Great Expectations
(Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations is a remarkably modern tale. The main characters are all judged primarily on appearances, and spend the entirety of the novel attempting to either live up to them, or overcome them. For example, the main character. Pip, is introduced as a child, and throughout the novel we see his child-like naiveté undermine his attempts to interact with the more serious influences in his life. This is particularly clear in his relationship with Miss Havisham: as soon as Pip begins to feel he knows her motivations and can predict her actions, she appears to change, when in fact it could almost be viewed as a lesson to him that people cannot be judged merely on appearances ? a message which surely resonates in today?s insular society.We see Pip grow, learn, make mistakes, re-make the same mistakes ? a lot like most of us do in life. We see him change and adapt to his surroundings, while still maintaining his characteristic flaws, like that child-like openness that every woman in his life feels the need to prey upon.His relationship with Magwitch is of a slightly different calibre. Here, Pip is not trying to live up to a reputation; instead, Magwitch?s actions begin to deconstruct the brutish criminal which we first see. In Magwitch?s eyes, Pip really is that gentlemanly figure that Pip strives to be ? and somehow it is this faith that Pip finds hardest to believe. Someone seeing you how you wish to be seen can be very daunting, as Pip finds ? there is nothing to rail against, no one to try and explain yourself to. Once that lack of understanding is removed, how much communication is possible between two people? This is something Pip finds out almost too late.Great Expectations is a tale of people attempting to adapt to unfamiliar situations and to interact with people who are at once similar and strangely distant. It is truly a tale worth telling.
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