Charles Dickens

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i would like to know which dialect is used in the very first pages of the book, the dialect the convict man used, this is for a homework at school, please i need to know, i would thank you if you send it to me by mail, this is giesseler02@hotmail.com

>>By lupita   (Wednesday, 16 Apr 2003 16:21)



I just finished A Tale of Two Cities and I have been discussing it with my friends and they all liked Charles Darnay. I'm a Sydney Carton fan, am I crazy or was he way more fun the Charles?

>>By Priss   (Sunday, 20 Jul 2003 08:13)



a great man

>>By soultrip   (Saturday, 25 Oct 2003 02:05)



In my essay I will be mainly focusing around chapter 8 and its contents. I will be explaining various stages resulting in four parts. Part one will consist of the characters explanation such as. What role they play in the story, their behaviour, language etc. The character part will be closely aimed at Pip, Estella, and Miss Havisham. I will only be looking at these characters in detail because, chapter 8 only looks specifically at them.

Part two will be about the language style used and presented in chapter 8 i.e. the wording on how Miss Havisham is revealed. Secondly I’ll be involving the image and effects that Dickens lays out for the reader.

In part three’s section I will be talking about structure and this will be where the roles of the character’s really come into play. There are certain events that take place in the chapter that really explore different characters personalities. This part will revolve around Satis house and how the characters act to one another inside the house.

Part four will explain the suspense that Dickens uses in the story enticing the reader, urging them to read more into the book. I will be delving deep into the questions that chapter 8 raises for instance, Miss Havisham’s role in relation to Pip. Personally I feel that chapter 8 delivers the reader with the most unanswered questions, than any other chapter in the book. I will also be referring the main character Pip to Charles Dickens. I will be viewing their lifestyles and how their lives co-interact with one another

Part 1:
Chapter 8 is really important as it is the first time we encounter two key characters Estella and Miss Havisham. Chapter 8 really starts to take off when Mr Pumblechook drops Pip off at Satis house.
Dickens presents Miss Havisham first as an old lady who is apparently wallowing in her self pity in her room. When Pip is first asked to enter her room he is taken back by the sights and smells he encounters. He seems on first sight to think that there is a “fine lady” sitting at her dressing table. But his mind gradually asserts itself to assess that this is the strangest lady ever seen. “She was dressed in rich materials- satins and lace-all of white”. Dressed as elegantly as this Dickens allows the reader to think that maybe Miss Havisham is going out or having just been out. “Her shoes were white... long white veil... bridal flowers in her hair” . With the repeated mention of white and the addition of bridal flowers. You come to the conclusion that Miss Havisham is the bride at an apparent wedding. As Pip ventures deeper into the room he realises Miss Havisham has not quite finished dressing, “she had but one shoe on”. Pip adjusts his viewing only to realise that everything that should have been white had been long ago and was now faded and yellow. Pip then turns his attention to Miss Havisham and is lost for words at her “sunken eyes” and “shrunk skin and bone”. Pip is afraid of Miss Havisham’s “dark eyes” that keep looking at him through her “waxwork skeleton”. Miss Havisham confesses to Pip that she sometimes has “sick fancies” and tells him that she wants diversion. She informs him that she is “done” with men and women meaning that she is tired of their company and she now wants to see some “play”. When Pip starts to play “beggar my neighbour” with Estella he starts to realise that everything Miss Havisham picks up she puts it back in its exact place. This is significant as everything has stopped exactly when Miss Havisham’s heart was broken this is also explained in further chapters of the book.

Next Estella is formerly introduced to pip basically as a spoilt little conniving brat. Dickens informs us in later chapters that Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham ands serves as a predecessor of Miss Havisham’s wealth. Estella disrespects Pip and ridicules him saying “he calls the knaves, Jacks this boy”. By calling him “boy” and not by his real name Estella is demeaning Pip as if to say I am above you, you are a common low class boy. Pip takes in Estella’s taunting and ridiculing because he has taken quite a fancy to her. Miss Havisham exposes this when she asks Pip why he does not retaliate to Estella’s insults. Pip says that he does not like to and Miss Havisham tells him to whisper it into her head. Pip tells Miss Havisham that he thinks Estella is very proud and pretty and then announces he wants to leave. Upon hearing this Miss Havisham blurts out “and never see her again, though she is so pretty” revealing Pip’s lust for Estella.
Estella knowing that Pip adores her uses it to her advantage and is cold hearted, cruel and rude to him. Estella despises Pip and is insulted that she must “play” with him. Estella also has no sympathy for Pip she asks him “why don’t you cry” and he replies he doesn’t want to. Then she laughs at Pip taunting him “you have been crying till you are half blind”.

Pip changes very dramatically in this chapter he realises his true heritage that he is just a common labouring boy. Estella makes this very clear to Pip during his visit at Satis house , when she calls him a “common labouring boy”. Estella shows herself to Pip to be top class and of a very posh nature although in reality they are not much different from one another. Pip comes to light about the way people look at his dressing sense and hygiene. Estella curses him about his “coarse hands” and “thick boots”. Pip really behaves himself and never says a word out of place at Satis. He does this for his fear of his sister who brought him up by hand he is scared that she will beat him. Pip’s sister’s beatings have made him sensitive and Pip feels ashamed of it. He then turns his hate to Joe questioning him in his mind why Joe didn’t bring him up to be more of a gentleman.

