Use of Language to Establish the Environment of Great Expectations

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How does Dickens use language and other techniques to establish the

environment, setting and characters in the opening chapter of Great

Expectations?

In the novel Great Expectations Charles Dickens has tried to establish

the following aspects in the opening chapter: environment, setting and

character. He has introduced to the reader the two main characters of

the novel, Magwitch and Pip. With the introduction of each character,

we have a background to their life, for example we find out that both

of Pips parents have died, and that Magwitch has escaped from prison.

The main plot of this book is about a boy whom everyone had great

expectations for.

The opening chapter of any novel is important because it introduces us

to all of the main characters, and without this introduction we might

not realise what they have already been through, and it would be hard

to understand the character properly.

Dickens has chosen to set the opening chapter in a graveyard because

it gives us an insight into Pip’s background. Without this background

information, we would not feel as sorry for Pip, as we wouldn’t know

that both his parents were dead we know they are dead because Pip says

“as I never saw my mother or father” from this quote alone we can see

that Pips life hasn’t been a very happy one.

Great Expectations can be used to assume that Dickens’s life wasn’t a

very happy one either. Charles Dickens was sent to debtor’s prison

with his father when he was a young boy. Whenever he describes it, he

described it as horrible and disgusting. Its almost like Dickens is

using his own experience in jail to help the book seem depressing. We

can tell this because he says; “growing afraid of it all and beginning

to cry…was Pip” this shows us what kind of life that Dickens had.

Dickens has established the character Pip Very well by repeating his

name over again, he has done this to make it seem very childlike, as

this book was written as a child’s perspective, “Pip so I called

myself Pip” This point has come across well ass it makes us realise

that Pip is a little boy, as not many adults would constantly repeat

their name.

In the opening chapter, we feel sorry for Pip as we find out that his

parents are no longer alive. We know this because Pip says,

“unreasonably derived for their tombstones” We feel sorry for him as

now we realise that he has no parents and that he is alone in the

world.

It is very possible for the reader to feel both revulsion and sympathy

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