How does Dickens Create Sympathy For Pip in the First part of ‘Great Expectations’?

Part One


In the novel “Great Expectations”, Charles Dickens employs many techniques in order to invoke a feeling of sympathy for the character of Pip. The child, being an orphan who has been brought up by his older sister Mrs Joe Gargery ‘by hand’, is not a difficult boy to feel empathy for. In analysing the methods used by Dickens, I will focus chiefly on Chapters One and Eight.
The first chapter begins with Philip Pirrip introducing himself as the main character of the story. The words used to acquaint the reader and character immediately cause a wave of sympathy for the self-christened ‘Pip’ to wash over the reader.
“…so, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.”
The reader feels such pity because nobody should have to create a nickname for themselves, especially not a child. A pet-name should be presented by someone who considers the person (to whom the nickname will belong) a loved one, and ought to be given with affection. Although Pip christens himself such, his sister and her husband do adopt the use of the name, despite their lack of effort in choosing it.
Dickens use of double perspective in this novel is phenomenal. The manner in which the story is written is first person narrative; however it is not used in the conventional way. Dickens writes as Philip Pirrip, the older, and very much grown up version of the Pip. The proof of this is that a child of Pips age, around ten years, would not use such sophisticated language. “I am indebted for a belief I religiously entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers- pockets, and had never taken them out of this state of existence.”,
“…my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.” These are clearly the writings of a far more aged, intelligent man.
The way Philip tells the story of his childhood is almost with an air of mockery, directed at himself. He seems to tease himself and his childish ways; “Also Georgiana. That‘s my mother,” (said as though her name was ‘Also’)
“I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly.”. He evidently sees his younger state as something of a joke compared to the way he sees himself now. This causes the reader to feel defensive of the young Pip and sympathy thus. The utter disdain Philip holds for Pip also causes the reader to feel compassion for Mr and Mrs Joe Gargery and protective of the upbringing they gave to him, regardless of the quality.
The young Pip is very much alone in the world. His sister and her husband are essentially the only people he has. Mrs Gargery, being a hard, unfriendly woman, constantly complains of the burden Pip is upon her. She sees Pip as a ‘thorn in her side’, whereas (Mr) Joe (Gargery) sees Pip as more of a friend, simply because he appears to be in the same position as him. They are being ‘brought up by hand’ by Mrs Gargery, both in their eyes and in hers. Mrs Gargery is seen by readers as a surly character because she continually reminds the other members of the household of how useless she deems them. The reader also feels empathy for Pip because of the way he speaks of his late parents. Pip speaks of them with little affection, though this is not a callous lack of love on his part, it is simply because he knows nothing of them and never had the chance to grow up with them.
“There, sir!’ I timidly explained. ‘Also Georgiana. That’s my mother.”
The manner in which Dickens begins the novel shows at once the type of character Pip is. He is thrown straight into a dangerous and terrifying situation in which he demonstrates strong moral fibre.
As Pip is visiting his parents’ graves he comes upon, or rather is come upon by, an escaped convict who we later learn is called Magwitch. The convict displays unkindness to Pip, though it exerts little effort to see that Magwitch presents this behaviour only because he feels he must. The convict threatens Pip, “Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!” in order to ensure dominance over him. Magwitch then forces Pip to inform him of the location of his home, “Show us where you live,’ said the man. ‘Pint out the place!”.
Pip exhibits a calmness throughout the ordeal that few could sustain, and despite the rudeness and violence of Magwitch, he remains resolutely polite.
“O! Don’t cut my throat, sir,”, “If you would kindly please to let me keep upright, sir, perhaps I shouldn’t be sick, and perhaps I could attend more.”
This of course induces a feeling of sympathy for Pip, because it makes the reader feel that something in his childhood must have caused him to become so desensitised to such heartlessness.
The convict then demands of Pip ‘wittles’ and a file to be brought to him the following morning, before allowing him to leave. The way in which Pip conducts himself throughout the situation causes the reader to feel sympathetic towards him because he seems to be acquainted with violence and threats in a way no child, or anyone else, should be.
The setting and mood of the first chapter contribute greatly in encouraging the readers’ sympathy for Pip. For the mood portion of this method Dickens calls to use a technique entitled ‘pathetic fallacy’. This means that the weather and general feel of the setting reflect the mood of the character. This applies to Chapter One of ‘Great Expectations’ mostly because of Pips’ visit to his parents’ graves.
Despite never meeting his parents, Pip still feels grief when visiting them because they were just that. He feels tied to them emotionally purely because they were his parents, not because he misses them. Dickens reflects Pips’ mood with pathetic fallacy, he describes the despondent atmosphere and morose backdrop.
“…this bleak place overgrown with nettles…” “…the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard,”
The readers are made to feel pity for Pip, being in such an environment, therefore showing the effectiveness of this technique. However, Dickens also makes the surroundings seem actively hostile;
“…that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing,”.
With this last quote, Dickens engenders a feeling of fear, and consequently sympathy, for Pip by making the landscape itself seem intimidating and antagonistic.
The setting of Chapter One contributes to building sympathy for Pip because of the miserable location. The entire of Chapter One is set in a churchyard which easily lends a sense of depression to the atmosphere that requires no further description or explanation. This causes the reader to feel sympathy for Pip for the same reason as earlier stated, no child should be in such an environment, particularly whilst alone. The time in which ‘Great Expectations’ is set is that to which pirates, convicts, gibbets and the mispronunciation of the word ‘wittles’ (vittles - vitals) belong. This time, in itself gives the story a sense of the gloominess and makes the reader realise the hard times Pip lived in.
Dickens sustained use of emotive and sophisticated language throughout Chapter One adds to the sympathy for Pip. Dickens choice of words encourage the readers to feel sympathy for Pip because they give a downhearted atmosphere, and because they make Pip seem valiant despite hardship. Such words are included in Dickens’ description of the churchyard, “bleak place”, “dark flat wilderness”, and also when describing Pip in the same location. Later in the chapter, Dickens further uses such language in order to portray the cruelty of Magwitch.

