. We think Pip is trustworthy, honest and reliable because he says he thinks his little brothers were “born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets”. Everybody knows babies aren’t born with clothes on and only a truthful narrator will make a fool of themselves. Pip also feeds Magwitch who needed help and this shows he’s a nice character.

The story speaks itself as it presents facts without judgement. Pip doesn’t judge Magwitch as he only says “the man”. Pip didn’t say that he’s mean, scary or vicious. This leaves the reader to decide what he is and the reader does think Magwitch is vicious. This shows the narrator trusts us and this engages the reader by letting them think. However we do feel sorry for Magwitch too. It seems he was trapped as it says there was “a great iron on his leg”. This makes the reader wonder why and who has put that on his leg. This shows he is suffering. Pip too seems to be aware of his suffering as he mentions Magwitch’s “sore feet” and that he is “limping” and since Pip is the narrator, the reader will begin to share his views and also see the suffering.  Magwitch also seems weak as “he hugged his shuddering body”. This makes him seem vulnerable and likely to fall to pieces or collapse. He seems to be quite old or perhaps really frightened as he says “once more” when he asks Pip to repeat his name which seems like he has bad hearing. He is also “numbed and stiff” and we should care for the elderly. Magwitch says “I wish I were a frog or an eel” and this seems like he hates his situation and that he is cold. Frogs and eels can be seen as ugly and perhaps unwanted therefore he must be desperate and we feel sorry that he has nowhere to go. Magwitch has had a lot of unpleasant experiences because it says he is “lamed by stones” and “cut by flints”. Dickens makes nature the agent of the action. This makes it seem as though even nature is against him too. We can tell Pip is very frightened running into Magwitch as “he made a short run” away and we wonder who is chasing him and why.

There is some use of humour because it is important to have a contrast with the gloomy churchyard. It is funny so that it keeps the reader amused. “Black” or ironic humour is used by calling a stick “tickler”. But we are made aware that Joe and Pip find comfort in each other’s company through their daily game of eating bread and butter. There is a humorous image when Pip is looking for clues using his imagination on how his family members looked like. For example Pip saw “the shape of the letters” on his dad’s tombstone and he thought he was a “square, stout, dark man, with black curly hair”. An innocent idea is where Pip reveals “Georgiana,” his mother, is dead. There is a widespread of religious belief as Magwitch makes Pip “say Lord Strike you dead if you don’t!” which shows Pip’s fear of God. The reader is also invited to put themselves in Pip’s place.

Dickens uses a lot of imagery to help the reader picture the scene. Pip’s home is not a very comforting place. It does not provide much of a contrast to the churchyard. We know Pip’s in a graveyard as it says “this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard”. Graveyards are spooky places and it seems not many people visit this one.  The setting is used as a memorable opening for the novel by telling the reader it is almost “evening”. The setting engages the reader. It makes the reader scared as the setting is in a “graveyard” which associates with death. It is a lonely setting as the boy is the only person there as there were only “scattered cattles”. This shows the countryside is empty and deserted and because there is nobody there it could be very dangerous for a small, young boy to be alone. We know the weather is cold as it is a “raw afternoon”. It would be unpleasant to be outside in such weather. It is growing darker as it’s “towards evening”. This makes it more scary and dangerous. Dickens also set the church not next to village but “a mile or more from the village”

The setting is used as a symbol to create the mood of the story. The churchyard creates disappointment, secrets, pessimism and gloom. It also represents Pip’s situation. We know most of Pip’s family are in the graveyard as “their tombstones” are there and this reminds us that Pip will probably end up there too along with his family. The opening uses a high range of vivid imagery and very clearly illustrates the setting, as well as its mood and therefore is an effective choice of setting for a Victorian reader. The graveyard is an effective setting because in Victorians times they still believed in legends and tales such as supernatural things like ghosts and goblins. This setting is supposed to be a horrific image and frightening. This builds up the tension when anything ghoulish is mentioned.

Dickens uses the order of events, creation of atmosphere and drama to make the novel engage the reader more. It makes us developed a close relationship with Pip before other characters are introduced as Dickens uses first person. The reader has to make judgements on a series of characters. The reader would think Pip is our traditional Hero in the novel as he is an honest, trustworthy, reliable boy but is unprotected and vulnerable. Magwitch is our mystery person. At first we think Magwitch is a dangerous convict and we find him nasty as he threatens Pip but later we find out it was the “gentlemen” who blamed crimes on him. We find out that he is actually a good person. Pip made him stop his life of crimes and start earning money as a sheep farmer. He gives money to Pip so he can become a gentleman which he thinks the money is from Miss. Havisham. We also find out that Estella is actually his daughter. The reader thinks Mrs. Joe is very mean and they think this throughout the whole novel. Joe is a kind person who is a real “gentleman” and we think this all the way. We also think he is not a defender as he lets Mrs. Joe boss him around all the time. Pip seems to have one bad experience after another and this makes us feel really sorry. We feel like we want to be there to help him and comfort him. Pip is repeatedly in danger. The order of events created by Dickens makes us want to read on because he uses cliff hangers which make us want to know the ending so we read on until we find the out the ending however in between it Dickens adds in another theme which turns out to be a cliff hanger to. This makes the reader read on until the whole novel is finished.

In conclusion Dickens has adapted the opening of “Great Expectations” to the best format to when it was first published. He has done this by making sure there is very good details which creates an image and the atmosphere for the reader. Dickens also uses first person and this makes the reader feel much closer with Pip. When Dickens published this novel, it was in Victorian times and Victorians have very good imagination therefore this format suits the time and audience then. However now days we don’t have as well developed imagination as them as there are films to watch therefore it isn’t suitable now because the reader would get bored quickly due to lack of action and the amount of description in it.