What is the exposition of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens?

As part of the plot in a work of literature, the
exposition gives readers information about characters, setting, and initial conflicts. 
In the early chapters of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
introduces readers to his protagonist, Pip (who is a young child at the time), and the
people who influence his life. 

From the moment we meet Pip
in the graveyard, we understand that he is an extremely sensitive child who is clearly
upset by being alone and in the presence of his deceased, buried parents and siblings. 
Already shivering and about to cry, Pip is accosted by a convict, who demands that Pip
return the following day with food and a file and that he not tell anyone of this
encounter.  Traumatized, Pip returns home to his abusive sister, who is raising him "by
hand," and her husband Joe. 

As Dickens is a master of
character development, the exposition he provides in first few chapters of the novel
(with the focus on Pip's fear of the convict and fear of his sister) establishes Pip as
an overly-sensitive child who obsesses over things that are seemingly beyond his
control.  This information, though it may seem to accompany the isolated incident with
the convict, is essential to readers' understanding of Pip's character--and will also
help readers understand Pip's reactions to his interactions with Miss Havisham, Estella,
Magwitch, Herbert, Biddy, and Joe, among others.  Thus, Dickens is able to lay the
groundwork for his bildungsroman--with the focus on his protagonist, Pip, from page one
of the novel.