Caution: Major spoilers
I had great expectations for this book, and I'm still not quite sure if it totally lived up to them. I recommend this book to anyone who can focus, enjoys classic and difficult literature, and who has a lot of time to read.
This is mostly a summary of the book because the literary analysis is when I get to talk about my feelings for the book and my knowledge of the characters.
Pip is the narrator and starts out as a young boy in the beginning of the book. His adopted father, Joe, is a kind blacksmith who shares a unique relationship with Pip that eventually turns into an artificial one as Pip matures. Mrs. Joe is Pip's sister who adopts him after their parents die when Pip is a baby. She is abusive, strict, hard, and cold. Biddy is Pip's girl friend who is wise, smart, and nice.
Pip is forced to help a starving convict when he meets him in the marshes. He gets food to him and steals a file the convict uses to escape. Pip is racked with guilt for doing this, and is always trying to decide whether or not to confess to Joe. Pip is invited to Miss Havisham's during this, and there he meets Estella. Miss Havisham is very rich, but she is wearing her wedding dress from over twenty years ago and stopped all her clocks in her house to a certain time. Her husband tricked and left her on their wedding day, and she is forever scarred from it and can't move on. She adopted Estella and is teaching her to only break a man's heart, never love them. Pip falls in love with Estella as he visits. He doesn't hear about the escaped convict for a while until one day, someone comes to tell him an anonymous benefactor has decided to support him financially so that he may become a gentleman. He treats Biddy and Joe in a mean way and regrets it his whole way to London. He is taught and studies with Wemmick, Jaggers, and Herbert.
Pip slowly declines into dept and becomes prideful. He hardly ever visits Joe, but still feels awful about their last goodbyes. When his sister is killed (by Joe's coworker, Orlick) he goes back home to attend the funeral, set on making amends. He talks to Biddy, but doesn't totally patch it up with them.
He thinks his secret benefactor is Miss Havisham, and that she must like him so he may have a chance with Estella. But later on in the book he comes to find that Magwitch was his benefactor all along. Magwitch was the convict he helped so long ago. He also comes to find that one of Jaggers' maids, Molly, is Estella's mother and Magwitch is her father. Pip never tells Estella this.
Pip is in love with Estella but she is hardly capable of love thanks to Miss Havisham and in the end marries Drummle.
Pip forgives Miss Havisham and saves her from a fire. He tries to help Magwitch escape because he believes he has changed and is a good guy, but they are caught. He won't leave his side when they are caught, but Magwitch is sentenced to death. He dies in peace while Pip tells him that his daughter isn't dead, and that he's in love with her. Pip asks Miss Havisham to give money to his friend Herbert so that he can open his own practice. She agrees and Herbert moves to Egypt with his wife. Joe pays off Pip's dept and when Pip goes to see him he promises to pay him back. Since Estella is married, he plans to go back home and propose to Biddy, but he returns to find that Joe and Biddy have just married each other. He acts happy for them and decides to go to Egypt and work with Herbert. He pays Joe back all the money and visits 11 years later. Biddy has had one son named Pip, and one girl. Joe and Biddy are happy and encourage him to marry, but he is still in love with Estella. He finds her that night and they talk. You never find out if they end up together!
I'm kind of glad Pip's ending was kind of left up to you to finish, but I wish Dickens would have just come out and said Pip and Estella got married those many years later. They deserved each other and it would have been a happy ending.
I left out a lot of the book, otherwise the review would have been like 20 pages! I liked how developed the characters are, especially Pip. Dickens is good at portraying emotions without just saying what they are. He writes that Pip felt guilty, and unclean in Estella's presence, instead of just saying 'I was embarrassed and nervous with Estella. I wanted to impress her.' Through deep reflections and conversations with himself, you see Pip as someone you know and come to understand. He has a great conscience, but sometimes guilt, fear, confusion, or pride get in the way. In the end, he always made things right, and confessed or said sorry. He even forgave Miss Havisham for leading him into believing she had been the one to support him. Him and Biddy are my favorite characters. Biddy was smart, and loving. After Mrs. Joe was beaten and left mute by Orlick, she moved in with Pip's family to take care of Mrs. Joe. I'm glad she ended up with such a kind, loyal, good man; Joe. Thankfully someone got their Happily Ever After!
I didn't like how slow the book moved at times, but the last few chapters were dramatic and exciting.
I gave this book 3 stars. I liked the emotional depth, but it was too slow moving and confusing to deserve a 5.