Dickens in real life is a lot like Pip in many different ways. Both Dickens and Pip have been in London from a very young age and have grown up there. Like Pip who never experienced a real dad even though Joe Gargery came close, Dickens was sometimes in the absence of a father figure. His dad (John) worked in the Navy clerk and had very unmanageable wages. Because of this problem John served time in prison for debt, this event was recorded in two of Dickens’s novels. His father was portrayed as Wilkins Micawber in David Copperfield and the time his father served was mentioned in Little Dorrit. Secondly Dickens and Pip had horrible childhood’s, while Pip was affected both physically at home from child abuse from his sister who brought him up by hand. He was affected mentally by visits to Satis house and Magwitch the convict. Dickens on the other hand was sent to work in a blacking warehouse where he would stick labels on to bottles of shoe polish. The trauma of working in that warehouse were so horrific that these memories haunted Dickens for the rest of his life. Dickens felt bad about his background and was very defiant about his parent’s failure to educate him. He worked very hard first becoming a clerk in a solicitor’s office, then in 1834 a reporter of parliamentary debates for the Morning chronicle. Pip also in chapter 8 begins to feel strongly about his background heritage.
Dickens presents the Victorian women in this story to take up the role of a house wife for example Mrs Joe Gargery. Mrs Joe is a lower class woman who sits at home tending the house and fixing meals. Although she fixes meals she does so, unpleasantly for Pip giving him. “As much crumb as possible...as little butter...such a quantity of warm water in my milk”. It seems that Victorian women brought their children “up by hand”. This seems to be true as Mr Pumblechook instructs Pip before entering Satis house. “Let your behaviour here be a credit unto them which brought you up by hand”.



Part 2:
This Chapter really entices the reader with its descriptive writing and intense imagery. It is very important that Dickens uses a lot of descriptive writing so it is easier for the reader to picture the story. Because in those days they didn’t have what we have for instance T.Vs. In the present we can just turn on the T.V and we can see a certain object or imagery. But in those days you couldn’t so Dickens had to ensure that the readers knew what he was trying to describe to them. Dickens uses very powerful imagery in chapter 8 for example “this standing still of all pale decayed objects”... “withered bridal dress on the collapsed form”... “looked so like grave-clothes”... “long veil so like a shroud”. In chapter 8 immense descriptive language is used to describe Miss Havisham and the way Satis house looks. Satis house is described as an old Victorian mansion with a side brewery which has long been in service. Dickens mentions that “the cold wind seemed to blow colder there”... “it made a shrill noise”. This arouses the reader to be conscious about why the brewery is described like this and why Satis house looks like this. The image of Satis house is presented as a cold, dark empty place. The same type of imagery is used to describe Miss Havisham and the way she acts. In a way Miss Havisham is cold, dark and empty. For instance her heart is cold and is only full of contempt and disgust for men. Her personality is empty of all passion, love and care for others. Finally her eyes are dark and still as Dickens describes her like “waxwork”

Part 3:
Chapter 8 is mainly so important because of the events that take place. Chapter 8 is the origin of things that are important and are going to take place in further chapters. An important event that takes place is the changing of Pip when he meets Estella and Miss Havisham. His personality and self-awareness change when he is insulted repeatedly by Estella. If Pip had not met Estella he would not have changed his attitude to one of a gentleman. He would have kept his opinion of his heritage the same and would not have felt any differently. If Pip had not met Miss Havisham he would have felt very strongly about his benefactor. If Pip had not thought Miss Havisham was the benefactor he would have felt suspicious about the whole affair. Secondly if Miss Havisham had not told Pip she was heart broken we would never have known the cause of her hatred for men. We would have been oblivious as to why Miss Havisham brought Estella up to be such a hateful, black hearted bitch. Pip also here begins to learn the true nature of Estella and why she does the things she does

Part 4:
Dickens creates various amounts of suspense gripping the reader to read on. Now and then Dickens includes certain elements of suspense so the story does not tire. Suspense in this story is Dickens strong points and where he really succeeds in being a writer. One of the points in the chapter where Dickens creates suspense is when Pip first enters inside the house. “The passages were all dark”, this makes the reader think why are the passages dark? What is it that stops the passages from being lighted? Secondly when Pip is about to go into Miss Havisham’s room. Estella says “don’t be ridiculous boy; I am not going in” what is Estella so afraid of that she won’t even walk into a room? Why did she take the candle with her, why didn’t she leave it with Pip as there were plenty of other candles around? Thirdly after Pip has finished crying and got rid of his “injured feelings” by “kicking them into the brewery wall”. He decides to “look about himself” and he wanders into the brewery. He sees a figure hanging there by the neck. At that precise moment the reader will be pondering, just who or what is hanging by its neck. Furthermore a number of questions are raised in this chapter concerning Pip i.e. Will Pip receive any money from Miss Havisham that his sister so crucially wants him to get? Will he use it for an education? Or will his sister spend it all on herself? And what will Pip do about his “coarse hands” and “thick boots”. The final big question that remains is what will happen to Pip now that he is ashamed of his family’s heritage.


Conclusion:
Overall it has to be said that Chapter 8 is the most important chapter in the whole book. Because if Great Expectations did not include chapter 8. Then the whole story would not make sense and there would be a lot of loose ends. In a way Great Expectations is based on chapter 8 and its turn of events and most importantly the characters you are introduced to. All in all chapter 8 is there to first point out the change in Pip’s attitude and personality. It is here where he realises that he can have more than to just being a blacksmith’s apprentice. He starts to think about the way he looks and dresses to other people mainly upper class people. Moving on, character’s true colours are revealed in this chapter to the reader. We are shown Estella and Miss Havisham’s true selves. We see how alike they are even though Estella is adopted. We see how easy Estella can manipulate boys and just where she was taught it from. Having assessed chapter 8 we see just how important it was to the book and the explanations to certain character’s behaviour.

