Great Expecations: Thoughts on Reading

1. Overall, I actually liked the book. At the beginning I was thinking, okay this could be good, but as the first stage went on Pip started to become such an annoying character that I didn't think I would be able to get through it. When the second stage started the writing was just so dry I just could not get into the book. As the third stage was coming closer and eventually came the plot started to pick up and get interesting with the arrival of Magwitch, and I was more excited to read. I thought the book was a good, it was just lengthy and hard to understand. I think Dickens is a good author, but he just makes too many metaphors at times. I like metaphors, but when there are four of them in one sentance it becomes confusing and hard to figure out what the sentance is actually about. I liked the desciptions of the settings, it made it easier to imagine. I has sympathy for Joe and Biddy because they were so sweet and happy and Pip was just so mean to them it made me sad. I actually guessed that the convict would be Pip's benefactor. I have been saying since Pip got his expecations. I was hoping that Pip would realize that he didn't need money and clothes to be happy in the end, so that came true. I did use Sparknotes, but I didn't read ahead and find out what happens.
2. I honestly read the whole book, and I did all the reading assignments on time. I would usually know that I would need to spend 20-25 minutes a night reading Great Expectations or doing the journal assignment. I  would always read and annotate at the same time. Usually this is the last homework I would do because then I could go straight to sleep. After I read and annotated, I would go on Sparknotes for the particular chapters and just make sure I understood everything correctly. I knew that if I fell behind in my reading it would be really hard to catch up, so I kept up the whole time. During the second stage I found it hard to find things to annotate, but there were some things I found occasionally. I think that if I had done my reading earlier in the day I might have understood it better because by the time I got around to reading I was really tired, but otherwise it wasn't that bad because I had Sparknotes as a back up in case I was really confused. I found that since I kept up with the daily reading it wasn't really a problem to stay with it because I was used to the daily reading. As for the journal I would usually do that as one of the first things I did for Thursday homework, just to get it out of the way. The journals really weren't that hard, it was just about looking through your annotations, and having good ones. Overall, my experience reading Great Expectations was good!

Great Expectations Photo Post

This is a picture of a boy growing into a man. I feel like this is the best way for me to describe Pip's growth, but I must say that though this shows physical growth (as Pip has), I don't feel like Pip has matured all that much. Pip's personality has definetely changed, but not necesarily in a positive way. When he was little he was small, naive, and with a strong coincience. Now he is bigger, but he has become arrogant and distainful. Yes, he has grown and changed, but he isn't all that much better. In fact its quite fair to say that he was a much more likeable character when he was the innocent little boy, rather than the smug Pip that we know at this stage of the book.

Making Connections

  In Great Expecations there are a lot of themes, but one stands out to me. That is finding satisfaction and happiness with whatever you have. Pip never seems to be content with what he has at any particular moment, and so he is always is looking for something better. He wants to get out of the forge and move on to becoming a gentleman, and when he gets that, he wants to be with Estella. These ideas are similiar to the movie Annie. In Annie the orphan, Annie, isn't happy living under the "care" of Miss Hannigan (similiar to Mrs. Joe). She longs to meet her real parents or to be adopted and leave the orphange. Unfortunately her parents (like Pip's) are dead. Annie tries to be happy with what she has, but still isn't satisfied. It isn't unlike people to want more than we have, but is a message in both of these. I don't know what will happen to Pip in Great Expecations, but I know that in Annie everything works out for her and she is very happy.

  Also in Annie is the theme of pentinance/crime and punishment as in Great Expectations shown with the convicts. In Annie Miss Hannigan's brother, Rooster, and his girlfriend, Lily St. Regis, break the law and Rooster actually tries to kill Annie. They are caught and sent to jail, as are the convicts imprisoned on the "hulks"(prison boats). This is a message that people are constantly reminded of; newspapers, radio, television, internet all broadcast the idea of paying for commiting a crime, so it's not an original idea in either of these tales.

  These two stories are similiar in many ways (same sort of main character, similiar plot line, common themes) and so I am hoping that Great Expectations will have as happy of an ending as Annie has. Everything works out for Annie, so I hope that it will for Pip, too. I also hope that Pip's character will turn around and things will start to look up for him because he isn't being the same sort of lovable character as Annie is!



Miss Hannigan talking to Annie in the 1982 movie.
Not my own picture.

Second Stage of Great Expectations

    In the second stage of Great Expectations there are many new characters that Pip encounters. One of these is the Pale Young Gentleman that he had previously fought with at Miss Havisham's house. This time they are introduced differently, and Pip learns that the Pale Young Gentleman is really Herbert Pocket. (pg. 173-175.) Pip and Herbert become friends at once and are so excited by this new friendship they decide to be roommates. This is a coincidence in the book because they had first met, Pip had been rather frightened of him, and then beat him in their fight (though when they meet again Herbert remembers himself winning). Herbert also agrees to help Pip with his manners to make him a better gentleman.
     The two boys meeting each other and becoming friends relates to the motifs we have been talking about in class of becoming a gentleman, and mystery. Herbert helps Pip with his manners and therein allowing him to be a better gentleman. This is good for Pip because Pip wants to be a gentleman so badly, but he is used to the manners from his lower class life. Pip is being taught by Herberts father, but more school type things rather than how to eat properly. Herbert also tells Pip about Miss Havisham and Estella. He clears up why she is in her wedding dress with the food rotting and the clocks stopped at 8:40. This is because the man she loved sent her a note on their wedding day at the exact time, and she has remained stuck there since. Herbert also tells Pip that Miss Havisham adopted Estella. That clears up some of the mystery surrounding Miss Havisham and Estella, but still leaves some holes. Who was the man that left Miss Havisham on their wedding day, and why did he decide to leave her and split money with her brother instead? How and when did Miss Havisham adopt Estella? These are all questions that are left open and continue the mystery motif created in the first stage.

Pips Life-Altering Day

      In this quotation, Pip is referring to that now he knows about the upper class society, he wants to be like that. He wants to be a gentlemen for Estella and Miss Havisham. He is ashamed of Joe and his lower class lifestyle. In the first nine chapters Pip is a young boy: sweet, innocent, and cute, but as he gets older he isn't so much so anymore. When he starts to become embarrassed of Joe he turns into a less like-able character. When he says he is ashamed of Joe's "commonality" he is just a bad character in the readers eyes because Joe is so kind. It is hard for the reader to see Joe criticized and therein the view of  Pip is changed. He has become a totally different character.
     A life-alterning day for me was the day I found out I had a bone cyst. It was when I was four so I don't really remember it that well. I know that it meant that I would have multiple surgeries over the following years of my life. I can't remember what happened that day very well, but has been described to me by family members since then. It seems that everyone in my family knew that this was a day that would change my life, and effect theirs. Now I have to deal with constant hip pains and soreness. I have built up scar tissue in my hip that makes it really tight. I have pain when I run and play soccer that makes it harder for me to play sometimes. I think that it is going to be a pain I have to live with for the rest of my life. It is just a bump in the road that I will have to overcome. To this day during my soccer games I will have hip pain, but I can play through it because of my love of the game.