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By Charles Dickens (1812-1870) A Study Guide |
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Study Guide Compiled by Michael J. Cummings.© 2012 .......Great Expectations is a coming-of-age novel, also known as an apprenticeship novel or Bildungsroman. Such a novel centers on the lessons a person learns growing from youth to adulthood. The term Bildungsroman comes from the German words bildung (education, formation) and roman (novel). Thus, Great Expectations a is novel centering on the moral, psychological, and social development of the main character, named Philip Pirrip, or Pip. .......The
time is the first half of the nineteenth century. Capitalism was gaining
sway, but many people continued to live on inherited wealth. Sharp divisions
existed between upper and lower classes.
Pip
(Philip Pirrip):
Narrator and main character in the novel. He is an orphan with a humble
background in a village in the county of Kent, England. From the perspective
of an adult, Pip tells the story of his boyhood, adolescence, teenage years,
and adulthood. The narration centers on Pip's development from a raw and
uneducated youth with false values to a mature adult with the right values.
Pip is a likable character even when he strays along the way to manhood.
Uncle
Pumblechook:
Joe Gargery's uncle. He arranges for Pip to play with Estella at Miss Havisham's
mansion.
Matthew Pocket: Cousin
of Miss Havisham. He becomes Pip's tutor when the youth resides in London.
Belinda Pocket: Matthew Pocket's wife.  Herbert
Pocket: Young man who resides with Pip in London and becomes his best
friend. He is Matthew Pocket's son.
Dolge Orlick: Mean-tempered journeyman blacksmith in Joe Gargery's shop. He hates Pip and later has a confrontation with him in which he threatens to shoot him with a gun. Startop: Pupil of Matthew Pocket who becomes a friend of Pip. Molly: Servant of Jaggers. She and Magwitch had a long affair, and Molly bore his child, Estella. Clara Barley: Herbert Pocket's fiancée and later his wife. Her home is one of Magwitch's hiding places. Old Bill Barley: Clara Barley's father. She takes care of him until he dies, then marries Herbert. Mrs. Whimple: Proprietor of the house where Clara Barley lives. Mr. Wopsle: Clerk at the village church and friend of the Gargerys. Mr. Hubble: Wheelwright and friend of the Gargerys. Mrs. Hubble: Mr. Hubble's wife. Sergeant: Officer leading soldiers in pursuit of Magwitch and another escaped convict on Christmas Day when Pip is a child. Mrs. Camilla: Herbert Pocket's sister and a cousin of Miss Havisham. She is one of several relatives of Miss Havisham who pretend to be concerned about her so that she will remember them in her will. Raymond Camilla: Mrs. Camilla's husband. Sarah Pocket: Relative of Miss Havisham. Her feelings toward Miss Havisham are the same as Mrs. Camilla's. Georgiana: Another greedy relative of Miss Havisham. Pepper (the Avenger): Boy Pip hires for chores at Barnard's Inn. Clarikker: Young merchant. Pip secretly uses his money to get Herbert Pocket a position with Clarikker. Trabb: Village tailor who outfits Pip's with suitable attire before he goes to London. Trabb's boy: Son of Trabb. Sally Compeyson: Compeyson's wife. Mrs. Brandley: Woman with whom Estella resides while in London. Mrs. Coiler: Fawning neighbor of Matthew and Belinda Pocket. Estella's Maid: Woman who attends Estella while she is residing with Mrs. Brandley. Watchman: Man who keeps watch at the Temple, one of Pip's lodging places in London. Coachman: Driver who takes Pip to Jaggers' office. Clerk: Employee in Jaggers' office who greets Pip when the latter arrives to confer with the lawyer. Clients of Jaggers Servants ......Pip
narrates the story in first-person point of view from the perspective of
a mature adult looking back on his childhood and the mistakes he made growing
up.