By Emmanuel Ogwang

>>By The puzzler   (Saturday, 24 Apr 2004 22:15)



I will be mainly focusing around chapter 8 and its contents. I will be explaining various stages resulting in the chapter. Part one will consist of the characters explanation such as. What role they play in the story, their behaviour, language etc. The character part will be closely aimed at Pip, Estella, and Miss Havisham. I will only be looking at these characters in detail because; chapter 8 only looks specifically at them.

I’ll be talking about the language style used and presented in chapter 8 i.e. the wording on how Miss Havisham is revealed. Secondly I’ll be involving the image and effects that Dickens lays out for the reader.

Also involved will be the structure and this will be where the roles of the character’s really come into play. There are certain events that take place in the chapter that really explore different characters personalities. This part will revolve around Satis house and how the characters act to one another inside the house.

Then finally an explanation of the suspense that Dickens uses in the story enticing the reader, urging them to read more into the book. I will be delving deep into the questions that chapter 8 raises for instance, Miss Havisham’s role in relation to Pip. Personally I feel that chapter 8 delivers the reader with the most unanswered questions, than any other chapter in the book. I will also be referring the main character Pip to Charles Dickens. I will be viewing their lifestyles and how their lives co-interact with one another.


Chapter 8 is really important as it is the first time we encounter two key characters Estella and Miss Havisham. Chapter 8 really starts to take off when Mr Pumblechook drops Pip off at Satis house.
Dickens presents Miss Havisham first as an old lady who is apparently wallowing in her self-pity in her room. When Pip is first asked to enter her room he is taken back by the sights he encounters. He seems on first sight to think that there is a “fine lady” sitting at her dressing table. But his mind gradually asserts itself to assess that this is the strangest lady he has ever seen. Although “She was dressed in rich materials- satins and lace-all of white”. “Her shoes were white... Pip notices that she has a “long white veil” and “bridal flowers in her hair”. With the repeated mention of white and the addition of bridal flowers. You come to the conclusion that Miss Havisham is the bride at an apparent wedding. As Pip ventures deeper into the room he realises Miss Havisham has not quite finished dressing, “she had but one shoe on”. Pip adjusts his viewing only to realise that everything that should have been white had been long ago and was now faded and yellow. Pip then turns his attention to Miss Havisham and is lost for words at her “sunken eyes” and “shrunk skin and bone”. Pip is afraid of Miss Havisham’s “dark eyes” that keep looking at him; she appears a “waxwork skeleton”. “Miss” suggests that Miss Havisham is still single and unmarried, in Victorian times this was seen as a disgrace upon the family. Miss Havisham is so shocked and upset that she wears her bridal dress to remind her of how evil men really are.Miss Havisham confesses to Pip that she sometimes has “sick fancies” and tells him that she wants diversion. She informs him that she is “done” with men and women meaning that she is tired of their company and she now wants to see some “play”. When Pip starts to play “beggar my neighbour” with Estella he starts to realise that everything Miss Havisham picks up she puts it back in its exact place. This is significant as everything has stopped exactly when Miss Havisham’s heart was broken this is also explained in further chapters of the book.

Next Estella is formerly introduced to pip basically as a spoilt little conniving brat. Dickens informs us in later chapters that Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham and serves as a predecessor of Miss Havisham’s wealth. Estella is Miss Havisham's adopted daughter and her project in cultivated cruelty. Raised by the old woman to be cruel and hard to men, Estella, a great beauty, entrances Pip. She is mean to Pip for most of his life, although at the novel's end they meet again, and she seems to be a softened, changed woman. Estella is another child of mysterious parentage, and Pip eventually learns that she's Magwitch's daughter.
Estella disrespects Pip and ridicules him saying “he calls the knaves, Jacks this boy”. By calling him “boy” and not by his real name Estella is demeaning Pip as if to say I am above you, you are common and a lower class. Pip takes in Estella’s taunting and ridiculing because he has taken quite a fancy to her. It seems that to Estella pride and money is all that matters in the world her boundaries and rules are set by these two figures. In my personal opinion if Estella had been brought up by her biological mother then she probably would have gone out with Pip. It is only that she was brought up by Miss Havisham who just happens to be a man hating, cruel, black hearted witch, that she is so wicked. Miss Havisham exposes this when she asks Pip why he does not retaliate to Estella’s insults. Pip says that he does not like to and Miss Havisham tells him to whisper it into her head. Pip tells Miss Havisham that he thinks Estella is very proud and pretty and then announces he wants to leave. Upon hearing this Miss Havisham blurts out “and never see her again, though she is so pretty” revealing Pip’s lust for Estella.
Estella knowing that Pip adores her uses it to her advantage and is cold hearted, cruel and rude to him. Estella despises Pip and is insulted that she must “play” with him. Estella also has no sympathy for Pip she asks him “why don’t you cry” and he replies he doesn’t want to. Then she laughs at Pip taunting him “you have been crying till you are half blind”. The whole fiasco about Pip having his feelings spilled out to Estella is a significant point. It is here where Pip and the reader sees just how cruel Miss Havisham is and that she can’t be trusted.

Chapter 8 is also a very important turning point for Pips character in this chapter he realises his true heritage that he is just a “common labouring boy.” Estella shows herself to Pip to be top class and of a very posh nature although in reality they are not much different from one another. Pip comes to light about the way people look at his dress sense and hygiene. Estella curses him about his “coarse hands” and “thick boots”. Pip really behaves himself and never says a word out of place at Satis house. He does this for his fear of his sister who brought him up by hand he is scared that she will beat him. Pip’s sister’s beatings have made him sensitive and Pip feels ashamed of it. He then turns his hate to Joe questioning him in his mind why Joe didn’t bring him up to be more of a gentleman.