I had great expectations for this book, and I'm still not quite sure if it totally lived up to them. I recommend this book to anyone who can focus, enjoys classic and difficult literature, and who has a lot of time to read.
This is mostly a summary of the book because the literary analysis is when I get to talk about my feelings for the book and my knowledge of the characters.
Pip is the narrator and starts out as a young boy in the beginning of the book. His adopted father, Joe, is a kind blacksmith who shares a unique relationship with Pip that eventually turns into an artificial one as Pip matures. Mrs. Joe is Pip's sister who adopts him after their parents die when Pip is a baby. She is abusive, strict, hard, and cold. Biddy is Pip's girl friend who is wise, smart, and nice.
Pip is forced to help a starving convict when he meets him in the marshes. He gets food to him and steals a file the convict uses to escape. Pip is racked with guilt for doing this, and is always trying to decide whether or not to confess to Joe. Pip is invited to Miss Havisham's during this, and there he meets Estella. Miss Havisham is very rich, but she is wearing her wedding dress from over twenty years ago and stopped all her clocks in her house to a certain time. Her husband tricked and left her on their wedding day, and she is forever scarred from it and can't move on. She adopted Estella and is teaching her to only break a man's heart, never love them. Pip falls in love with Estella as he visits. He doesn't hear about the escaped convict for a while until one day, someone comes to tell him an anonymous benefactor has decided to support him financially so that he may become a gentleman. He treats Biddy and Joe in a mean way and regrets it his whole way to London. He is taught and studies with Wemmick, Jaggers, and Herbert.
Pip slowly declines into dept and becomes prideful. He hardly ever visits Joe, but still feels awful about their last goodbyes. When his sister is killed (by Joe's coworker, Orlick) he goes back home to attend the funeral, set on making amends. He talks to Biddy, but doesn't totally patch it up with them.
He thinks his secret benefactor is Miss Havisham, and that she must like him so he may have a chance with Estella. But later on in the book he comes to find that Magwitch was his benefactor all along. Magwitch was the convict he helped so long ago. He also comes to find that one of Jaggers' maids, Molly, is Estella's mother and Magwitch is her father. Pip never tells Estella this.
Pip is in love with Estella but she is hardly capable of love thanks to Miss Havisham and in the end marries Drummle.
Pip forgives Miss Havisham and saves her from a fire. He tries to help Magwitch escape because he believes he has changed and is a good guy, but they are caught. He won't leave his side when they are caught, but Magwitch is sentenced to death. He dies in peace while Pip tells him that his daughter isn't dead, and that he's in love with her. Pip asks Miss Havisham to give money to his friend Herbert so that he can open his own practice. She agrees and Herbert moves to Egypt with his wife. Joe pays off Pip's dept and when Pip goes to see him he promises to pay him back. Since Estella is married, he plans to go back home and propose to Biddy, but he returns to find that Joe and Biddy have just married each other. He acts happy for them and decides to go to Egypt and work with Herbert. He pays Joe back all the money and visits 11 years later. Biddy has had one son named Pip, and one girl. Joe and Biddy are happy and encourage him to marry, but he is still in love with Estella. He finds her that night and they talk. You never find out if they end up together!
I'm kind of glad Pip's ending was kind of left up to you to finish, but I wish Dickens would have just come out and said Pip and Estella got married those many years later. They deserved each other and it would have been a happy ending.
I left out a lot of the book, otherwise the review would have been like 20 pages! I liked how developed the characters are, especially Pip. Dickens is good at portraying emotions without just saying what they are. He writes that Pip felt guilty, and unclean in Estella's presence, instead of just saying 'I was embarrassed and nervous with Estella. I wanted to impress her.' Through deep reflections and conversations with himself, you see Pip as someone you know and come to understand. He has a great conscience, but sometimes guilt, fear, confusion, or pride get in the way. In the end, he always made things right, and confessed or said sorry. He even forgave Miss Havisham for leading him into believing she had been the one to support him. Him and Biddy are my favorite characters. Biddy was smart, and loving. After Mrs. Joe was beaten and left mute by Orlick, she moved in with Pip's family to take care of Mrs. Joe. I'm glad she ended up with such a kind, loyal, good man; Joe. Thankfully someone got their Happily Ever After!
I didn't like how slow the book moved at times, but the last few chapters were dramatic and exciting.
I gave this book 3 stars. I liked the emotional depth, but it was too slow moving and confusing to deserve a 5.
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