 By Michael J. Cummings.© 2012 . .......When he was a small child, Philip Pirrip was unable to pronounce his full name, so he called himself Pip. Everyone else did too. He never saw his father, Philip, or his mother, Georgianna; both were already in their graves when he was still a baby. Pip is now six. Five of his brothers—Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger—also lie at rest. However, his sister—who is twenty-one years older than Pip—is alive and well and married to a blacksmith named Joe Gargery. She and Joe are rearing Pip at their home in a village in Kent, about twenty miles from the sea. The churchyard where Pip's parents and siblings are buried is about a mile from the Gargery home. Because Mrs. Gargery (whom Pip calls Mrs. Joe) is a whining nag who makes life wretched for both Joe and Pip, they become partners in misery. Toward evening one Christmas Eve, an escaped convict in prison gray confronts Pip while the boy is looking at the tombstones in the cemetery. The convict tells Pip to fetch him food and a file to cut through his shackles. If Pip does not do as he bids, the convict says, “Your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted, and ate” (Chapter 1). On Christmas morning, Pip secretly provides him a pork pie, cheese, mincemeat, bread, some brandy, and the file. While the Gargerys are at dinner in the afternoon with their guests—Mr. Wopsle, the church clerk; Mr. Hubble, the wheelwright; Hubble's wife; and Joe's Uncle Pumblechook, a corn chandler in a nearby town—Mrs. Gargery reminds everyone of what she has endured to rear Pip. The adult Pip, in narrating the tale, says, [She] then entered on a fearful catalogue of all the illnesses I had been guilty of, and all the acts of sleeplessness I had committed, and all the high places I had tumbled from, and all the low places I had tumbled into, and all the injuries I had done myself, and all the times she had wished me in my grave, and I had contumaciously refused to go there. (Chapter 4) One day, Pumblechook visits a woman named Miss Havisham to pay his rent. She is a spinster who inherited most of the fortune of her father, a wealthy brewer. Miss Havisham asks Pumblechook whether he knows of a boy who could come to play with her adopted daughter, Estella. Pumblechook recommends Pip. Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Joe orders Pip to go to the Havisham residence, a run-down mansion called Satis House. Miss Havisham, a mysterious eccentric, always wears a wedding dress, a relic from the day twenty-five years before that her fiancé abandoned her on their wedding day. Time for her stopped on that day. In fact, she left everything in her house just as it was on that day—even the wedding cake, which is still sitting on a table. Later, her lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, assisted her in the adoption of her daughter. When Pip first stands before Miss Havisham, he notices that her watch and the clock in her room are both stopped at twenty minutes to nine—the time when her husband-to-be abandoned her. To gain revenge against the opposite sex, Miss Havisham has trained Estella to treat males disdainfully. Pip becomes the brunt of this disdain during his visits. Nevertheless, Pip falls in love with the beautiful girl, who is bedecked in fine clothes and jewelry. Pip dreams of becoming a well-to-do gentleman worthy of marrying her. On his second visit, Pip waits in an outer room while four relatives of Miss Havisham—Sarah Pocket, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Camilla, and a woman identified as Georgiana—conclude a visit. The occasion is Miss Havisham's birthday. Once a year, these relatives visit Miss Havisham—always on her birthday—to kowtow to her in order to enhance their chances of receiving a bequest in her will. Miss Havisham, well aware of their motivations, treats them coldly and answers their questions curtly. However, one relative—Matthew Pocket—stays away. He is concerned about Miss Havisham's welfare but does not wish to become a hypocrite. Later, on the grounds of the estate, Pip encounters a boy who asks Pip who gave him permission to be on the grounds. Pip says Estella did. Then the boy says, “Come and fight” (Chapter 11). The boy pulls Pip's hair and head-butts him in the stomach. Pip then thrashes the boy, knocking him down several times. Bruised and dazed, the boy surrenders. Pip makes repeated visits to Miss Havisham's, sometimes pushing her around in a wheelchair. But after eight months, his visits end when Miss Havisham asks Joe to apprentice Pip in the blacksmith shop. Pip is deeply disappointed. He had thought his visits to Miss Havisham's were preparations for him to become a gentleman. After Miss Havisham pays Joe for allowing the boy to visit her home, Pip starts work in the shop. Joe is an honest and upright man who is as strong as an ox but kind and gentle in his dealings with Pip. Meanwhile, Pip has been attending a school operated by Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt—who teaches him next to nothing. Pip learns more from