Another important feature of chapter 8 is the way in which some autobiographical information abpout dickens life shines through Pip. Dickens in real life is a lot like Pip in many different ways. Both Dickens and Pip have been in London from a very young age and have grown up there. Like Pip who never experienced a real dad even though Joe Gargery came close, Dickens was sometimes in the absence of a father figure. His dad (John) worked in the Navy clerk and had very unmanageable wages. Because of this problem John served time in prison for debt, this event was recorded in two of Dickens’s novels. His father was portrayed as Wilkins Micawber in David Copperfield and the time his father served was mentioned in Little Dorrit. Secondly Dickens and Pip had horrible childhood’s, while Pip was affected both physically at home from child abuse from his sister who brought him up by hand. He was affected mentally by visits to Satis house and Magwitch the convict. Dickens on the other hand was sent to work in a blacking warehouse where he would stick labels on to bottles of shoe polish. The trauma of working in that warehouse were so horrific that these memories haunted Dickens for the rest of his life. Dickens felt bad about his background and was very defiant about his parent’s failure to educate him. He worked very hard first becoming a clerk in a solicitor’s office, then in 1834 a reporter of parliamentary debates for the Morning chronicle. Pip also in chapter 8 begins to feel strongly about his background heritage. Dickens wanted to see change and he felt the class division was too great in victoran society. Through his portrayals of Miss Havisham and Estella treating Pip badly he thought he could make a difference and they would empathise with working classes as he did.
Dickens presents the Victorian women in this story to take up the role of a housewife for example Mrs Joe Gargery. Mrs Joe is a lower class woman who sits at home tending the house and fixing meals. Although she fixes meals she does so, unpleasantly for Pip giving him. “As much crumb as possible...as little butter...such a quantity of warm water in my milk”. It seems that Victorian women brought their children “up by hand”. This seems to be true as Mr Pumblechook instructs Pip before entering Satis house. “Let your behaviour here be a credit unto them which brought you up by hand”.




This chapter really entices the reader with its descriptive writing and intense imagery. It is very important that Dickens uses a lot of descriptive writing so it is easier for the reader to picture the story. So Dickens had to ensure that the readers knew what he was trying to describe to them. Dickens uses very powerful imagery in chapter 8 for example “this standing still of all pale decayed objects”... “Withered bridal dress on the collapsed form”... “Looked so like grave-clothes”... “long veil so like a shroud”. In chapter 8 strong adjective language is used to describe Miss Havisham and the way Satis house looks. Satis house is described as an old Victorian mansion with a side brewery, which has long been in service. Dickens mentions “the cold wind seemed to blow colder there”... “it made a shrill noise”. This arouses the reader to be conscious about why the brewery is described like this and why Satis house looks like this. Dickens describes the house to show that it is cold and errie like Miss Havisham, she has made the house like that as she continues to pity herself and hate men. The image of Satis house is presented as a cold, dark empty place. The same type of imagery is used to describe Miss Havisham and the way she acts. In a way Miss Havisham is cold, dark and empty. For instance her heart is cold and is only full of contempt and disgust for men. Her personality is empty of all passion, love and care for others. Finally her eyes are dark and still as Pip describes her like “waxwork”. Pip describes her like this to show that she is only human by nature she is “still” and scary like the waxwork Pip saw. He suggests that she has now been “moulded” into a new person more evil and cruel than the Miss Havisham before.


This chapter is mainly so important because of the events that take place. It is the origin of things that are important and are going to take place in further chapters. An important event that takes place is the changing of Pip when he meets Estella and Miss Havisham. His personality and self-awareness change when Estella insults him repeatedly. If Pip had not met Estella he would not have changed his attitude to one of a gentleman. He would have kept his opinion of his heritage the same and would not have felt any differently. If Pip had not met Miss Havisham he would have felt very strongly about his benefactor. If Pip had not thought Miss Havisham was the benefactor he would have felt suspicious about the whole affair. Secondly if Miss Havisham had not told Pip she was heart broken we would never have known the cause of her hatred for men. We would have been oblivious as to why Miss Havisham brought Estella up to be such a hateful, black hearted bitch. Pip also here begins to learn the true nature of Estella and why she does the things she does.


Dickens creates various amounts of suspense gripping the reader. Now and then Dickens includes certain elements of suspense so the story does not tire. Suspense in this story is Dickens strong points and where he really succeeds in being a writer. One of the points in the chapter where Dickens creates suspense is when Pip first enters inside the house. “The passages were all dark”, this creates a spooky atmosphere and makes the reader think why are the passages dark? What is it that stops the passages from being lighted? Secondly when Pip is about to go into Miss Havisham’s room. Estella says “don’t be ridiculous boy; I am not going in”. The reader is left questioning why she won’t go in and what he will find and once he does? Why did she take the candle with her, why didn’t she leave it with Pip as there were plenty of other candles around? Pip sees a figure hanging there by the neck and whether the house is perhaps haunted. At that precise moment the reader will be pondering, just who or what is hanging by its neck. Furthermore a number of questions are raised in this chapter concerning Pip i.e. Will Pip receive any money from Miss Havisham that his sister so crucially wants him to get? Will he use it for an education? Or will his sister spend it all on herself? And what will Pip do about his “coarse hands” and “thick boots”. The final big question that remains is what will happen to Pip now that he is ashamed of his family’s background.



