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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