Biddy, Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt's granddaughter. She is about Pip's age and, like Pip, an orphan. Pip passes on what he learns to Joe, who has no education. There is a sinister presence at Gargery's forge, a journeyman blacksmith named Orlick, about twenty-five. He is a very strong man who lives in the marshes at the sluice keeper's place. Orlick is, as Pip puts it, always “slouching” (Chapter 15)—slouching into work, slouching out at quitting time, and slouching on Sundays against a barn, a stack of hay or straw, or on the nearby sluice gates. He does not like Pip. When Pip first started at the shop as a young boy, Orlick would tell him frightening stories about the devil. Now, he apparently thinks Joe hired Pip to replace him eventually and thus likes him even less. One day, Joe grants Pip a half-day off. When Orlick says he should also get a half-day off, Joe assents. Mrs. Joe, who is listening outside the house, pokes her head through a window and scolds Joe for granting Orlick's wish. She calls Orlick “the worst rogue between this and France” (Chapter 15). Orlick then calls her a “foul shrew” (Chapter 15). They exchange more insults, and Mrs. Gargery berates Joe for not defending her. Joe then stands up to Orlick. They fight, and Orlick ends up in coal dust on the floor with a slit in a nostril. Later, peace prevails, with Joe and Orlick sharing beer while going about their work. In the evening, after Joe arrives home from the Three Jolly Bargemen (a tavern) at around ten o'clock, he finds his wife unconscious on the floor with injuries inflicted to the head and spine by a blunt instrument. Next to her is a convict's leg iron, apparently the weapon that the assailant had used. The purpose of the attack and the name of the attacker remain a mystery in the ensuing days, although Pip suspects Orlick as the assailant. Mrs. Joe recovers, but her injuries have seriously impaired her memory and her ability to speak and hear. The Gargerys take on Biddy to help out around the house. After several years pass, a London lawyer named Jaggers—the same Jaggers who is Miss Havisham's attorney—visits Pip and Joe to announce that Pip has “great expectations” (Chapter 18). Pip is to receive what Jaggers calls “a handsome property” (Chapter 18) from a benefactor whose name is to remain “a profound secret” (Chapter 18) until the benefactor chooses to reveal it in person to Pip. Pip is to get an education in London and money to sustain himself. Pip thinks the benefactor is Miss Havisham and that she intends for him to marry Estella. But Jaggers warns him to keep to himself all speculation about the source of his boon. Jaggers offers Joe compensation for the loss of Pip's services, but Joe refuses it. His concern is for Pip's future, not for himself. Pumblechook tries to take credit for the happy turn of events. After Pip arrives in London, he begins his education under the tutelage of Matthew Pocket (an aforementioned relative of Miss Havisham). Mr. Jaggers's law clerk, John Wemmick, escorts Pip to his new quarters at Barnard's Inn. There he takes up residence with Pocket's son, Herbert, an assistant in a countinghouse (office or building in which a company maintains financial records). It turns out that he was the boy Pip fought in Miss Havisham's yard. They become close friends while Herbert helps teach Pip the ways of a gentleman. Pip still longs to marry Estella. When he is discussing her with Herbert, the latter informs him that Miss Havisham has taught her to entice men into falling in love with her, then to reject them cruelly. When Pip returns home one day to visit Satis House at Miss Havisham's request, he is surprised to see that it is Orlick who opens the gate for him. He had been hired as a porter by Miss Havisham. He exchanges words with Orlick, then goes up to Miss Havisham's room. He sees a stunningly beautiful young woman with Miss Havisham, and it takes him a moment to realize it is Estella. She is as proud as she is beautiful and, says Pip, “she treated me as a boy still” (Chapter 29). Nevertheless, Pip worships “the very hem of her dress” (Chapter 29). She had just returned from France and would soon be embarking for London. Pip had always thought of himself as crude and common in regard to his humble upbringing. But he hopes his education and money will make him worthy of Estella. She understands his aspirations and says to him while they are walking in the garden, “What was fit company for you once, would be quite unfit company for you now” (Chapter 29). Pip had considered visiting Joe before returning to London, but Estella's remark makes him abandon all thoughts of doing so. Although Pip has been ignoring the Gargerys and Biddy, he does visit Joe a short time later. The occasion is the funeral for the woman who made his life miserable in his youth—his sister, Mrs. Gargery. Meanwhile, Pip has informed Jaggers that Orlick is an unsavory character who should not be in a position of trust at Miss Havisham's. A short time later, Orlick is fired. As time passes and Pip pursues his