The Opening Chapters of Great Expectation by Dickens

The Opening Chapters of Great Expectation by Dickens

"Great Expectation" is a book by Charles Dickens written in weekly

instalments between December 1860 and August 1861. Charles Dickens has

also written many other famous books such as "Oliver Twist", "The

christmas carols", and "David Copperfield".

When I read the opening chapters to a book, I like to read one with a

bit of mystery in it, keeping it realistic but still having a strange

and odd feel about it too. It must be able to give a mental image of

the characters. A bit of dialogue should also be used as a lot of

description can be very boring. To create a bit of action it should

end with a cliff hanger.

In "Great Expectations", Charles Dickens began by introducing the main

character Pip. Pip's family is described and then another character is

introduced. He is described with a lot of descriptive language which

helps to create a mental image of the person. His name is not

mentioned which creates a bit of mystery. The dialogue also tells us a

lot about the character. The end of the chapter leaves us wanting to

continue the story.

The main character Pip was introduced first. We find a bit about his

family. Pip's full name is Philip Pirrip, but he was called Pip. We

find out he was a orphan when he was young as he said, "I never saw my

mother or father." He had also lost five brothers but has one sister

who is married to a blacksmith.

Next, after Pip, a mystery man is introduced. We find out nothing of

the character except how he looked when Pip first saw him. He was

dressed in grey clothes and had an iron on his leg, which showed he

was a prisoner that was attached to a chain gang or ball. From the

language he used we can tell he was uneducated. At first he began by

threatening Pip, until he realised Pip could be a use to him, so the

convict asked Pip to help him.