Reading Assignment 4

Throughout Pip's visits with Ms. Havisham, she had been subtly putting the idea of greatness into his head. Eventually, the message gets through to Pip after she invites Joe to come along with Pip on one of his visits. For a long time, Pip had been excited to be apprenticed to Joe. Now, Ms. Havisham made him realize that it is far too common and could never impress Estella with that occupation. Pip really becomes turned off to lower class life after realizing that he must do better to grab Estella's attention. He becomes dissatisfied with his entire lifestyle.

Eventually, Pip along with another named Dogle Orlick become Joe's apprentices. Dogle is basically a complainer who never shuts up about anything. One day when Pip wanted to take a day off to visit Ms. Havisham, Joe granted his wish without thinking much of it. Dogle exploaded by this and demanded that he have a holiday also. After fighting just about everyone around, he got what he wanted. So on his day off, Pip went to Ms. Havisham's where he was handed more money. Every time he goes over there he becomes more discontent with his current life. He realizes that he will try to become a gentleman to win over Estella.

While everyone is away Mrs. Joe is attacked and left her brain damaged. The only thing left at the scene was a piece of iron that was used to beat her with. To compensate for the loss of Mrs. Joe, Biddy moves in and takes her place. Over time, Biddy and Pip become closer as friends.

At the Three Jolly Bergmen, Mr. Wapsle read aloud a newspaper article about a murder. He read it loudly and dramatically. After he was done, a stranger confronted him telling him he had no position to judge other people. He was put on the spot and could not handle the stranger's questions. He realized that he was in a hole and could not be trusted anymore.

At the bar, Mr. Jaggers stepped up to Joe saying he needed to talk to Pip immediately. An unnamed source had given Pip a very large amount of wealth and property. To receive this fortune he would have to go to London to be schooled on being a gentleman. At first he was eccstatic because he knew he had a chance with Estella. Later, he was saddened by the fact that he would be leaving Joe and Biddy. Pip decided to visit Ms. Havisham one more time before he left. His inclination that Ms. Havisham was the "unnamed source" that left him his fortune only strengthened when she somehow knew about his money before he told her. He said his goodbyes to everyone and headed off for London.

I think that the last past of this section (where Pip was given the money) symbolized that although middle and lower class families faced tough times in the industrial revolution that many times they were given great and unexpected opportunities to rise up and make something of themselves.

Reading Assignment 3

Joe's Uncle Pumblechook showed thoughtfulness and hospitality by going out on a limb and suggesting Pip when he is asked to get someone to wait on Ms. Havisham. During the first few visits, the only thing Pip gets out of visiting the Satis House is the need to be more than he is to impress Estella. Right now he is only a low class peasant. He thinks that he must become a gentleman to get her attention. Ms. Havisham is what you could call the average slightly insane old lady. She holds a grudge and constantly lives in the past. Everything around her can be traced back somehow to the time when she was sopposed to be married. She is always in jewelry and her wedding dress. She has the untouched cake sitting on a table rotting away and the clocks stopped to what I think was going to be the time of the wedding. After his visit, Pip lies to his family about the whole thing. He said that Ms. Havisham was a young, thin, attractive woman and they did all sorts of fun activities together. He said that for a day he enjoyed the the life style of the rich. Pip was already feeling useless enough already so he lied to make it look like the trip was a let down. Joe is the only one Pip is confortable sharing the truth with. He is shocked and a bit deflated by the news but he is more disappointed in Pip for lying. He is able to get over it and let Pip off the hook with a warning.

While Pip and Joe were at the Three Jolly Bargemen bar, they encounter a strange man. Pip would have thought nothing of it except he saw the man stirring his drink with Joe's file. He buys Joe a drink and questions about Pip. At the end of the meeting, he gives Pip a shilling wrapped in paper. At home they realized the paper was one pound notes.

On his way up the stairs to meet Ms. Havisham, he meets a man on his way down. He is a bit intrusive for questioning Pip and invading his personal space. He was a strong balding man who seemed like he did not trust Pip and had no business even conversing with Pip. When Pip wanders out to the garden, he is confronted by a pale young gentleman. He asks how he got here and asked to fight from out of nowhere. Pip throws the first punch and dominated the fight. Estella gave him new respect for his assertiveness and will to not back down to the upper class. Over the course of Pip's visits he realizes that he does not have to settle for what's dealt to him. Ms. Havisham forms the base for his "Great Expectations".

Reading Assignment 2

After smuggling the the food and the file from his house, Pip snuck around the forest in search of the convict. When he sees a man lying on the ground he assumes that this must be the man he is looking for. He awakens the man who turns out to be a different convict. They are both freightened by each other's presence and flee the scene. Eventually, he is able to find the convict he is looking for, making his theft is complete. He is able to rush home in time for Christmas mass and nobody noticed that he had done anything wrong. However, the next day is a different story.