education in London, he and Herbert live well and spend freely. Debts build. Pip continues to think of Estella. While in London, she resides with Mrs. Brandley, a widow, who has a daughter older than Estella. Mrs. Brandley had been a friend of Miss Havisham before the latter became a reclusive eccentric. Whenever Pip sees Estella, she toys with him, makes light of his feelings for her, and uses him to tease other men interested in her—and there are many of them. Pips says of their relationship, I saw her often at Richmond, I heard of her often in town, and I used often to take her and the Brandleys on the water; there were picnics, fete days, plays, operas, concerts, parties, all sorts of pleasures, through which I pursued her,—and they were all miseries to me. I never had one hour's happiness in her society, and yet my mind all round the four-and-twenty hours was harping on the happiness of having her with me unto death. (Chapter 38) "Yes, Pip, dear boy," Magwitch says, "I've made a gentleman on you! It's me wot has done it! I swore that time, sure as ever I earned a guinea, that guinea should go to you. I swore arterwards, sure as ever I spec'lated and got rich, you should get rich. I lived rough, that you should live smooth; I worked hard, that you should be above work" (Chapter 39). The news shocks Pip, who recalls, "The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast" (Chapter 39). Now Magwitch needs Pip's help. Under penalty of death, he was never to return to England and now is on the run from police. After Herbert returns from Marseilles, Magwitch tells him and Pip that he is also being tracked by a former criminal associate named Compeyson, who recruited Magwitch long ago to assist him in a life of crime. Magwitch tells the young men that Compeyson's business was the swindling, handwriting forging, stolen bank-note passing, and such-like. All sorts of traps as Compeyson could set with his head, and keep his own legs out of and get the profits from and let another man in for, was Compeyson's business. He'd no more heart than a iron file, he was as cold as death, and he had the head of the Devil afore mentioned. (Chapter 42) When the law catches up with Magwitch and Compeyson, Magwitch—who has a record—gets a stiff sentence of fourteen years in prison. Compeyson, who is educated and smooth-talking, gets only seven years. Magwitch and Compeyson became deadly enemies after Magwitch realized how truly evil Compeyson was. While Magwitch hides out in accommodations provided by Pip, Pip learns from Estella on a visit to Satis House that she plans to marry Bentley Drummle, who comes from a wealthy family in Somersetshire. Pip describes him as a “sulky fellow” who is “heavy in figure, movement, and comprehension” and is “idle, proud, niggardly, reserved, and suspicious” (Chapter 29). When Pip returns to London, Wemmick warns him that Magwitch's trackers—including Compeyson—are closing in. Herbert Pocket, aware of the situation, has relocated Magwitch to the home of his fiancée, Clara, who rents her dwelling from a kindly woman named Mrs. Whimple. By this time, Pip has begun fiercely protecting the downtrodden Magwitch and plans to help him escape from London. Meanwhile, Estella marries Drummle. When Pip next visits Satis House, Miss Havisham apologizes for scheming against him with Estella, saying, “"What have I done! What have I done!" (Chapter 49). She is deeply regretful of her wrongdoing. Pip comforts her. After leaving the house, Pip decides to return to check on the distraught woman. As he enters the room, Pip says as he looks back to his past, I saw her seated in the ragged chair upon the hearth close to the fire, with her back towards me. In the moment when I was withdrawing my head to go quietly away, I saw a great flaming light spring up. In the same moment I saw her running at me, shrieking, with a whirl of fire blazing all about her, and soaring at least as many feet above her head as she was high. (Chapter 49) After Pip returns to London, Herbert Pocket tends to Pip's burns while bringing him up to date on the situation with Magwitch, who will soon be making his escape attempt. Herbert says Magwitch revealed details about his past, one of which was that a woman bore him a child, a girl, when she was with Magwitch over a five-year period. This same woman had been accused of murder. Jaggers defended her in a trial in which Magwitch was not present. He feared that his testimony would jeopardize her chances of acquittal—perhaps because it might in some way cast her in a bad light. She was, in fact, acquitted. After the trial she disappeared with the child. Pip later learns that the woman, Molly, was in the employ of Jaggers. Because she did not want the baby girl, Jaggers chose her as Miss Havisham's adoptee. The girl was, of course, Estella. As Pip's burns heal, he and Herbert prepare for Magwitch's escape—by sea to the European continent They will take him down the Thames in a boat, then wait for a steamer bound for Hamburg, Germany. Meanwhile, Pip receives a letter to go to the sluice house in