Great Expectations

             The famous British novelist Fay Weldon once said this about happy endings, "The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events- a marriage or a last minute rescue from death- but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death." Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations uses symbolism, irony, and imagery to illustrate that Pip, the main character and narrator, will evidently live a "happy ending." Dickens lead builds his themes and plots so that the reader ultimately guesses the wrong outcome for Pit, which is not the traditional ending of a Victorian novel.
             The novel begins with the main characters want for a moral self- improvement. In the first few pages of the novel, Pip has been introduced to a man while visiting his parents' grave site. Pip describes this man as "a fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg." The reader can see that Pip has been introduced to a man who symbolizes crime and evil deeds. Because of the placement of the symbol in the text, being very close to the front of the novel, the reader can see that Pip will continuously be confronted with his conscience. However, Pip continues to describe the convict as:
             "A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with and old rag tied around his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled, and whose teeth chattered in his head.."
             Though the man is a convict, and can be paired with the crimes of the world, Dicken's created an image of a man who is relatively harmless. The phrase "...no hat, and with broken shoes," shows t...

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Great Expectations. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 12:07, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/78705.html