Friday, October 16, 2015

What does Pip do when he finds out that he can get five hundred pounds as a yearly income? Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Pip behaves badly in society (mostly over jealousy of
Estella) and squanders his allowance, running into debt. He is rescued on his 21st
birthday, when he is notified by Jaggers that he is awarded 500 pounds (equal to £36,000
today) and an increased steady allowance, until such a time as his benefactor will
appear and make himself known to Pip.



href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pip-magwitch.jpg"/>

title="Enlarge"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pip-magwitch.jpg"/>
Magwitch makes
himself known to Pip


Pip originally believes
Miss Havisham is his benefactress (and so the reader is led to believe, as well) for
several years as he begins to learn to be a gentleman, helped by the now grown Herbert
Pocket, (whom he discovers is the young man he fought at Satis House as a boy), who is
assigned as his companion. Pip returns to the village often, however rarely visiting his
family and instead visiting Miss Havisham. For several years Estella had been studying
abroad in Europe (a fashionable tradition of women's educaton for the wealthy at the
time), upon her return Pip finds Estella much changed and her attitude refined. She
apologizes for her earlier cruelty however, seeing Pip's affections warns him that he
should not fall in love with her. Pip ignores these repeated warnings as he long
harbored the belief that Miss Havisham (as his benefactress) intended them for each
other. Estella continues to warn him that her heart is cold and cannot love him and
entreats him to take her seriously, but he refuses, still believing they will be married
and that her heart is not as cold as she claims.


During
this time, Mrs. Joe dies. Pip returns home to the funeral where Biddy confides in him
that Orlick has made several unwanted advances toward her. Pip is infuriated and warns
Orlick to stay away from Biddy, however Orlick continues to harass Biddy after Pip is
gone.


Pip returns to London, heavily in debt which
increases by the day. Having led Herbert into debt as well, Pip feels a deep sense of
remorse for his irresponsible actions. In one of Dickens' patented plot twists, Pip's
benefactor turns out to be instead Abel Magwitch, the convict whom Pip helped, who had
been transported to href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales">New South Wales, where
he had eventually prospered and become extremely wealthy.

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