the marshes beyond the Gargery home. The letter says, "If you want information regarding [Magwitch], you had much better come and tell no one, and lose no time. You must come alone" (Chapter 52). When he arrives at the sluice house and enters, the room is dark, save for a lighted candle. Suddenly, someone throws a noose around his neck and the candle goes out. The man is strong and Pip cannot break loose; he is handicapped by his burn injuries. After tying Pip to a wall, the man strikes flint against steel to light the candle. Pip then sees his assailant, Orlick, who has been drinking. He displays a gun and says he's going to kill Pip for speaking against him. He plans to burn his body. ......."You was always in Old Orlick's way since ever you was a child," Orlick says (Chapter 53). "You goes out of his way this present night. He'll have no more on you. You're dead." Orlick admits that he killed Mrs. Joe because of her treatment of him. When all seems lost, Pip shouts out as loudly as he can. He then hears others answer his call for help. They rush in and tussle with Orlick, but he escapes. Pip's rescuers are Trabb's boy (Pip's identification for the son of the local tailor), Startop (a friend of Pip and Herbert), and Herbert. Herbert had picked up the letter that Pip left behind and suspected it could spell trouble for Pip. He enlisted the help of Startop and picked up Trabb's boy after nearing the sluice house. Upon returning to London, Pip, Herbert, and Startop take Magwitch down the Thames as planned. However, Compeyson—who has been continuing to track Pip and Magwitch—has alerted the police. With Compeyson, they pull up in a boat alongside their quarry. The steamer then rams Pip's boat. Magwitch and Compeyson end up in the river. They fight, and Compeyson drowns. The police round up Pip, Magwitch, and the others. Magwitch receives a death sentence. He accepts it as just punishment for his past wrongdoing. While in jail, he becomes ill and dies—but not before Pip informs him that his daughter, Estella, is alive and well. .......Meanwhile, Pip, who had always managed his money poorly while enjoying the good life with Herbert, is subject to arrest for bad debts. He too becomes ill, but Joe Gargery comes to his aid. He not only nurses him back to health but also pays off his debts. Elsewhere, Miss Havisham dies and leaves most of her estate to Estella. Matthew Pocket receives a considerable sum: four thousand pounds. Her kowtowing relatives receive meager bequests of from five to twenty-five pounds each. Orlick, meanwhile, ends up in the county jail after breaking into Pumblechook's house, stealing his money, and tying him to a bedpost. Pip later returns home, thinking Biddy would make a good wife for him. But Biddy marries Joe. Pip asks them to forgive him for all the trouble he has caused them over the years, and they heartily give him their blessing. Pip then takes employment abroad with Herbert. (Earlier, Pip had secretly used his resources to get Herbert a position with Clarikker, a merchant. Pip now joins the firm.) Pip thrives financially while living an upstanding, frugal life. Years pass. Pip returns to England to visit Joe and Biddy, who now have a little boy. Toward evening he goes over to Satis House to muse about old times. There, to his surprise, he encounters Estella. Her husband, who had maltreated her, has died. She says she has thought often of Pip and says, “suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but—I hope—into a better shape. Be as considerate and good to me as you were, and tell me we are friends" (Chapter 59). "We are friends," Pip says (Chapter 59). They walk off, hand in hand. Pip says, “I saw no shadow of another parting from her” (Chapter 59).
Themes Discovering the True Values in Life .......As
he is growing up, Pip looks down on his humble origins and sets his sights
on becoming a materially successful gentleman in the world of the social
elite. There is nothing wrong with money or life among the privileged.
But Pip thinks they are what will make him a man. He spends lavishly at
times and dislikes acknowledging his roots or visiting home. But he learns
the hard way that what really matters in life is loyalty, common decency,
moral fiber, courage, and genuine love. A man can be a blacksmith, like
Joe, and still be a superior human being.
Revenge .......Revenge motivates Miss Havisham, Compeyson, and Orlick. After being abandoned by her husband-to-be on the day of her wedding, Miss Havisham seeks revenge against men in general. Compeyson seeks revenge against Magwitch, who turned against Compeyson. Orlick beat Mrs. Gargery for criticizing him and plots to kill Pip. He never liked Pip. His hatred for him deepened after Pip's report on him to Jaggers caused him to lose his job as a porter at Miss Havisham's. Prevailing Against Adversity .......Fate
deals bad hands to Pip, Magwitch, Estella, and Biddy. Pip, Magwitch, and
Biddy grew up without the guidance of biological parents. Estella was abandoned
by her mother—Jaggers' servant, Molly—and never met her father, Magwitch.
