Charles Dickenss Great Expectations - Book Report/Review Example

Whether as a boy or a man, Dickens portrays Pip as an idealist who wants to be rich. Dickens also uses Miss Havisham as Pip's glimpse of the future, the future that doesn't always coincide with one's dreams. The start and finish of the two chapters show Pip's different moods; the author writes exactly what goes through Pip's mind at each part of not only within one chapter, but also to compare chapters eight and chapter 29. At the start of chapter eight, he thinks about trivial things, such as how happy Mr.

Pumblechook must be because of the little quantity of drawers he has in his shop, and having "discovered a singular affinity between seed and corduroys" (Dickens, p. 64). Another example of Pip's mental frivolity is when he and Mr. Pumblechook sit down for breakfast at the start of chapter eight. Pip tells his reader he is bored with Mr. Pumblechook because he conscientiously serves him a healthy breakfast and thoroughly quizzes Pip on multiplication tables. When Pip first meets Miss Havisham in chapter eight, he notes the wealth and beauty surrounding Miss Havisham, including her luxurious jewellery and the bridal gown she wears.

Yet a paragraph later, he realizes that her appearance is actually quite disturbing. It's an appearance that was once filled with beauty, joy, and sheen, but now is aging and dismal. He notes the faded colour and worn-out fabric of her bridal gown. He notes how the gown looks on her. She once had a healthy figure, but it is now frail, almost as though she is a walking corpse. The gown now hangs over her body. Miss Havisham represents the once happy and nave dreams that have, over the years, become cynical reality.

In other words, when the Pip meets Miss Havisham for the first time, he is seeing his future self. When Miss Havisham speaks to Pip for the first time, she complains about her depression. The first thing she tells Pip to do is feel her chest for her shattered heart. She is so used to her despair that she can switch between encouragements for Pip to play with Estella andher complaints, and not really see that her eccentricity bothers Pip. Miss Havisham is confused about her perception of life.

Her perception somewhat confuses Pip too, as he doesn't know whether to feel happy or sad. Miss Havisham is confused because her insight of life is trapped between reality and fantasy. By living with the thought that her fianc abandoned her on her wedding day, she is living with the reality that there is no such thing as happy endings, as opposed to her youthful self's dreams. However, she cannot live in reality because her absorption with her past dreams prevents her from moving on with her life.

In chapter 29, Pip makes yet another visit to Miss Havisham's estate. Dickens repeats many of the similar events from chapter eight in chapter 29 to better compare the degrees of Pip's mental alteration. The adult Pip is basically the same person in chapter 29. Despite the fact that he has changed his appearance such as wearing much better shoes, Pip remains a romantic. He vividly recalls the area of Miss Havisham's home where he first roamed there with his clunky shoes: "Upon that I turned down the long passage which I had first trodden in my thick boots" (p. 286). In chapter 29, Pip has obtained