Overall it has to be said that Chapter 8 is the most important chapter in the whole book. If Great Expectations did not include chapter 8. Then the whole story would not make sense and there would be a lot of loose ends. In a way Great Expectations is based on chapter 8 and its turn of events and most importantly the characters you are introduced to. All in all chapter 8 is relevant to point out the change in Pip’s attitude and personality. It is here where he realises that he can have more than to just being a blacksmith’s apprentice and begin to aspire to a higher quality of life outside his original class. He starts to think about the way he looks and dresses to other people mainly upper class people. Character’s true colours are revealed in this chapter to the reader. Two key characters are also introduced to the readers, who arouse a variety of feelings curiosities in the reader. We are shown Estella and Miss Havisham’s true selves. We see how alike they are even though Estella is adopted. We see how easy Estella can manipulate boys and just where she was taught it. Having assessed chapter 8 we see just how important it was to the book and the explanations to certain character’s behaviour.

By Emmanuel Ogwang

>>By The puzzler   (Thursday, 27 May 2004 21:38)



puzzler
what is wrong with you
do you think that your messages can be read
well they might if people need it for homework

>>By savage   (Friday, 28 May 2004 21:29)



English Practice Work

In both ‘Snowdrops’ and ‘Growing Up’ the main characters are small children and they each have the same moral of story. Both characters in each story are learning the true concepts of life for example. In ‘Snowdrops’ the main character is a boy with who seems to have no name. He is starting to experience new things in life that he hadn’t before for instance the cold bacon sandwich. He describes the bacon so vividly to show his new liking of the taste he describes it as “incredibly new” and “marvellous”. The boy is growing up and tasting new things and exploring. I thought the bacon being cold was symbolising the mood of the townspeople and Miss Webster. The boy exploring is connected in the same way with ‘Growing Up’. ‘Growing Up’ deals with two girls Jenny 12 and Kate 13. The girls explore the depth of playing with their dad and just when his actual limit is. Having spent hardly anytime with their dad and under the influence of the garden’s wildness. The girls acted in what they thought was a playful manner as they had hardly played with their dad at all they didn’t actually know his limit of what was playful and what was “murderous”. Having attacked their dad the girls suddenly realise the consequences of their actions. They realise that even though you are playing people can still get hurt, they quickly tend to their dads wound. Almost immediately after they are sent to change their dirty frocks they change their personality again to one of dignified decent girls.

The boy in growing up learns that there is more to life than just snowdrops, he realises this as he feels a “slow, sad disappointment”. The boy then stops focusing on his only priority (the snowdrops) and begins to notice other things in the world. Like the death of a young boy who his teacher clearly had feelings for him as she “cries out loud” as the singing men “solemnly” walk past. I also thought the snowdrops also reflected the mood of the atmosphere the way it “hung and the “greyish leaves”. These descriptions relate back to the mood of Miss Webster, as she must have “hung” her head as she cried and her mood would have been “grey”.

The authors write very descriptively to show exactly how the characters in the two stories are feeling. In ‘Growing Up’ Joyce Cary describes Jenny as feeling very sorry and concerned about her father. She shows this when even though her and her sister are really close she still “reproaches” her sister and tells her off. She also shows her concern when Kate comes with the water and she sternly tells her father to “sit down at once, man”. By not calling her father dad or Robert she shows him that the cut is serious and so is she. Leslie Norris describes the way Miss Webster is so distraught and upset. Miss Webster is seen with her head in her hands and the atmosphere id described as “still”. I think that Miss Webster told everyone to draw so she could have peace and quiet to think about her lost boyfriend. She told them to draw whatever they wanted because she wanted them to be free to do what they wanted and be happy. Unlike her she never got the chance to really connect with the dead boy. At the end of the story Miss Webster is so mournful that her loud crying is actually frightening the children in her class. She is so upset that her shoulders start to shake as she grips the iron bars on the gate.

Both stories have the same idea of people getting hurt and the concepts of life but, they are very different in the way that the main characters understand this and the moral is presented to them.

>>By The puzzler   (Tuesday, 8 Jun 2004 22:42)



By close examination of chapter 8 show its importance to the novel as a whole. In your answer you should refer to character, structure, suspense and language.
.


Chapter 8 is really important; as it is the first time we encounter two key characters Estella and Miss Havisham. Chapter 8 really starts to take off when Mr Pumblechook drops Pip off at Satis House. Dickens presents Miss Havisham first as an old lady who is apparently wallowing in her self-pity in her room. When Pip is first asked to enter her room he is taken back by the sights he encounters. He seems on first sight to think that there is a “fine lady” sitting at her dressing table. But his mind gradually asserts itself to assess that this is the strangest lady he has ever seen. As Pip ventures deeper into the room he realises Miss Havisham has not quite finished dressing, “she had but one shoe on”. Pip adjusts his viewing only to realise that everything that should have been white had been long ago and was now faded and yellow. Pip then turns his attention to Miss Havisham and is lost for words at her “sunken eyes” and body, which has “shrunk to skin and bone”. Pip is afraid of Miss Havisham’s “dark eyes” that keep looking at him; she appears a “waxwork skeleton”. “Miss” suggests that along with her ruined dress and decrepit appearance she is still single and unmarried, in Victorian times this was seen as a disgrace upon the family. Miss Havisham is so shocked and upset that she wears her bridal dress to remind her of how evil men really are. Miss Havisham confesses to Pip that she sometimes has “sick fancies” and tells him that she wants diversion. She informs him that she is “done” with men and women meaning that she is tired of their company and she now wants to see some “play”. When Pip starts to play “beggar my neighbour” with Estella he starts to realise that everything Miss Havisham picks up she puts it back in its exact place. This is significant as everything has stopped exactly when Miss Havisham’s heart was broken this is also explained in further chapters of the book.