Part Two

Chapter eight of the novel ‘Great Expectations’ scripts an extreme turning point in the life of Pip. Dickens describes a visit to Satis House, the self-imposed prison-home of Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella, from the perspective of Pip. During the visit Pip is exposed to a very different lifestyle than the one to which he is accustomed.
Throughout chapter eight, Dickens uses the setting and general mood of Satis House to create sympathy for Pip. The house and adjacent brewery both give off the impression of neglected grandeur and appear to be decaying, though it is not possible for inanimate objects to do such a thing. Satis House itself almost seems to be alive in that it gives off a feeling of complete misery and suffering, because it appears to have been abandoned. There are plentiful amounts of evidence to back this up;
“…all was empty and disused. The cold wind seemed to blow colder here than outside the gate”,
“…the place will stand idle as it is, till it falls.”.
The effect this has on Pip is substantial; it gives him a very strong feeling of foreboding and despair, as though he has become lost to the world. The deterioration of the house and surrounding areas creates an idea of time having halted, as though it had become that way suddenly. The sense of time being halted is furthered by the fact that Miss Havisham has stopped every clock and watch inside the house, leaving them to forever show 8:40.
The irony of the manor lies with its name; Satis House. The name is of Latin origin and means simply, ‘Enough House’. The Latin word ‘Satis’ is probably the very same that developed the British word ‘satisfactory’, as many of our words have been taken from Latin and other languages. The name also meant that whoever was in possession of the house could want nothing else. Ironically the landlady’s adopted daughter Estella feels that the estate is extremely unsatisfactory.
“They must have been easily satisfied in those days, I should think.” 
Towards the end of the chapter Dickens confronts Pip with a terrifying situation.
As he is looking about the brewery-yard Pip sees a figure strangely akin to Miss Havisham herself, hanging from a beam. This of course frightens Pip, as it would any child, and causes him to run in terror. The reason that this causes the reader to feel sympathy for Pip is obvious; nobody wishes a child to be frightened so.
“I saw a figure hanging there by the neck.”
“The face was Miss Havisham’s,”
The manner in which Dickens writes of the event also adds to the mystery and supposed secrecy of Satis House, in that he uses imagery that imparts a feeling of such. Despite the actual words used being almost everyday, such as “strange” “dimmed” and “frosty light”, the effect on the reader is far more sophisticated. The reader is made to feel as though the area is misty or hazed, though not in the physical sense, just as in most documented supernatural occurrences. The language helps to give off the feeling of apprehension before Pip sees the vision, so the reader senses that something is about to happen, though they are still oblivious as to what.
Further through Chapter Eight, Dickens begins to use characterisation to appeal to the sympathies of the reader. One character Dickens uses in such a way is the extraordinary Miss Havisham. The story of Miss Havishams’ life seems simple, however we learn that it is somewhat complex, as we further acquaint ourselves with the tale. The first impression of Miss Havisham that Pip, and consequently the reader, perceives is that she is a strange, mysterious woman, who has become a recluse over the passing years. However, as the reader follows Pip through this encounter, it soon becomes apparent that a tragic event in Miss Havishams’ history brought this solitary lifestyle upon her. The reason this becomes so abundantly clear, is because of the manner in which she is clothed and disarray of the room in which she resides.
“She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on - the other was on the table near her hand - her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on,”
“…her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a Prayer-Book, all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass.”
Further support of this lies with the various timepieces about the room, and the peculiarity of the fact that each shows only ‘twenty-to-nine’.
“…and saw that her watch had stopped at twenty minuets to nine, and that a clock in the room had stopped at twenty minutes to nine.”
The readers may feel sympathy for Pip because he is in the company of such an unusual woman, who keeps such quarters.
Miss Havisham herself holds a very eccentric appearance. She is half-clothed (as stated earlier), and is almost cadaverous in her demeanour. The garments that she bears are indeed finery, though they have long lost their lustre. The language Dickens uses to describe her, again adds to the general impression perceived by the reader.
Dickens uses vocabulary such as “withered” “faded” “shrunk” in order to give the required effect.
“I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes.”
This shows that Miss Havisham has withered over time, although her current state of living came about very abruptly, as shown by the frozen watches.
