Expectations Charles Dickens Essay

In the first chapter of Great Expectations Charles Dickens creates a very intense image of the marshes. This is the first place he describes and he makes the marshes sound like a very creepy and bewildering place.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea†.  The words marsh and the river makes the marshes sound like a very damp, muddy and bleak place.  Also in the first chapter Charles Dickens describes the churchyard as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Bleak place overgrown with nettles†. Dickens also describes the churchyard s a very † Overgrown and bleak place†.  A graveyard is supposed to be a happy place that revitalises and refreshes kind, happy memories. I think this implies that death is all around no matter where you look. I think this because everything is â€Å"overgrown† and not looked after and the â€Å"nettles† are killing all of the beautiful plants so death is also involved there as well.  Dickens also says about the marshes in the first chapter  Ã¢â‚¬  And that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes: and that the low leaden line beyond was the river: and the distant savage liar from which the wind was rushing was the sea†. This quote represents a dark and unforgiving future for Pip and that there is no one out there in the wilderness to care for him. The words â€Å"leaden line† imply a low lead river that looks like it has bars on and to Pip this makes him feel imprisoned. Also the words â€Å"savage liar† represents to Pip that he thinks that there is like a savage monster out there in the sea. Furthermore in chapter one Dickens explains the marshes as a â€Å"long black, horizontal line and the sky was just a row of long, angry red lines and dense black lines intermixed. The words represent anger and danger and black utility, death and emptiness. Pip again feels like he is a prisoner to the marshes. At the start of the first chapter instead of Pip being one of the main characters he becomes the narrator of the story and starts talking about his family.  Ã¢â‚¬  So I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip†.  When Pip goes to the churchyard to the graveyard to look at their graves and imagines what his family would of looked like this proves he has a very distinct and creative imagination.  Ã¢â‚¬  My first fancies regarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from their tombstones†.  Also Pip proves that there was a high rate of infant mortality and he also proves that there was a universal struggle to die. † To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were scared to the memory of five little brothers of mine who gave up trying to get a living exceedingly early in that universal struggle†.  Dickens in the first chapter changes from first person the narrator to third person and this s a very unnatural method to use.  Ã¢â‚¬  And that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip†. Also Great Expectations was serialised which means that he novel was brought out in chapters and because the novel was successful people kept buying each chapter each time they were released.  When Pip goes into the churchyard to the graveyard so that he can go and visualise his brothers and his parents he meets a convict. The convict is starving and looking for food and basically anything and so he turns Pip upside town.  Ã¢â‚¬  The man after looking at me for a moment turned me upside-down†.  This is very strong and imaginative and you can clearly imagine it as he turns him upside down literally and metaphorically. After this the convict starts talking to Pip about his appearance. He talks about  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What fat cheeks you ha got:†Ã‚  After this Pip says  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I believe they were fat, though I was at that time undersized for my years, and not strong†.  This gives the impression that Pip has never been fed properly and this make Pip sound innocent and vulnerable.  Later on Pip makes a promise to the convict that he would bring some food and some wittles so that the convict could release himself from the chain around his ankles and the convict threatens Pip to make sure he does this.