Thoughts on Great Expectations

Over all I thought the book was okay...but I feel that it could be more interesting. In a way, the novel wasn't as appealing as I thought it was. Truthfully stating, I DO NOT like Charles Dickens writing. I feel that he has too much of non- exciting writing and that the novel was one like one of his works "A Christmas Carol". The movie was interesting and fun to watch, but the novel was in short boring. But Great Expectations wasn't as boring as A Christmas Carol as a writing. Or it could just be that Dickens doesn't fill the holes that I are exciting and interesting to read. Although, I got to say that his writing style is pretty unique, not your usual writing that you read these days. Also, his usage of words were kind of confusing made the novel more complex than it really was. Then, when there's humor or some kind of important thing, I thought it wasn't important or the humor didn't reach me at all. I sympathized with Pip in the beginning of the novel, but when it reached the 2nd stage, I just started hating him and the story got sooo boring. Most of the mysteries that I was uncertain about got solved as I read more of the novel, so basically at the end all the mysteries are wrapped up and solved.


   I didn't read the entire book, but I read most of it. I like skipped 2 or 3 chapters and looked at spark notes, other than that, I only looked at spark notes when I was confused with the storyline. I started out reading the assigned reading assignments but then as the novel dragged, my reading was dragged. I would suddenly get behind on reading 3/4 of the way on the 2nd stage. Then, the reading would seem too long and I would read need to read about 40-60 pages a night to make up for previous night that I didn't read.

Great Expectations Photo Post

In this picture there is many house similar to London in Great Expectations. In the novel, Pip was visited by his benefactor who he least expected to see, the criminal that he rescued when he was a kid at the marshes. " It was wretched weather; stormy and wet, stormy and wet; mud, mud, mud, deep in all the streets" (39, 314). Similarly in this picture as shown is a dark and stormy night which one would think a misfortune. I choose this picture because both the novel and this picture is a symbol that there is a foreshadowing that something bad will happen later on in the story. In the novel, Pip has many misfortunes happening to him. For example, Estella getting engaged to Drummle, him hiding a convict, and the fact that he might watched by the government or someone. Also, when he met Mr. Wopsle, Wopsle saw Compeyson behind Pip, which isn't a good thing, knowing that Compeyson is here to have revenge on Provis( Abel Magwitch).

Great Expectations Connections & picture

Although tight now I can't really think of any novels or movies that I've watched is similar to Great Expectations, I think that Goong is rather similar. There's a lot of dramas that I've watched and loved that carried a little of each of the motifs and themes that  is in Great Expectations. But I'll say probably the feelings of hurt was one of the things that appeared to me in this Korean drama called Goong. That's because Crown Prince Lee Shin, one of the main characters is in love with someone else other than his fiancee that both Chae Kyung and his grandfather decided. Although he loves Hyo Rin, Lee Shin stills feels guilty that he should love Chae Kyung.

   Whereas Chae Kyung has to suffer the pain that is caused by Lee Shin when she slowly falls in love with Lee Shin. In Pip's case, he loves Estella but the coldness that is shown to Pip whenever he meets Estella is similar to the case of Lee Shin and Chae Kyung. But the extreme of those feelings of hurt wasn't as far as in Goong, because during some of the moments when Chae Kyung is hurt, my chest would clench up like something has pricked it. On the other hand, when I think about Pip and Estella's feelings that are involved, they don't seem to hurt each other as much but there is still a feeling of hurt that is expressed through.

   Also, it feels like both the characters in Great Expectations and Goong is going through a roller coster of emotions. The two couples would experience the ups and downs on their realtionships. It's just that Pip and Estella's relationship hasn't reached to the point where they are with each other everyday and tied by something like Lee Shin and Chae Kyung.

Great Expectations, Second Stage

   "If I could buy the furniture now hired for me," said I, "and one or two other little things, I should be quite at home there" (ch24,197)

In this quote it seems as thought Pip is starting to behave like a man who has luxuries unlike when he was living with Mr and Mrs Joe. Asking money from Mr. Jagger is basically proving that now Pip is looking down on the people who didn't have much money. Even when he himself was once in that lower class of people. Connecting this, as he grows up in London, he begins to think that Joe is a shame compared to people that were on a more higher class level than them.

   During Pip's stay in London he sheds the innocence of his naive past, becoming greedy and lazy. In stage one, Pip wouldn't ask for money at all, even if he did he wouldn't get any either way. But, there was one time when Pip was getting a fitting for his new set of clothes, he spent quite a lot of money on the clothes. The amount of money that he use to spend made a big jump when he started to get ready for the trip to London. As Pip's so called " becoming a gentleman" time goes on, I think that he will spend more and more money on things that he usually wouldn't spend on. Also, his personality would get more and more on the side which the reader will hate this character called "Pip".

Pip's Quote

Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.

    When I read this quote, I thought that it meant what you do on one day would affect another day. Like a chain, the very first link of a chain is where we all start out. But what we do or where we end up at depends on what we do to the previous link before the present link. To Pip, I think that he means that the first link of his chain was from the day that he went to Miss Havisham's mansion to "play". Also, when Estella remarked how common he was, made his ashamed of Joe, and he thinks that he would have a goal of becoming a gentlemen and uncommon. What Pip haven't thought about came to his mind when his first visit to Miss Havisham house, which would impact his life and thinking more than he can imagine.

   What this quote meant to me personally was that what I did on one day would affect on how my next day would be like. When I was little, my family would go visit my grandma who was in Hai Nan, and I hated to go there. But now that I think back to those times, I wished that I could go back there again and again. I felt a attachment to Hai Nan and to my grandparents and relatives. To my thinking, one would only know to treasure something only when it's no longer there or in my case possible . I guess every link in my life is what became of the me right this minute in my life.

Question About a Passage

" Well," said the sergeant," they'll find themselves trapped in a circle, I expect, sooner than they count on. Now, blacksmith! If you're ready, His Majesty the King is." (Chapter5, 30)

How is "His Majesty the King" related to a sergeant asking a blacksmith fixing handcuffs? It's kind of confusing...

Group Essay

1. What You Haven't Seen.
I have changed my concrete details and altered some of the meanings that I thought connected more to the topic.By doing so, I took out the parts that have modern society thoughts about the topic and how I compared them. Also, I found other synonyms for the word " marriage" since I find that I'm using the word too much in my paragraph.

2. So I had a question... Do you think " I hope not Algernon. It would put my table completely out. Your uncle would have to dine upstairs. Fortunately he is accustomed to that." -Lady Bracknell Pg 18. Do you think think quote ties in with the topic? I can somehow relate it how its a lies within marriage by like, in Victorian era people usually dine together so its like contradicting that they don't eat together( play). Also wouldn't it be that men would dine more on the dining table than women? since basically they are the head of the household.