Great Expectations Notes

-A novel of education, a coming of age story based of of the protagonist, Pip

-Story begins with images of the wants that Pip has, he doesn't realize that it involves work to make these ideas happen
-Pip is an orphan and because of that feels different and unwanted; he believes his current life is unfulfilling and is conscious that he was given a bad start
-he questions whether he truly deserves what he has or if he was just unfortunate
-He is fatherless and therefore adopts male figures as role models
-Magwitch is a convict and behaves as an uncivil, immoral character who is wicked and brutal, embodying the animal need to survive
-This represents the threat of abandonment if Pip doesn't satisfy his needs
-Pip is afraid of becoming like Magwitch
-Havasham (have a sham, having shame) symbolizes horrible decay and a dream unfulfilled, but also shining promise of a type of fairy godmother
-Her house is still and hasn't been touched since she was left at the alter, showing loss of hope but also room for growth
-Havasham has trained Estella to be a heartbreaker; she is also rich and has adopted Estella, but is not what she seems, like Estella
-Pip doesn't talk truthfully of these people because he is ashamed that they are remnant of him
-A pip is a seed, something that could turn into something big, or blow away in the wind
-For Pip it is not just about desire to grow
-Both Havasham and Magwitch disappear and leave Pip to his own self- discovery for a while
-"J" is interchangeable with "I"; Pip is trying to see if he's more like Joe or Jaggers
-Joe is a blacksmith who could be violent but is not; he also goes off of feeling and doesn't judge on appearances and is somewhat of a romantic; he is not a financial success but has a rich, content emotional life; optimist
-Jaggers knows things about people and uses it to keep them loyal, drawing his power; he lives by the law and lives logically with little emotion; he is also hard on others; doesn't believe in people or ideas and is emotionally blank but financially able; pessimist (Estella, Molly, Ms. havasham, early Magwitch)
-Joe adopts Molly regardless of her status and coming
-Jaggers adopts out the child and keeps the mother as a servant, constantly belittling her
-Wimmick is a clerk who works with Jaggers who changes from work to home; he is very logical at the office but emotional at home
-Pip ultimately views Wimmick as a mechanized robot but a friend as well
-Magwitch is an orphan like Pip, and Pip fears turning into him
-Magwitch has an evil early life but alters when Pip has an influence on his life
-Pip has some revelations: Havasham is not his fairy godmother. Estella is not a pure and beautiful spirit but a deceitful evil. Magwitch has created Pip's expectations.
-It's not about an adult telling a child what to do but a child figuring it out for himself
-Pip sees the story as something beautiful coming from something terrible
-Jaggers and Joe are reference points to notice how Pip develops; he wants to be successful like Jaggers but emotionally enclined like Joe
-Unlike the men, Pip has his fantasies and is not a realist. Because of this Pip wants the benefits without the work; he cuts himself off from his past and people and snobbily devotes himself to Estella
-Pip's autobiography is his confession and his closure about his childhood; he reminds himself of this so he knows who he is and won't repeat who he was
-In the end Pip thinks of Estella as a fantasy and no longer desires the fantasies
-Pip returns to the forge to Joe marrying Bitty and producing a child named Pip