Dickens further describes her living decay later in the chapter; “So she sat, corpse-like, as we played at cards.”
This may instil a feeling of sympathy for Pip within the reader, because to be around such a person, for a child, would be very alarming.
The behaviour of Miss Havisham is further reason for the reader to feel sympathetic for Pip. Dickens motive for the creation of the character Miss Havisham is clearly to antagonise Pip, and the reader, because she treats him in such a contemptuous manner. Throughout the encounter Miss Havisham acts as though she is more important, which by social-class standards many would argue she was, and superior to him.
“…with an impatient movement of the fingers of her right hand;”
The language used by Miss Havisham seems courteous enough, however it holds a subtle hint of condescension. She treats him as an inferior being, in that she speaks in imperatives and repeats herself as though he is unintelligent. Her use of imperatives is extensive; “play, play, play!”
“Come nearer, let me look at you. Come close.” “Look at me,”.
The effect of this on Pip is that he feels substandard and mediocre in comparison to her. This gives the readers further reason to feel sympathy for Pip, because they begin to dislike the woman that caused him to feel such a way.
Another character Dickens devises to create sympathy in the minds of the readers is Miss Havishams’ adopted daughter Estella. This child is very much like Miss Havisham in her mannerisms, and in the scornful way she treats Pip. She behaves in much the same way as her adopted mother, in that she acts as though she is superior to Pip, because she is of a higher social class.
Estella’s’ appearance has a substantial effect on Pip, as he later admits to Miss Havisham. Estella is a young girl of his age, or thereabouts, whom Dickens describes simply as pretty.
“…who was very pretty and seemed very proud.”
Despite Dickens’ lack of description, Estella is instantly seen, in the minds of the readers, as a beautiful and important character. The readers begin to feel sympathy for Pip because of the apparent social class difference and because they know that it is unheard of for two people of separate classes to become more than friends, or acquaintances.
When they first meet, and as they walk through the grounds, Estella speaks with him in an almost friendly way, however this sociability quickly dissipates.
“You could drink without hurt all the strong beer that’s brewed there now, boy”
As they reach the manor house, Estella becomes frostier in her communications with Pip.
“Don’t be ridiculous, boy; I am not going in.”
The effect on readers of Estella’s’ curtness is again that which causes them to feel sympathetic towards Pip for having such a discourteous conversationalist.
At the end of the chapter, Estella treats Pip in a very unpleasant manner. She puts the food prepared for him onto the floor as though her were a dog, this makes Pip feel as though he is not good enough, wish is of course how Estella intended him to feel. Estella could almost be seen as vindictive and malicious in her attempts to dishearten Pip.
“You have been crying till you are half blind, and you are near crying again now.’
She laughed contemptuously”
In ‘Great Expectations’, Dickens concentrates chiefly on the differences of social class. He portrays how different each lifestyle is by showing the reader how Pips’ character changes with his social class. During his visit to Miss Havisham, Pip easily picks up on the differences between himself and her. Pip sees that he speaks in a very dissimilar way to Miss Havisham and Estella. For example, Pip was brought up to call Knaves of a deck, Jacks, whereas Estella and Miss Havisham speak the former.
“He calls the Knaves, Jacks, this boy!’ said Estella with disdain, before our first game was out.”
After Pip visits Miss Havisham and Estella, he becomes extremely dissatisfied with his own lifestyle, and begins to wish he could be a gentleman. Years after his first visit with Miss Havisham, Pip is given a chance to become a gentleman, which of course he accepts most appreciatively. However, as Pip becomes more and more gentlemanly, the reader begins to lose sympathy for him, because he forgets about Joe and Biddy (his sister already having passed away after a cruel beating from Orlick), and the life he had before. Despite this, Pip does eventually gain back the sympathies of the reader.
I think that the reason for Dickens focusing so completely upon the social class lies within his own history. Charles Dickens was born to a labouring class, and worked his own way up to a high-class gentleman status. I think that because of this, Dickens wanted to show the people of the time the similarities between people of all social classes, and how hard it is to work your way up. I believe that Dickens also wanted to show the true lives of gentleman at that time, and to reveal their façades.
Throughout the novel, Dickens uses the above techniques in order to raise a feeling of sympathy within the reader. I think that each method used, proved itself to be very effective in this purpose.

---

Everything written on this page, excluding any quotes taken directly from the Novel 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens, is property of me, [Duke Devlin]. Theft is not appreciated, and reports will be made immediately.

Would you like to turn