Of Biddy, Pip says, "She was an orphan like myself; like me, too, had been
brought up by hand" (Chapter 7).
Redemption .......Miss Havisham, Magwitch, Pip, and Estella redeem themselves from their past wrongdoing or wrongful attitudes. True Nobility in a Class-Divided Society .......In England of the nineteenth century, class divisions were sharp. The upper classes generally looked upon the lower classes as vulgar and unworthy of their attention. In fact, Pip uses the phrase "coarse and common" six times in the novel to bemoan the social status of himself and others in his stratum. In Great Expectations, two characters above all others—Joe Gargery and Abel Magwitch—prove that true nobility lies in the heart, not in money or social standing. Pip adopts their attitude after realizing that he was chasing false values. Loyalty .......Joe Gargery remains loyal to Pip throughout the novel even though Pip ignores him for a time. Magwitch also remains loyal to Pip even though Pip is at first repelled by the presence of Magwitch after the latter arrives in London. The example that Joe and Magwitch set helps Pip to overcome his disloyalty and other shortcomings. Villainy .......Villainy
stalks the novel in the forms of the mean-spirited, spiteful, and vengeful
Compeyson and Orlick. Like modern sociopaths, they show no signs of reforming.
.......The main conflicts generally center on (1) Pip and the people who scheme against him, including as Miss Havisham, Estella, and Orlick; (2) Pip and the guilt he sometimes feels about ignoring Joe in favor of pursuing his own misguided goals; (3) Magwitch and Compeyson; and (4) Miss Havisham and the male world. .......The tone is generally serious, but touches of humor punctuate the action. Following are examples of Dickens' humor. "Where will you put me?" [Magwitch] asked, presently. "I must be put somewheres, dear boy."Climax .......The climax occurs when Magwitch announces that he is Pip's benefactor. This revelation jolts Pip out of his unrealistic dreams for himself and sets him to thinking about what really matters in life. The adult Pip, in recalling the moment, says, Miss Havisham's intentions towards me, all a mere dream; Estella not designed for me; I only suffered in Satis House as a convenience, a sting for the greedy relations, a model with a mechanical heart to practise on when no other practise was at hand; those were the first smarts I had. But, sharpest and deepest pain of all,—it was for the convict, guilty of I knew not what crimes, and liable to be taken out of those rooms where I sat thinking, and hanged at the Old Bailey door, that I had deserted Joe. (Chapter 39)But while remorseful for abandoning Joe for a lowly convict, Pip also begins to sympathize with the downtrodden Magwitch and takes dangerous risks to hide Magwitch and eventually to help him escape.
.......Dickens uses anaphora frequently to provide emphasis, balance, and rhythm in his wording. Anaphora is the repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of word groups occurring one after the other. In Great Expectations, the first instance of anaphora occurs in the sixth paragraph of Chapter 1, when Pip describes Magwitch with subordinate clauses. .......A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. Aman who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars. (Chapter 1)Here are other examples of anaphora. Sometimes, she would coldly tolerate me; sometimes, she would condescend to me; sometimes, she would be quite familiar with me; sometimes, she would tell me energetically that she hated me. (Chapter 12)Other Figures of Speech Alliteration Flopson, by dint of doubling the baby at the joints like a Dutch doll, then got it safely into Mrs Pocket's lap. (Chapter 23)Hyperbole As to forming any plan for the future, I could as soon have formed an elephant. (Chapter 40)Irony .......Irony occurs frequently in the novel. Here are examples.
The day came creeping on, halting and whimpering and shivering, and wrapped in patches of clouds and rags of mist . . . . (Chapter 43)Simile At the best of times, so much of this elixir (tar water) was administered to me as a choice restorative, that I was conscious of going about, smelling like a new fence. (Chapter 2)Paradox When we came to the river-side
and sat down on the bank, with the water rippling at our feet, making it
all more quiet than it would have been without that sound, I resolved that
it was a good time and place for the admission of Biddy into my inner confidence.
(Chapter 17)
Personification The sky was just a row of long angry red lines. (Chapter 1)
Study Questions and Essay Topics 1....Who
is the most admirable character in the novel? Who is the least admirable?
Explain your answers.
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