Great Expectations: Setting, Major Characters, Events

Great Expectations
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Great Expectations
Setting, major characters, events, and summary
Great Expectations novel was set in Kent and London in the 19th century. It is fully narrated in the first person, where it portrays the personal growth and progression of an orphan nicknamed Pip. The main characters in the novel include the most significant character Pip, the mysterious and vengeful Miss Havisham, the beautiful but cold Estella, and her husband Joe, who is a simple and kind blacksmith. Pip is both the protagonist and narrator of the novel since his actions make up the main plot and his thoughts and attitudes from the reader’s opinion on the story. Estella is a very ironic creation, one who threateningly undermines the notion of romantic love and functions as a criticism against the class system in which she is caught up. On the other hand, Miss Havisham is portrayed as the mad, vengeful and wealthy character, who lives in a decomposing mansion and wears an old wedding dress.
The novel’s main themes include wealth and poverty, love and rejection, and the eventual triumph of good over evil. The book contains interesting scenery, including the opening in a graveyard, where an escaped prisoner, Abel, confronts Pip. It also provides imagery such as poverty, prison chains and battles to the death. Great Expectations shows the life of Pip from when he is six years old to when he is an adult. For much of Great Expectations, Pip appears to trust in unambiguous division between good and evil, and he inclines to categorize people and situations as fitting to one extreme: for instance, regardless of their difficulties, he have faith in that Estella is good and the prisoner is evil. The novel focuses on Pip’s life experiences and events that make his life turn around.
Personal Reaction to the Book
One of the most interesting themes I have learned in the book is “ruining or hurting people’s life will also affect the individual who is doing it.” Both the symbols of darkness and Miss Havisham describe the theme. To start with, darkness is evident in almost every part of the novel, which makes the story very scary and detective. When bad things happen to Pip, they always take place ...