Sympathy for Pip in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

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Sympathy for Pip in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

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Great Expectations is a novel in which each character is a subject of either sympathy or scorn. Charles Dickens implies through his use of guilt and suffering that Pip is a subject of sympathy. Frazier Russell wrote that in Great Expectations "the protagonist (through his suffering and disappointment), learns to accept his station in life."( Also through Pip's suffering comes the sympathy the reader feels for him. The majority of the suffering Pip is subject to in the novel is a result of the guilt he feels. As a child he suffers under an unfair burden of guilt placed on him by his sister. He also feels guilty because of his association with criminals and criminal activity throughout his life. During the second part of the novel, Pip falls from innocence into snobbery. Because of the double narrative Dickens chose to employ, the reader never loses sympathy for Pip. His final redemption comes when he is able to see his faults and recognize that he is guilty of snobbery.

As a child, Pip is pitied by the reader because of his situation as the younger brother of

Mrs. Joe, by whom he is constantly tormented. Mrs. Joe's treatment of Pip is not only

unjust, but it influences Pip's view of himself and establishes in him a sense of guilt for

merely existing. Pip is constantly feeling guilty and suffering because he is led to believe

that his life causes nothing but grief and evil to those around him. Mrs. Joe uses threats

of punishment and accusations of ingratitude to keep Pip silent and well-behaved: " 'I tell

you what, young fellow,' said she, 'I didn't bring you ...

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...London: Macmillan, 1966.

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York: Signet Classic, 1961.

French, A.L. "Old Pip: The Ending of Great Expectations." Essays in Criticism__, no.__.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 357- 360.

Moynahan, Julian. "The Hero's Guilt: The Case of Great Expectations." Discussions of Charles Dickens, 82-92. William R. Clark, ed. Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1961.

Partlow, Robert B., Jr. "The Moving I: A Study of the Point of View in Great Expectations." Assessing Great Expectations, 194-201. Richard Lettis and William E. Morris, ed. San Fransisco: Chandler Publishing Company, 1960.

Russell, Frazier. " 'When I Was A Child'- An Introduction to Great Expectations." Yahoo Homepage, 1. Penguin Reading Guides, 7 Nov. 2000. www.penguinputnam.com/academic/classics/rguides/dickens/frame.html.

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