Great Expectations Essay, Research Paper

In a well-written essay, analyze why Pip is vulnerable to Miss Havisham and how

she works to achieve her objective on him.

In the novel Great Expectations, Pip is the main character in the story. He is a

young boy who lives with his sister and her husband. They all work very hard to live in

suitable conditions. Therefore, when Miss Havisham, a queer old woman, asks for Pip to

come to her house and play, Pip is sent immediately. Mrs. Joe, Pip?s sister and mr.

Pumblechook see this as a perfect opportunity for Pip to earn more money for the family.

Miss Havisham is very wealthy and with her lives a young girl, named Estella.

Estella is very pretty and intentionally rude to Pip. Pip?s purpose of being sent to Miss

Havisham is not exactly to play but rather to see how much stronger Estella is in

comparison to Pip and also to hurt Pip the way she was hurt by her loved one many years

ago. Estella behaves this way because she learned it from her mother figure Miss

Havisham. Miss Havisham used Estella to avenge wrongs done to her.

At this point in the novel, Pip is the target of avenge. He is hurt by Estella?s

brutality towards him. She makes nasty comments about his life style, his clothes, and

his future. For example she calls him a common laboring-boy with coarse hands and

thick boots. She thrives on these remarks and Pip?s reactions to them. But with each

hurtful remark she throws at him, he begins to learn to bury the pain inside so she would

not be able to see it.

Pip is a loyal boy to his sister and to Joe. He demeans himself and takes the

insults thrown at him. He becomes vulnerable to Miss Havisham because he has no other

choice. He becomes vulnerable to Miss Havisham because she is rich, uncommon,

well-learned, and because Pip is hoping that she will pay for his education. Although he

submits himself to discomfort, he gets nothing in return. He is still harassed by his sister

and is scarred from the insults.

The novel portrays Pip as an abused child. He is very faithful to the people that

surround him. Especially to his sister and Miss Havisham. Through his experience with

the uncommon people, he becomes selfish and mad for the way he was raised up and no

longer wants to learn Joe?s trade. This change of attitude makes life for Pip harder and

somehow unbearable

Bibliography

clarlto, clay 1978 premmington press

barker, tomas 1981 regalton printing