Insulting language Essay

Great expectations might be read as a bildungsroman because it charts the progress of the main character, Pip, from childhood to adulthood. Traditionally, a bildungsroman contains a hero, who usually suffers early on in life, maturing and clashing with the social settings and eventually being accepted into it. The story focuses around this theme but doesn’t always play by its rules. In my essay I will be discussing to what point Great expectations can be read as a bildungsroman. â€Å"Great expectations† conforms to the genre of a bildungsroman right from the start of the book, in the opening scene we meet old pip talking about charting his life from when he was a little boy to a young gentleman. Like in most bildungsroman books Pip has suffered a loss at an early age, his parents, brothers and sisters. Pip has also had a harsh start to life because he lives with his sister who, even thought she is looking out for him, treats him quite badly. To even more extent the social hierarchy is established very early on as we find out that Mr. Joe is a blacksmith and this is important in order to judge Pip’s development, we can even tell from the language that he uses that he has a hard knock life and is not well off. The structure of the opening scene tells us a lot about how it conforms to the bildungsroman genre, the way Dickens immediately introduces us to both Pips. The old omnipotent storyteller Pip, who tells the story as he remembers it skipping out bits and stretching the truth a little. And the young â€Å"actor† Pip who acts out what is happening while narrating it in 1st person which allows us to feel the harshness and changes that he is going through as he does which supports the bildungsroman framework. As I have mentioned before the language shows a lot about the type of life and the harshness of his life. E.g. Dark, flat, wilderness, low leaden line. Finally Dickens introduces the Convict who reinforces the social order and emphasises the harshness of Pips life, lastly he introduces the beginning of Pip’s great expectations. We first meet young pip in a cold and desolate church yard, looking at the graves of his parents and brothers this is important as it shows the harsh life he has had. In Chapter 1 we find out that Pip Has not had a childhood, he was bought up â€Å"By hand† suggesting that he has been disciplined harshly and ill Treated But with only the best in mind. We also found out that Pip’s Sister, Mrs. Joe, his only Relative in the world Who disciplines him so severely, Married the local town blacksmith which shows that Pip’s Family is poor and that pip is not so well educated As he calls himself Pip which is the only words he could pronounce. Even with the convict Pip’s Personality shines through, it shows that even though the Convict is threatening him severely But Pip still feels sympathy for him â€Å"if he were eluding the hands of the dead people†, even when he is told that he must go and fetch him a file he still has the courtesy to say â€Å"good night, sir† but Pip was also nervous â€Å"he faltered† and scared â€Å"I was dreadfully frightened†. Old Pip is reporting what young Pip said and felt. As I have said in previous paragraphs Pip has had a hard life, Pip’s house is a small â€Å"wooden house† with a â€Å"ditch clock† which is a cheap clock. Pip is also mistreated as he â€Å"served as a connubial missile† and that he gets regular beatings from â€Å"tickler†. Pip is not the only one beaten â€Å"Knowing her (Mrs. Joe) to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me†. Mrs. Joe is important because she represents the raising of the children in Victorian society, she helps us to lets us see how truly far Pips has come from being forced to intimidate higher class to actually being it. Joe is a â€Å"fellow-sufferer† of Mrs. Joe and he and Pip both treat each other like equals and share secrets more of having an older brother than him actually raising him as a father figure. It is important to see Pip at his home as we can feel sympathy for him and empathize what he â€Å"is† going through. Dickens wants us to fell sympathy for him so we can realize what his life was like and how he has changed since his childhood. The robbery of the pie shows us how Pip’s fear for both Mrs. Joe and the convict and that his conscience about stealing from his sister, the one who brought him up â€Å"by hand† and fear from being caught or, if not doing it out of this fear, being killed by the convicts â€Å"friend†. In chapter 7 we learn a lot about Pips education. Everything he has learnt was form Mr. Wopsles great aunt’s school, but not from Mrs. Wopsle, from Biddy, her daughter. In Mrs. Wopsles School their only source of education was a single book that was passed around the class showing that Pip hasn’t had a very good education like many of the working class children in Victorian society. Pips education shows that he is slowly advancing in society and is trying to achieve his goals. However Pip thinks of himself as stupid when really he only thinks like this as he is not learning fast enough for him to like it and his surroundings make him believe it. Joe in comparison to Pip has had not much of an education, he cant even read where as Pip has become superior to him in his education and because of this we fell sorry for Joe because of the story of his childhood he tells us afterwards. Pip is invited to play at Miss Haversham’s house, this is important as it shows a crucial part of the bildungsroman genre, the â€Å"shunning out† of the society that he wants to be accepted by, when Pip is playing at Satis house he is mixing with the higher class which represents a small leap to achieving his goals, while also giving him something else to aim at, Estella. Pip is treated badly by Estella because of his class making him feel poor and â€Å"common†, insulting the language he uses â€Å"he calls the knaves, jacks!† showing the difference in class which makes him upset and cry but the fact that she gets to him means that he likes her, urging him to change class â€Å"the hands that have never bothered me before, look coarse and common now†. Joe responds to Pip with helpful advice, saying that if he wants to be â€Å"uncommon† he must do it the honest way because if he can’t he’ll never do it and we expect Pip to go and strike his goals.