Great Expectations: session eight OPINION.

In chapter 44 I finally realize what I think was Dickens point when writing this Novel. We all have different Expectations for life. However, what does Expectations mean but what we want to get from life, what we can take from life and get away with it. For example in the novel: Mrs. Havisham wants revenge. She wants all the revenge she can get and nothing else. Estella... She wants to be loved or even better admired. If people don't admire her she becomes unhappy. The only reason this is her expectation is because she conformed to her guardian's expectation. Joe, a truly caring person, just wants Pip's life to be joyful and successful. If Joe can get this assurance out of life, he will be happy. Mrs. Joe wanted for her life to be peaceful and easy. She didn't want all of the responsibilities of the household. Dickens showed that some don't follow their dreams and end up becoming so conformed they turn into an object of society. Uncle Pumblechook, unlike Joe, wants all of the credit for Pip's fortune. People recognizing Pip's achievement through Pumblechook makes him happy. Of all these Expectations people have in life, Pip has the Greatest Expectation of all. Pip is the only one that seems to see that if you can get this out of life, then you should be happy and will be happy. This this is Love. All Pip wants is to be loved. He doesn't want the money, he doesn't want to conform to Society, he just wants to love and be loved in return. If Pip can find this love he knows he will have reached his Expectation and be Happy.

IF YOU DISAGREE, PLEASE RESPOND. I AM READY TO DEBATE.

Great Expectations (the seventh session) Response

I think that when Dickens decided to choose Abel as the convict's first name, it showed that Abel always got the short end of the stick. He may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time or maybe even aggravated someone with higher power. Such as Cain was irritated by Abel. For this cause of aggravation he was punished although he may have not "sinned".
Pip and Herbert need to get Abel out of England. For one, they don't want him to go to prison. And two, (most importantly) they don't want to get pulled down with him for aiding and abiding a criminal.
Compeyson is the younger convict that Pip saw with Magwitch the second time on the marshes. Magwitch wished he had paid more attention to Compeyson's partner because Compeyson became a bigger success than Magwitch. Compeyson would always have some control over Magwitch from that point on.

Great Expectations (the sixth session) Response.

Any time thoughout Pip's life when he was mean to someone in order to condemn them, it always just came back at him as a weakness. He may have tried to put someone down to defeat them, however he now realizes that it truly showed his intolerability to the person. This, in the long run, had a negative effect on Pip's life. This meanness started when he first moved to London.
Mr. Pumblechook believes that he deserves most of the credit for Pip's well being. The only reason he feels this is because he was the first person to take Pip to Ms. Havisham's house. However, Pip is starting to think that he may have been better off if he never even met Ms. Havisham. Still Pumblechook believes he is the founder of Pip's fortune, so he wants all the credit.
In chapter twenty nine Pip notices something about Estella. He sees that her guardian, Ms. Havisham, doesn't resemble her all that much. Pip starts to think that Estella may not be a direct descendant of Ms. H. Later he finds out that she is not.

Great Expectations (the fifth session) Response

When Pip first walks through London, it was not what he expected. Pip expected such a great city with many joyous, wealthy people. However there were many poor people and people were being prosecuted right in the middle of town. This is Dickens trying to tell society that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Herbert Pocket, Pip realizes, was the pale young boy he fought in the courtyard of Miss Havisham's house.
When Pip goes to shake hands with Wemmick, Wemmick doesn't stick his hand out. He tells Pip that he has got out of the habit of shaking hands.
Wemmick is Jagger's assistant. At work, Wemmick is very strict and precise, however at home is a very joyful, relaxed man.

Great Expectations (The fourth session) Response

Joe is awarding Pip with a half-holiday. When Dodge hears about this he becomes angry and jealous of Pip. Dodge's argument is that he could put the half-holiday to better use than Pip can. With Joe's decision being unchanged, Dodge throws a fit. Mrs. Joe hears the argument from outside. She decides to get into the argument and becomes fed up with Dodge. Even though all of this occurred, Dodge still continues to blacksmith under Joe.

After Pip's half holiday he spent going around town, he comes home to find his sister beaten and on the floor in her own blood. The only thing left at the crime scene was a shackle. Perhaps the shackle of the convict that Pip helped earlier in his life. Pip feels guilty about the crime because he knows he helped to remove the shackle from the convicts leg. Pip has only two suspects in mind... Dodge Orlick or the strange man he met with at the pup.

Pip and Biddy have know each other for a few years now. Pip has an acute love for Biddy that he has never realized before. He know it is her personality that he loves. However, he still loves Estella's beauty more than Biddy's charm.

Mr. Jaggers has offered Pip the opportunity to go to London with him and become a gentleman. Pip finds the idea splendid. He agrees to Jaggers offer of leaving his home and moving to London for quite a while. However, Pip must end his apprenticeship under Joe.

After that agreement, Pip feels somewhat guilty about leaving but not enough to hold him back. Biddy moves in with them to help Joe with Mrs. Joe. Joe and Biddy are sad to see him go, (Mrs. Joe's emotion about Pip leaving isn't shown probably because of her injury) but they know it will benefit him greatly.

Great Expectations (The Third Session) Response

Estella, an adoptee of Ms. Havisham, is brought of to be cruel and unrespectful to all men. Even though Estella has an absolutely putrid personality, Pip still loves her because of her beauty. Ms. Havisham, Estella's gaudian, is a very strange woman in Pip's eyes. She is very ritsy and also very depressed. Ever since her husband "left her at the alter", she has had bizzare outlooks on life. She just wants to live in the past, and that is all she does. The only thing she thinks about for the future is that when she dies, she will be place on the tabel in one of the rooms in her house. Also in this room is her wedding cake and a few other wedding items.
When Pip's sister and Uncle Pumblechook ask about his first visit to Ms. Havisham, he must lie to avoid being beaten. If he tells his sister that he didn't do what Ms. Havisham asked of him she would become furious. Pip's guilt causes him to tell Joe his secret. Joe is forgiving of Pip but he tells him not to ever lie again. Later at the pub Joe is sitting with a stranger. When Pip joins them, the strange man sneekily pulls out the blacksmith file so only Pip can see. Pip is curious.

Reading Assignment One: Response

Pip meets a convict in the churchyard. The convict doesn't look too peasent. He has an artificial leg and shakles. He orders Pip to get him food and a file. If Pip doesn't complete this task the convict has threatened to rip out his heart and liver. Pip, afraid of the threat, follows the convicts orders.
Pip is under the careful watch of his sister and her husband Joe Gargery. Pip's is fearful of his sister because she is mean to him and she beats him. However Joe on the other hand is a role model to Pip. Joe is friendly and supportive of Pip. He is the only thing that keeps Pip's selfesteem up.