Great Expections by Charles Dickens

英语2班   芮娟

This is a story about Pip. He was brought up by his elder sister and lived with her husband until he went to London educated as a gentlemen. When he was little, he once helped a prioner who escaped from the prison-ship on the marshes. This was the beginning of his life in London. Before he went to London, he came to Miss Havisham’s house, and met Estella. He fell in love with her at his first sight. And later, he never forgot her. After going to London, he learned to be gentlemen and thought  it was Miss Havisham who would make him inherit her fortune and would make him marry to Estella. Until the prisoner showed up, he knew that it was the convict he has helped long ago gave him so much money. Because in the trial, the convict was sent to Australia for life, so Pip prepared to send him away. However, the convict was arrested and died soon. Estella married and her husband died also. They decided to be friends.

Pip never felt shameful before coming to Miss Havisham’s house. After that, he could not stop loving Estella. She was a beautiful and proud girl. Pip began to feel shameful of himself and his background. He wanted to have great expections. Even he deserted Joe, his sister’s husband, who was also his best friend. After going to London, he never though of Joe. As a gentleman, Pip felt he was superior to someoneand felt ashamed to have relationship with them. This was not kind of way to treat his friends. Fortunately, he was concious of his wrongdoings and regreted that he had done those to his dear friends. He looked after the convict carefully when he was ill.

He also missed some kind people. Biddy loved him very much. Because he loved Estella, so he never thought about marriage to Biddy. When he thought about that, Biddy had prepared to marry Joe. They all were kind people. At that time, Pid could do nothing but wish God bless them.

After hard work, he became a partener of a company. He was no longer a boy and he became more mature. He did not do things without thinking them first any longer. And he lived a peaceful life.

The whole book is about a young man who is pursuing for day-dreaming great expections and whose illusions are exploded in the end. Charles Dickens has described the changing process of the young man from an innocent and hopeful boy to a deep-thought gentleman. In the dynamic discription, he has exploed the goodness and evil in human being’s nature.

Edgar Johnson ever thought highly of this novel. In his opinion, this novel is the most perfect one of Charles Dicken’s works in the consideration of novel structure and languge.

From the perspective of novel structure, many facots combined to serve one aim, in which many characteristics, plots are combined to be unit. Different characteristics’ activities become the main clues of the whole story. These include the grow-up process of Pip, his secrets of property, his love story of Estella and so on. With the development of the whole plot, the confusions in the former part get explained in the later part. When finish reading the whole novel, I can feel the preciness of the structure, which also functions to arouse readers’ interest in this novel.

Charles Dickens is acknowledged as one of the greatest realistic writer in the British literature history. With combination of story-telling and detailed discription of characters’ psychology, he made the novel to be an public art form in his times.When reading Dickens’ novels, I can feel greatly in the lines he put much his emotion and feeling of life. As one of greatest realistic writer, he was also called emotional realist.

Becuae of his vivid discriptions, his novel not only is a reflection of the realistic society, but also serves to make a judgement and interference of social life. Characterized with humanity, his work exerted a great influence on the whole society.

In the characteristics, different features are concrete in different and get fully expressed. Firstly, the natures of different characteristics are confirmed and unified. In this novel, Miss Havisham is a good example. She was coddle since childhood and may had her way at home. Since she was once deserted on the day of marriage, she never went out her house. More unfortunately, the revenge to the whole man in the morld became her most important matters. Here, Miss Havisham was typically a evil woman from the beginning to the end of this novel. Secondly, the charateristics is very clear. Every charater does not stand for himself , but the symbol of a group of people in the society. And from this single charateristic, we can see the common feature which also exist in the real people. For example, the image of Jugs fully reflects lawyers’ feature in London in his times. Thirdly, Dickens deeply explores the haman nature, through which reflects something common in human beings.

From this novel, it is also eaisly found that all the good people are all exalted in nature. Even though they have shortcoming, they always try to forward in a better way and get improved in morality. All the characterisitcs orignate from the earth, but they all have a spirit of God. From this aspect, we can see that Dickens’ prospect of human beings. This is greatly influenced by Dickens’ religious values. According to Dickens, all the hardship and evil huam experience in the society are the consequence of their own selfishness and vanity in the nature. So to save the the society is to save the human nature. Only advocating goodness with love and causing a positve inflence on people, can the world become purified. The save of people is especially to the rich with evil heart. All these are in accordance with the Christianity.

Though this book was published more than one century ago, the picture described in this novel is still existing today. Everyone in the world wants to have great expections. However, nothing will fall off from the heaven without any payment. When we get something from others, we should have a grateful heart and remember the kindness all the time. Only when a person has a grateful heart to all the kindness, can we help others and pass on the love. Never feel you are superior to others, no matter how wealthy or how gentl you are. Everyone in the world is unique, and has his own values living in the world.