Great Expectations Essay

               Philip Pirrip, a young child, lost his parents when he was younger--now living with his sister, a woman who believed in showing love by making people fear her, and her husband, the jolly hearted town blacksmith--II you kind of mess up the flow of this sentence with the dash construction II is somehow completely filled with innocence and nothing else. He lives in a common village, general shops and stalls fill the market square, while soldiers guard the gates and the jail holding back the criminals. He heads out to the marsh land, practically in his back yard, where his parents are buried in the cemetery, where he spends hours out there just imagining the days when his parents where around. Pip is distressed that he cannot remember their faces, yet filled with happiness, remembering the times when life was better, a time where he was content all the time, a time where his parents were alive. This novel shows how people begin with innocence and may seem to keep it forever, through all the bad times, yet they always seem to lose it in the end.
                Even through all the bad times, Pip manages to hold onto his innocence, until he meets Miss Havisham and Estella. While Pip was at home, his uncle came to his house and had great news, the richest lady in their town wanted to "play" with Pip. His sister immediately jumped on the offer, figuring that it would give Pip the opportunity to get out of this village, and to get into the city, where he can get rich himself and live a good life, where he has a chance to live free, where he can feel proud of himself for his job, and his wealth. He has no choice in the matter, he goes to the great house, where he meets some interesting characters. He is immediately confused as he enters the mansion, for all the clocks are stopped at exactly twenty minutes to nine. He gets to Miss Havisham's room where he sees Miss Havisham half dressed in white clothes, and only one shoe on, with this his confusion only grows.

               Estella is controlled by Miss Havisham, for Estella is an orphan who was adopted by Miss Havisham. You might think that Miss Havisham has a morsel of humanity for adopting a young orphan who was in need of parents. Yet no, she only adopted Estella so that she could get revenge on the entire male race. For when Miss Havisham was getting ready for her wedding, she learned that her groom did not love her, nor was he ever planning on marrying her, except for her incredible wealth. So, because of this corrupt man who only wanted her money, she herself has become corrupt in such a way, that she seeks everlasting revenge on any and all men that she meets. Miss Havisham does not realize that forgiving and forgetting is a better way to get past this, rather than just seeking vengeance on every single man that will come across her path. Even though Estella is controlled by this monster, she has absolutely no clue that she is, for why would her own mother betray her?
                  One day when Pip was at the graveyard he meets a strange man, who turns out to be a criminal who has escaped from the local jail. The strange man threatens that Pip has to get him food, something to drink, and a nail file, or else his young friend will do horrible things to him. The man obviously does not have a young friend, yet Pip does not know, for Pip is still filled with that complete innocence that he has had for quite a long time. When Pip gets the supplies and brings it back to the man, Pip is remarkably frightened because the man eats the food with such an urgency that it looks as if he was an animal, and then proceeds to down the drink in almost one fluent gulp, after the food has been digested he proceeds to file off the chains that are around his ankle. Throughout the whole process of devouring the food, drinking the liquid, and freeing himself, Pip is standing there scared thinking about the younger man who will do horrible things to him.

                Then all of a sudden his sister is overwhelmed with happiness, confused Pip wonders why, apparently Pip is heading to the city for some anonymous donor, has supported Pip, and is going to help him climb to the top. He is immediately set to work for an evil man, Mr. Jaggers, who is a lawyer, forced to take away possessions from even the poorest of all people. For those too poor to afford the charge accounted against them, some may think that Mr. Jaggers would lower the bail, yet he takes the only things of theirs that are worth any money at all. Pip's life in the city is growing stronger and more permanent, growing farther and farther away from Joe, and his friends back in that little village of his origin. Pip is growing farther away and it seems to be making his sister happy, possibly because Pip is getting a better life, possibly because it'll bring back money for her, and possibly with one less mouth to feed their lives would become even easier.

              When Pip gets a message from Estella and Miss Havisham he believes that Estella wants to possibly marry him, he hurries back there not even thinking that it might be a trap. After spending a lot of time with Estella, all the while growing more in love with her, he finds out that Estella is engaged to someone else. Heartbroken he goes back to Joe and finally gives up the last of his innocence that he has been holding onto for these long years. Miss Havisham has sought revenge upon man-kind and successfully ruined Pip's innocence, something that seemed like it would last forever. Pip shall never again play an innocent game with friends and family, shall never again roam the marshes thinking about the better times when his parents were alive, and will never again learn to love.