Estella makes Pip aware of his
working class background - this
starts the changes in Pip
Ambition/Hopes
Pip hopes to make the
transition from working
class to upper class
Wealth
Pip has a desire for
wealth - results in him
getting Herbert into debt
Pip does not
care - selfish
Conflict
Inner turmoil
The difference
between doing what he
wants and what is right
Steals from his sister to
help the convict
Innocence/Corruption
Pip is innocent at the
beginning - wants to be like
Joe - a blacksmith - he is
unaware of life outside of
the marshes
When he leaves he is easily
influenced by his surroundings
- he becomes corrupted -
shows his naivety
Structure
3 parts of the novel represent
Pip's stages in his life
Part 1 - Innocent Pip
Part 2 - Corrupted Pip
Part 3 - Pip's redemption
Narrative voice
Retrospective first person narrative - Pip
Makes him unreliable? - He may not be
able to remember everything accurately
The reader knows Pip will be okay in the
end - he survives all the hardships he faces
At the beginning he is a child - may
have over exaggerated what he say
His vivid description of the convict
He is fairly honest - acknowledges his faults
Key Symbols
Pathetic fallacy
Dickens uses a lot of pathetic fallacy
to foreshadow bad things to come
Chapter 39 - stormy night -
return of the convict
Foggy mist - symbolises Pip
losing his former innocent self
Satis House
Pip's realisation of where he is
in the world - working class
Symbolises bitter dreams and disappointment
Miss Havisham gets left on her wedding day
Pip hopes to marry Estella one day
Setting
Marshes - forshadows Pip's corrupted self
Page 5-6
'this bleak place overgrown with nettles'
'dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard'
'distant savage lair'
London
Negative description
Foreshadowing Pip's corrupted self
Barnard's Inn
Satis House
Estella
Is symbolic of the bourgeoisie
Joe Gargery
Is the ultimate symbol
Quotes
"I had heard of Miss Havisham up town—everybody for miles
round, had heard of Miss Havisham up town—as an immensely
rich and grim lady who lived in a large and dismal house
barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion. (7.80)"