The Range of Devices Charles Dickens Uses to Engage the Interest of the Reader in the Opening Chapters of Great Expectations

The Range of Devices Charles Dickens Uses to Engage the Interest of the Reader in the Opening Chapters of Great Expectations

The novel "Great Expectations" was written by Charles Dickens who

opens the novel by engaging the reader's interest. This is important

because if the opening chapters of any novel are not interesting, then

the reader is not going to read it and develop a negative attitude

towards it.

Charles Dickens very successfully uses different kinds of devices to

make the reader carry on reading. This makes it interesting for the

reader. He usually uses cliffhangers at the end of chapters because

there used to be a serial of novels being published for every chapter

in his days. This encouraged the reader to buy the next issue and keep

on reading it. Dickens also used to tour the country reading out his

stories to large audiences, which meant he needed to write top quality

novels and end in cliffhangers.

The evocative sense of the setting in the first few chapters of "Great

Expectations" described by Dickens creates a melancholy scene. He uses

places like "marsh country," which creates a dark and gloomy

atmosphere to prepare us for Pip's unpleasant experience. Dickens also

uses words like "raw," "nettles," "dead and buried," and "savage," to

create a feeling of discomfort and unease.

The story starts in a graveyard, which instantly gives us a dreary

feeling. Pip goes there to see his five young brothers and parent's

graves. The reaction we would have after reading about Pip's siblings

would be very different than the reaction of the Victorians because we

are not used to their siblings dying early. We would have a diffe...

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...nger because anyone reading it would want to read the next

chapter and find out what has happened. It is very useful because it

engages the reader's mind in the story and makes him/her continue

reading.

I, personally as a reader would find the description of the setting,

the characters and the scene with Pip and convict entertaining in

these opening chapters of "Great Expectations". I think most of the

other readers would find them interesting as well. I would want to

read on further into the book because the description of the

characters made me feel really close to them and I want to find out

what happens to them after all and also will Pip get out of this mess?

If yes, then how? These are the questions I really want to find out

the answers of and are very strong reasons for me to read on further

into the book.