Use of Blacksmithing Language in Great Expectations

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Charles Dickens unified his novel Great Expectations through the prevalence of blacksmith characters and his repetitive use of blacksmithing language. The main character, Pip, grows up at a forge and during his time there learns that language. During his time in London, Pip becomes able to apply that terminology to the world outside of the forge. Pip repeatedly links together information and then forges connections to make sense of the world around him.

For Pip to learn to make these links, Charles Dickens created two early influences for him in Great Expectations. As a young boy growing up at the forge, Pip's male role models were his brother-in-law, Joe Gargery, and the journeyman blacksmith, Dolge Orlick. However, the impression these men make on Pip differs. He considers them opposites and leads his audience to the same conclusion.

Pip's education and molding is altered by meeting Magwitch, Miss Havisham, and Estella. According to Paul Pickrel, "In the normal course of events he will be apprenticed to his brother-in-law, the blacksmith Joe Gargery; he will learn blacksmithing, and he will live out his days working beside Joe at the forge, perhaps someday marrying Biddy" (159). However, meeting Magwitch, Miss Havisham, and Estella makes Pip want something more.

When Pip first encounters Magwitch, he tells him that he lives with his sister - "wife of Joe Gargery, the blacksmith" (25; ch. 1). Magwitch, realizing that the boy may be able to provide more than food, asks him if he knows "what a file is" (25; ch. 1). Pip does. He also knows where to find one (35; ch. 2). At that point in his life Pip was familiar and comfortable with his life at the forge. Pip explains that...

... middle of paper ...

...05). With or without Estella, at the end of the novel Pip is finally free.

Works Cited

Axton, William F. "Great Expectations: Yet Again." Dickens Studies Annual 2 (1972): 278-93.

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Ed. Janice Carlisle. New York: Bedford, 1996.

Hornback, Bert G. Great Expectations: A Novel of Friendship. Boston: Twayne, 1987.

---. "Noah's Arkitecture": A Study of Dickens's Mythology. Athens, OH: Ohio UP, 1972.

Pickrel, Paul. "Great Expectations." Dickens: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Martin Price. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice, 1967. 158-68.

Tick, Stanley. "Toward Jaggers." Dickens Studies Annual 5 (1976): 133-49.

Van Ghent, Dorothy. "The Dickens World: A View From Todgers's." Dickens: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Martin Price. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice, 1967. 24-38.

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