What I Think About "Great Expectations"

This story was very hard to get through. The time it took to set up the action of the story dragged out for such a long period of time that even i wouldn't have read it enough to get to the good part, and i have a lot of patience for reading slow books. The writing and word choice and meanings behind words that's put into this book is pretty amazing though, and once you are past all the explanations and groundwork the mysteries that are solved puts an exciting and interesting end to the book. The mysteries really appealed to me because mystery novels are my favorite style of writing. So being able to infer some of the mystery's endings and get them right gives me a sort of satisfaction. I also love how all the loose ends of this story seem to be neatly tied up at the end. I do happen to prefer the original ending Charles Dickens wrote though, the new ending seemed extremely abrupt and vague to me. The old one is also a happier ending and more fulfilling to me and my enjoyment for happily-ever-after endings. My reading habits, though, were far from what was required. I started off diligent, not knowing what to expect. But after a little while reading was so uninteresting that it became cumbersome instead of enjoyable. I found myself scanning over chapters in 5 minutes, or looking up Spark Notes in a flash, so that i can understand what we talk about in class. I did a lot of the work in my 1st period class, in a rushed haphazard way that showed nothing of what i am capable of. This knocked my comprehension of this novel down a lot for a long period of time, until i read and heard enough about what i had missed to understand the book more clearly. My procrastination is what tended to hurt my reading habits, which in turn hurt my comprehension, and in turn my grade. No i understand this i can do better in the future.

Pinocchio = Pip

Pinocchio and Pips life have a few similarities in the story line. Both of them are born into a hard, poor life and end up wishing for something better....for Pip it was wanting to be a gentleman, and for Pinocchio it was wanting to be a real boy. This is the main theme for both of these stories, but among the many hidden themes, they also share the theme of lying. The reaction of lying in both stories is fairly different...Pip feels guilty about it, and Pinocchio's nose grows longer. But both messages are the same; lying leads to problems in the future, and the truth is always found out. Another idea constant in both stories is the idea of family. Pip realizes how wrong being a gentleman is when he realizes he misses home, and being a fairly alone but rich gentleman is not near as enjoyable as being poor but surrounded by loved ones. Pinocchio finally becomes a boy when he does the right thing and tries to save his father figure (Geppetto). Altogether, these two stories have many themes in common, even though the story lines aren't exactly similar

Making Connections

There are a few themes that Great Expectaitions shares with To Kill a Mockingbird. For example, the theme of crime and punishment. In Great Expectations, theres the constant use of convicts and prison. Mr. Jaggers works with crimnals and Pip visits a prison and aids a convict. In To Kill a Mockingbird, most of the story is based around the trial of Tom Robinson and the crime he supposedly commited. To Kill a Mockingbird also shows the good and bad parts of society, the innocent present along with the evil. This is shown by the cruelty of characters like Bob Ewell, and the kindness displayed by Atticus.
Also the different sides of society is shown in Great Expectations, again through characters and their given personalities. Joe is very innocent and kind, sort of like a child. While, as Pip grows higher in the social status, he meets people like Mr. Drummle, who's cruel and unkind. Both Pip and Scout (who use nicknames rather than their real names) learn this lesson as they grow older and are exposed to these different parts of society. Also, both Pip and Scout are shown the idea of becoming a "lady" or a "gentleman"....Though the appeal of this is a lot less in the mind of Scout as it is in the mind of Pip.
So altogether, these two books cover many of the same themes...though in a very different story line is it shown.

Second Stage

When meeting Mr.Pocket Pip also came across Mr.Drummle and Mr. Startop. These are two people who are quite opposite of each other, and are a good example of contrast in this book. They also join Pip at the Pocket's for tutoring, and have the extremes in personalities. Startop is very kind and fun to be around, and eventually becomes one of Pip's friends. While Drummel is very cruel and tends to shower people with his hatred and anger. But beyond this you know near nothing about their lives. You dont know their families, where they're from, reasons they're there in the first place. This is one great mystery, as are many other things in this book.

A Link, Then a Chain

In this quote Pip is talking about how going to visit Miss Havisham changed his life. How this one small event manged to change everything he had previously lived for. Pip would never have been exposed to the life of a gentleman, a life other than the life of the poor, if he had not visited this rich woman's house. This idea of a gentleman has turned Pip into a miserable boy though. Now that he's been shown another way of life, he is no longer satisfied with the one he currently presides in. He spends decades trying to accomplish this goal of belonging in the same style of life as Miss Havisham, shaping his personality along with his social stature, all because of this first link in Pips chain.
The first link in my chain could be said to be my introduction into select soccer. Before then I played many sports for the fun of it and to stay a little active. But being introduced into a competitive atmosphere changed that. It grew on me, and I started to have a competitive nature too. It showed me discipline, hard work, teamwork, and confidence...things that I had really lacked before. I would not be the same outgoing and tough person I am today without this one link in my chain of life.

Question for chpts. 26-35

"So, he got into his place, still making complaints, and the keeper got into the place mext him, and the convicts gaule themselves up as well as they could, and the convict i had recogniized sat behind me with his breath on the hair of my head." (194)


Why did Pip have to ride with the likes of convicts? He has a lot of money, shouldn't he have the privilage of a whole coach to himself?