Next Estella is formerly introduced to pip basically as a spoilt little conniving brat. Dickens informs us in later chapters that Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham and serves as a predecessor of Miss Havisham’s wealth. Estella is Miss Havisham's adopted daughter and her project in cultivated cruelty. Raised by the old woman to be cruel and hard to men, Estella, a great beauty, entrances Pip. She is mean to Pip for most of his life, although at the novel's end they meet again, and she seems to be a softened, changed woman. Estella is another child of mysterious parentage, and Pip eventually learns that she's Magwitch's daughter.
Estella disrespects Pip and ridicules him saying “he calls the knaves, Jacks this boy”. By calling him “boy” and not by his real name Estella is demeaning Pip as if to say I am above you, you are common and a lower class. Pip takes in Estella’s taunting and ridiculing because he has taken quite a fancy to her. It seems that to Estella pride and money is all that matters in the world her boundaries and rules are set by these two figures. On the other hand Dickens shows through Miss Havisham that being wealthy does not always bring happiness. Dickens also continues to shoe the cruelty that the higher class inflicted on the lower class. Miss Havisham exposes this when she asks Pip why he does not retaliate to Estella’s insults. Pip says that he does not like to and Miss Havisham tells him to whisper it into her head. Pip tells Miss Havisham that he thinks Estella is very proud and pretty and then announces he wants to leave. Upon hearing this Miss Havisham blurts out “and never see her again, though she is so pretty” revealing Pip’s lust for Estella.
Estella knowing that Pip adores her uses it to her advantage and is cold hearted, cruel and rude to him. Estella despises Pip and is insulted that she must “play” with him. Estella also has no sympathy for Pip she asks him “why don’t you cry” and he replies he doesn’t want to. Then she laughs at Pip taunting him “you have been crying till you are half blind”. The whole fiasco about Pip having his feelings spilled out to Estella is a significant point. It is here where Pip and the reader sees just how cruel Miss Havisham is and that she can’t be trusted.

Chapter 8 is also a very important turning point for Pip’s character as in this chapter he first becomes ashamed at the realisation he is a “common labouring boy.” Estella shows herself to Pip to be high class and of a very posh nature although in reality they are not much different from one another. Pip comes to light about the way people look at his dress sense and hygiene. Estella curses him about his “coarse hands” and “thick boots”. Pip really behaves himself and never says a word out of place at Satis house. He does this for his fear of his sister who brought him up by hand he is scared that she will beat him. Dickens here makes the reader sympathise with Pip and to feel sorry for him. He also wants to direct the reader’s hatred towards Estella, thus showing us how the higher and lower class used to respond to each other. He on the contrary shows us how lower class Victorian mothers at the time brought their children up.

Another important feature of chapter 8 is the way in which some autobiographical information about Dickens life is apparent through his depiction of Pip. Dickens in real life is a lot like Pip in many different ways. Both Dickens and Pip have been in London from a very young age and have grown up there. Like Pip who never experienced a real dad even though Joe Gargery came close, Dickens was sometimes in the absence of a father figure. His dad (John) worked in the Navy clerk and had very unmanageable wages. Because of this problem John served time in prison for debt, this event was recorded in two of Dickens’s novels. Dickens and Pip had horrible childhood’s, while Pip was affected both physically at home from child abuse from his sister who brought him up by hand. He was affected mentally by visits to Satis House and Magwitch the convict. Dickens on the other hand was sent to work in a blacking warehouse where he would stick labels on to bottles of shoe polish. The trauma of working in that warehouse were so horrific that these memories haunted Dickens for the rest of his life. Dickens felt bad about his background and was very defiant about his parent’s failure to educate him. He worked very hard first becoming a clerk in a solicitor’s office, then in 1834 a reporter of parliamentary debates for the Morning chronicle. Dickens wanted to see change and he felt the class division was too great in Victorian society. Through his portrayals of Miss Havisham and Estella treating Pip badly he thought he could make a difference and they would empathise with working classes as he did. Dickens’ main aim in this book was to show to people how horrid and inhuman lower class people were treated by the higher class. He taught through Pip that lower class people are just as good as higher-class people.
This chapter really entices the reader with its descriptive writing and intense imagery. It is very important that Dickens uses a lot of descriptive writing so it is easier for the reader to picture the story. So Dickens had to ensure that the readers knew what he was trying to describe to them. Dickens uses very powerful imagery in chapter 8 for example “this standing still of all pale decayed objects” here he describes Miss Havisham’s stance and structure. “Withered bridal dress on the collapsed form”, this quote is used to elaborate so vividly on how Miss Havisham is dressed. In chapter 8 strong adjective language is used to describe Miss Havisham and the way Satis house looks. Satis House is described as an old Victorian mansion with a side brewery, which has long been in service. Dickens mentions, “The cold wind seemed to blow colder there”... “Which made a shrill noise”. This arouses the reader to be conscious about why the brewery is described like this and why Satis House looks like this. Dickens describes the house to show that it is cold and eerie like Miss Havisham, she has made the house like that as she continues to pity herself and hate men. The image of Satis House is presented as a cold, dark empty place. The same type of imagery is used to describe Miss Havisham and the way she acts. In a way Miss Havisham is cold, dark and empty and the house can be seen as symbolic of the way she has deprived herself of the outside world and become “overgrown” and “cold” like the house. For instance her heart is cold and is only full of contempt and disgust for men. Her personality is empty of all passion, love and care for others. Finally her eyes are dark and still as Pip describes her like “waxwork”. Pip describes her like this to show that she is only human by nature she is “still” and scary like the waxwork Pip saw. He suggests that she has now been “moulded” into a new person more evil and cruel than the Miss Havisham before. This chapter is mainly so important because of the events that take place. It is the origin of things that are important and are going to take place in further chapters. An important event that takes place is the changing of Pip when he meets Estella and Miss Havisham. His personality and self-awareness change when Estella insults him repeatedly. If Pip had not met Estella he would not have changed his attitude to one of a gentleman. He would have kept his opinion of his heritage the same and would not have felt any differently. If Pip had not met Miss Havisham he would have felt very strongly about his benefactor. If Pip had not thought Miss Havisham was the benefactor he would have felt suspicious about the whole affair. Secondly if Miss Havisham had not told Pip she was heart broken we would never have known the cause of her hatred for men. We would have been oblivious as to why Miss Havisham brought Estella up to be such a hateful, black hearted bitch. Pip also here begins to learn the true nature of Estella and why she does the things she does.