The Gargerys had invited a few friends from the church over for a Christmas Day dinner. They are a low class family so this was just about the only thing they could do to celebrate. Pip knew that his secret was about to explode in his face. Throughout the entire dinner, he stayed on the edge of his seat waiting to be exposed. He really did not even notice that he was constantly a topic of conversation at dinner. He was attacked left and right by everyone at the table but he only thought about the pork pie. Once it is time for dessert and the pie, Pip's guilt becomes too much for him. Just as he is about to be exposed he takes off for the door but is intercepted by soldiers on the doorstep. For now, he was safe. Everyone was wrapped up in the chaos at the door and did not notice Mrs. Joe complaining.

The soldiers want Joe to make shackels to arrest the two convicts in. The people at the party take it one step further and help them search. The whole time Pip is concerned for the well being of the prisoner named Magwitch. After looking for hours and a bloody fight, both convicts are captured. Magwitch understands Pip did not sell him out and covers for him in the pork pie incident. Pip felt he should have told Joe the truth but he valued his trust too much. He was not about to risk it if he did not need to.

A few years later, Pip received the opportunity to to become in a way a hired friend to a rich yet mysterious woman named Miss Havisham. Pip expected to spend a few hours with a slim, attractive woman but found the complete opposite when he arrived. She spent her life sitting in a dark room in her wedding dress. Also the clocks on the property were stopped. Still, Pip learns that he does not have to settle for what he is meant to be in life. He can go out and do what he wants to do.

What's Up With Pip

Pip, an orphaned child, is at the cemetary wondering about who his parents were in the opening scene of the book. Once he is ready to conclude his visit, a dingy and mysterious man confronts him and grabs his attention by flipping him upside down. He openly says that he should be feared but has no interest in harming Pip. However, there is a man in the forest close by that is dying to get a piece of Pip. The first convict said that he is only holding the second back as long as he does a favor for them. Pip was to go into town and fetch a file to remove their shackels and some food. If he did not, he was threatened of having his heart and liver removed. To complete this task, Pip had to choose the lesser of two moral evils. He was forced to either let the convicts starve or steal from his sister whom is not fond of him in the first place.

His sister never finds any good within Pip and claims he is ungradeful for her beating him and bringing him "up by hand" whenever he questions her. She basically thinks Pip is just a burdon and a curse that was put upon her. Obviously, they do not have a loving relationship.

Joe is Pip's brother-in-law but acts as his father figure. He understands Pip and seems to be the only person in Pip's life that he trusts. Whenever he is in a situation, Joe somewhat absorbes the blow by comforting him. Without Joe, Pip would be lost. His life would have no bright spots.

Eventually, Pip decides to steal a pork pie and a bottle of alcohol and give it to the convicts. The decision constantly haunts him becuase he knows that he has done wrong. As the days passed, no one noticed that anything was missing. On Christmas Eve, the family invites members of the church over for dinner. Nobody noticed that the pie and wine were stolen but Pip knew that they soon would. All throughout dinner he worried about everyone finding out about what he did. As the day went on, the guilt built more and more. Eventually, it became too much for him to handle and he ran for the door. He was stopped by soldiers on his doorstep asking for Joe. They needed his help to build shackels for when they found the convicts that Pip helped survive. The prisoners were found and Pip was basically left off of the hook.

Times of Prosperity and Despair

_____Born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth Hampshire, Charles was the second of eight children. His family, not rich still brought in a descent income. He attended private school and loved to read as a kid. When he was 12, his father was arrested and Dickens had to fend for himself to a certain extent. In 1834 he was given a job as a political journalist for the Morning Chronicle, a paper in Britian. His first book, "Pickwick Papers", published in 1836 showed the world his sense of social satire and knowledge of the people.

Great Expectations and the Industrial Revolution

_____In 1861, he wrote the book "Great Expectations". The book showed the unjust treatments of the lower class from the social heirarchy. In the industrial revolution, industry boomed and companies mass-produced what they sold by creating machines that did the job just as well as people. In additionto having machines, more middle class citizens were hired to really make the economy jump. The increase in jobs allowed the income of the middle class to soar. Unfortunately, business owners became so greedy that they forced child labor and basically paid them nothing. Along with children, the individuals who worked in small based businesses and focused on a specific trade(blacksmiths) also got the short end of the stick. They had nowhere to turn. Their customers were taken by the larger companies which means their profit went out the window as well. The middle to upper class thrived while the lower class fell and was stomped upon just like Dickens portrays in the book.