Great Expectations #3

First off, I want to observe that Pip doesn't know what a theme is. "... I must give one chapter to Estella. It is not much to give to the theme that so long filled my heart" (279). Estella is not a theme, she is a topic. Thanks to Ms. Froehlich, I know the difference.


Anyway.... In the past two posts, I have only discussed Pip. I will now move on to other characters. Miss Havisham is the woman who is believed to have given Pip his "expectations". She is a strange woman. She hasn't taken her wedding dress off since the day she was supposed to be married, when she was a young lady. Nothing in that room has changed since then, the clock is at the same time, and she spends her days thinking about how her heart was broken. It is suspected that she has given Pip these expectations so that someday he can marry Estella.

She says to Pip, : "Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces-and as it gets older and stronger it will tear deeper-love her, love her, love her!" Never had I seen such passionate eagerness as was joined to her utterance of these words. I could feel the muscles of the thin arm round my neck swell with the vehemence that possessed her (223).

Her only joy in life, is living through her adopted daughter Estella. Without Estella, she just sits in her old, unkempt house all day long. But Estella gives her something to live for. It lets her look forward to the day that she'll break Pips heart. Miss Havisham's main conflict is with herself. She is unable to overcome an event that happened dozens of years ago. Her fiance never came to the ceremony. It happens to a lot of people, and they were able to go on with their lives. She is unable to do that. It might be due to the fact that she is spoiled and wealthy. Most people wouldn't be able to afford to live such a life, and also most people would have someone in their lives who wouldn't let them do this.
Another character in the story is Pumblechook. He was mean to Pip as a boy, but now he takes credit for Pip's expectations. When he was saying the eulogy at Pip's sister's funeral, Pip hears him "...cough a reservation of the case of a young gentleman who came unexpectedly into a large property" (263). It seems to bring him much satisfaction to think that he is the cause of such an honor.