Dickens in this chapter creates various amounts of suspense gripping the reader. Now and then Dickens includes certain elements of suspense so the story does not tire. Suspense in this story is Dickens strong points and where he really succeeds in being a writer. One of the points in the chapter where Dickens creates suspense is when Pip first enters inside the house. “The passages were all dark”, this creates a spooky atmosphere and makes the reader think why are the passages dark? What is it that stops the passages from being lighted? Secondly when Pip is about to go into Miss Havisham’s room. Estella says “don’t be ridiculous boy; I am not going in”. The reader is left questioning why she won’t go in and what he will find and once he does? Why did she take the candle with her, why didn’t she leave it with Pip, as there were plenty of other candles around? Pip sees a figure hanging there by the neck and whether the house is perhaps haunted. At that precise moment the reader will be pondering, just who or what is hanging by its neck. Furthermore a number of questions are raised in this chapter concerning Pip i.e. Will Pip receive any money from Miss Havisham that his sister so crucially wants him to get? Will he use it for an education? Or will his sister spend it all on herself? And what will Pip do about his “coarse hands” and “thick boots”. The final big question that remains is what will happen to Pip now that he is ashamed of his family’s background. Overall Chapter 8 is one of the most important chapters in the whole novel. If Great Expectations did not include chapter 8 then the whole story would not make sense and there would be a lot of loose ends. Chapter 8 is important, as it is where Pip begins to change from being satisfied with being working class to desiring to improve and better himself. Two key characters are also introduced to the readers, who arouse a variety of feelings and curiosities in the reader. The way in which these characters are depicted to the reader is also important, as Dickens reveals a great deal about life in Victorian society. He also reveals the cruel way in which the wealthy treated the poor. In most of Dickens’ novels we he goes in depth to show the feelings between the rich and poor. Having assessed chapter 8 we see just how important it was to the book and the explanations to certain character’s behaviour.

By Emmanuel Ogwang

>>By The puzzler   (Monday, 28 Jun 2004 20:35)



History Project: Question one


The mistreatment of the Jews really kicked off in 1933 when the Nazis officially came to power. As soon as the Nazis came to power they immediately began to attack the Jews. It started in April 1933 when the S.A organised a boycott of all Jewish owned shops cafes and businesses. The S.A stood outside these places and locations instructing German citizens not to enter and socialise with the Jews. They went to the extreme measures of painting the word Jude which meant Jew all over the shop windows. When people ignored the signs and their warnings they were assaulted heavily harmed for trying to enter. The Germans had started their worldwide attack on all Jews. Only one-week later Hitler ordered the removal from government jobs of anyone not of Aryan descent. Aryan meant pure German, so obviously this meant thousands of Jewish civil servants, lawyers and university teachers were spontaneously sacked. In the summer of 1933 placards were placed outside shops, swimming pools and various other public places.

On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag building went up in flames. Nazis immediately claimed that this was the beginning of a Communist revolution. This fact leads many historians to believe that Nazis actually set, or help set the fire. Others believe that a deranged Dutch Communist set the fire. The issue has never been resolved. This incident prompted Hitler to convince Hindenburg to issue a Decree for the Protection of People and State that granted Nazis sweeping power to deal with the so-called emergency.

The SA (Sturmabteilung) had been instrumental in Hitler's rise to power. In early 1934, there were 2.5 million SA men compared with 100,000 men in the regular army. Hitler knew that the regular army opposed the SA becoming its core. Fearing the power of the regular army to force him from office, Hitler curried their favour by attacking the leadership of the SA in the "Night of the Long Knives." Hitler arrested Ernst Röhm and scores of other SA leaders and had them shot by the SS, which now rose in importance. The night of long knives was just an excuse for Hitler to be rid of anyone who could promptly oppose him or be decisively more powerful.

In 1935 Hitler announced the Nuremberg laws, these laws deprived the Jews of their civil right and separated them from Germans legally, socially and politically.
In 1936 Berlin hosted the Olympics, Hitler saw this as a beautiful chance to promote the Nazi image also known as Nazism. Hitler wanted to show the Nazis to world and he decided to promote the idea by instructing a man called Leni Reifenstahl to promote Nazi propaganda. By making a film by the name of Olympia. It has been said that her previous film Triumph of the will was one the greatest propaganda pieces of the century.

In March 1938 in Hitler’s task to unite all German-speaking people and for Lebensraum Hitler took over Australia without any bloodshed. Later in the year in September Hitler admired the North western area of Czechoslovakia called Sudetenland which inhabited three million German speaking citizens. Hitler did not want to invade this country until he was absolutely sure that neither France nor England would intervene. So he met up with the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and threatened to go to war if he did not receive this region. Then at the Munich conference Hitler prevailed on England, Italy and France. The Western powers chose appeasement instead of military confrontation and Hitler walked away with occupation of Sudetenland.

On the "Night of Broken Glass" (Kristallnacht) on November 9, 1938. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels initiated a brutal attack against the Jews, during which nearly 1,000 synagogues were set on fire and 76 were destroyed. More than 7,000 Jewish businesses and homes were looted, about one hundred Jews were killed and as many as 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps to be tormented, and starved for many months. Within days, the Nazis forced the Jews to transfer their businesses to Aryan hands and expelled all Jewish pupils from public schools. To expel matters even worse, the Nazis further persecuted the Jews by forcing them to pay for the damages of Kristallnacht.

On September 1, 1939, Hitler Despite Winston Churchill’s warnings invaded Poland, officially starting World War II. Two days later, Britain and France, now obliged by treaty to help Poland, declared war on Germany. Hitler's armies used the tactic of Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, a combination of armoured attack accompanied by air assault. Before British and French power could be brought to bear, in less than four weeks, Poland collapsed. Germany's military conquest put it in a position to establish the New Order, a plan to abuse and eliminate so-called undesirables, notably Jews.

By Emmanuel Ogwang

>>By The puzzler   (Wednesday, 7 Jul 2004 22:32)



He's a great writer...one of my personal favorites.He has great writing skills and imagination.He is very good at creating convincing and realistic characters.I'm most fond of Great Expectations and David copperfiled..both semi-autobiographical in nature.Excellent reading for both Childern and adults.

>>By MaVe_RicK   (Thursday, 5 Aug 2004 13:01)



yeah..but waht do you think of crime as presented in dickens..say in Fagin?

>>By shaggy   (Thursday, 5 Aug 2004 16:00)



i like the jobs he does like selling stuff

>>By hislop   (Friday, 6 Aug 2004 13:56)



his characters seemed to possess him and even objects such as furniture and houses as in david copperfield where the house appears to stare down at david like uriah heep.\fdantasy and reality are part of the same world it is like entering different stages of consciousness what does anyone else think

>>By scouser   (Monday, 9 Aug 2004 11:37)



I see what you mean, in Great Expectations for example, Pip as a young boy is quite afraid of Satis House and Dickens with his humour and digressions allows Pip's imagination to run wild. Pip's observations as a child show the building to be "dismal" since "the cold wind seemed to blow colder there". But on his return at the end of the novel, an older Pip appreciates it to be simply "mounds of ruin". So the characters' developments are important to the outlook provided, and does take us on a journey throught different stages of consciousness.

I like the way Dickens always seems to criticise what he sees as wrong in his society. Like in David Copperfield, when he uses Steerforth to show that his successful characteristics are more likely to corrupt a person rather than improve them. Or how in Oliver Twist, he emphasises how city life is attributed with squaler while the countryside offers a discovery of a "new existence".

>>By mathu   (Tuesday, 10 Aug 2004 22:35)



Having read Oliver Twist earlier this year, with its obvious satire and strong sense of social and moral justice, I expected more of the same when I read Great Expectations.

What I did not expect, however, was to feel so alternately moved to laughter and to tears.

I can honestly say that Dickens is masterful in his gift of expression and description. His tale of identity and the quest for self-knowledge is profound in its insights and observances. His characters are alternately ameliorated or denigrated through their worth and moral fibre. His use of humour counterbalances magnificently the pathos and plight of the characters.

His satirical sending up of his characters by describing them largely in animalistic terms is inspired, and I view him as an acute and exacting observer or human emotion, characteristic and purpose, much in line with Flaubert. Like Flaubert he delineates the tragedy of everyday human suffering (the affaires of the heart et al) and blends it with insightful observances gleaned by scrutinising their local populaces. This assists by adding a realism, which though appearing outwardly flippant and sarcastic, is actually a blistering invective aimed at those who preach but do not practice.

This is my first bash at puting into words how I feel about Dickens, so forgive the pomposity!

By Lesley

>>By Mme Bovary   (Monday, 23 Aug 2004 13:50)



Great Expectations is one of the worst books I have ever read.

>>By MagentaStraberry   (Friday, 18 May 2007 16:10)



What was so bad about it?

>>By Flagg   (Friday, 18 May 2007 18:40)



"Great Expectations," while not the greatest of the Victorian novels ("Middlemarch" maybe) is an extraordinary piece of work both in its revelations about pride, loyalty, love, and loss. And, like so much of Dickens, a critique of the constructive and destructive power of money.

Please do not call the novel "one of the worst book I have ever read" unless you can support your position in your posting. Simple denunciation says much more about the poster than it does Dickens.

>>By Boz   (Thursday, 21 Jun 2007 20:22)



Telling other people how to post says even more. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and equally entitled to state their opinion without giving a list of reasons why they arrived at it.

>>By Flagg   (Friday, 22 Jun 2007 20:10)



My introduction to dickens was pickwick papers and if your somebody who is put off by the thought of reading victorian prose, my advice..try pickwick papers. It is a little reminiscent of 'three men in a boat' by jerome k jerome but better.

algie

>>By Algenon   (Thursday, 28 Jun 2007 01:10)



while im here if your a fan of dickens i would certainly recommend 'the way of all flesh' by samuel butler. also something completely different but still of the same period (i think) one of the first detective novels wilkie collins 'moonstone'.

algie

>>By Algenon   (Thursday, 28 Jun 2007 01:14)



i think dickens is one of the finest writers of his time.his plots,characters are very human,very real.i especially love the dark humor in his stories.the tale of two cities is one of my all time favourites.
i read that someone posted they were a sydney carton fan,even more so than darnay.
i want to say that i am too.i feel that every woman dreams that there is atleast one man in the world who loves her like carton loved lucy and would go to any lengths for her.

>>By scarlettohara   (Thursday, 16 Aug 2007 18:28)



Dickens was a humanist. He argued a very good case AGAINST political ,and moral apathy! He was active toward helping his fellow man! He got a clear and resonant message across through his novels! perhaps better than any author that has ever lived!

>>By chuzzle   (Friday, 17 Aug 2007 07:33)



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