How does Dickens depict Pip's loneliness in chapter 1 of Great Expectations?
The author establishes in the first few paragraphs of the book the fact that Pip is quite alone in the world. Pip, who narrates the story, says that he gives "Pirrip as (his) father's name, on the authority of his tombstone." Pip goes on to observe that he "never saw (his) father or (his) mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them." The only impression the boy has of his parents are those derived from the writing on their tombstones; he has the "odd idea that (his father) was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair," and that his mother "was freckeld and sickly." The picture that the author creates of Pip is of a small child completely alone in the world, denied the warmth and love of his parents, with only the cold, hard reality of their tombstones to remember them by. His one contact...
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with any sort of family at all is with his sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, but the author indicates through her name and a direct specification, that her primary loyalties belong to another, her husband, before the child with whose care she has been saddled.
The author goes on to intensify the impression of the absolute isolation of the child Pip by describing his siblings, who are also all dead. These young brothers exist in Pip's world as "five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long...arranged in a neat row beside (their parents') graves." They are at least united with their parents in death, while Pip remains on earth, alone and unloved, first in the life of no one. Pip is a pathetic character, helpless and solitary, who has only the cold, hard tombstones of his parents and siblings to substitute for what should have been an environment in which he might have been surrounded with human warmth and love.
The author uses setting and atmosphere to emphasize the insignificance and helpless loneliness of the main character, Pip. The cemetery is a place of death and bereavement, and at night, in the fog, it is a cold and frightening place. The author uses language to create stark images of the lifelessness of Pip's parents and brothers, portraying them as tombstones, large and small. Even the name he gives his central character, "Pip," denotes a miniscule figure with little influence or power (Chapter 1).
How is loneliness portrayed in Great Expectations?
InGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens, loneliness is conveyed through the use of setting, pathetic fallacy, and characterization.
The novel opens with a desolate setting that imitates the emotion of the orphan Pip, who describes his first impression of things occurring "on a memorable raw afternoon toward evening." He later learns that the place in which he walks is the churchyard where his parents are buried.
I knew that the dark flat wilderness beyond was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing was the sea. (Ch.1)
This use of pathetic fallacy (that is, the treatment of inanimate things as if they are human, with feelings, thoughts, or emotions) gives the sea a dangerous quality; it is described as being a "savage lair." The bleakness of the marshes and surrounding area suggest loneliness; the headstones with the names of his father and mother certainly convey little Pip's sense of being alone in the world.
In chapter 8, setting connotes loneliness, when Pip goes to Satis House on the request of Miss Havisham to bring a boy to play with her ward, Estella. As the young girl leads Pip up to the rooms of the house where they will play, Pip describes a lonely scene.
. . . the passages were all dark, and that she had left a candle burning there. She took it up, and we went through more passages and up a staircase, and still it was all dark, and only the candle lighted us. (Ch.8)
When Pip first encounters Miss Havisham, his impression of her depicts her strange and isolated appearance. Pip states that it is as though he "had been taken to one of our old marsh churches to see a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress that had been dug out of a vault under the church pavement."
Miss Havisham sits alone in a dark room, wearing a decaying wedding dress. She sat, "corpse-like, as we played at cards." Later, Pip remarks,
I have often thought since, that she must have looked as if the admission of the natural light of day would have struck her to dust.
In chapter 38, Estella returns to Satis House where Miss Havisham scolds Estella for her coldness towards her. Estella replies that Miss Havisham has made her what she is.
“O, look at her, look at her!” cried Miss Havisham, bitterly; “Look at her so hard and thankless, on the hearth where she was reared! Where I took her into this wretched breast when it was first bleeding from its stabs, and where I have lavished years of tenderness upon her!” (Ch.38)
Miss Havisham has meant to avenge herself upon men through Estella, but she has not intended for Estella to be cruel to her. Estella explains that she can only be what she has been made to be, and Miss Havisham has formed her nature and caused her to become hard and cruel. The lonely Miss Havisham exclaims that Estella demonstrates no love for her.
“But to be proud and hard to me!” Miss Havisham quite shrieked, as she stretched out her arms. “Estella, Estella, Estella, to be proud and hard to me!”
“Would it be weakness to return my love?” exclaimed Miss Havisham. “But yes, yes, she would call it so!” (Ch.38)
These depictions of Miss Havisham convey her sense of loneliness and isolation.
What are some examples of Pip causing his own loneliness in Great Expectations?
In this novel, Dickens explores the theme that money does not lead to happiness. Pip is born poor, but he does have a family. Although his sister is abusive, his uncle Joe is kind and caring. When Pip encounters his first opportunity, visiting Miss Havisham to “play” with Estella, he takes it to help his family but also to escape them. He misses his parents and his siblings, all dead.
When Pip is offered the opportunity to leave and become a gentleman, he takes it without looking back. He has a chance to become a gentleman, and leave poverty behind. He is also leaving Estella behind, but he does not realize it. Since Miss Havisham is the only person he knows with money, he assumes that she is his benefactor and he is being groomed to be a mate for Estella.
Estella is the first example of the lonliness of Pip’s new life. Although he is hired to be her companion, he is really being used by Miss Havisham to teach Estella how to be cruel to men. She is learning how to break hearts, as Miss Havisham’s was broken so many years ago. Estella is a constant tease, and Pip falls in love with her but it is a one-sided and unsatisfying relationship.
When Pip reaches London, he encounters true loneliness. Jaggers looks out for him because he is paid to, and Jaggers is another completely unfulfilling relationship. Jaggers is so carefully guarded that he does not become close to anyone, and although he does keep Pip close it is out of obligation and not friendship. Pip meets some good people in London, including Herbert and Jaggers’s clerk, Wemmick. Even Wemmick is faily guarded though, because he only shows his true nature at home and not around Jaggers.
Pip makes few real friends in London, and encounters the false friendships of “gentlemen” more and more often. He is constantly teased by Estella, and still harbors hope of marrying her. He rejects his real family, including Joe. He later regrets this, wishing he had found someone like Biddy rather than hopelessly fawning for Estella.
When Magwitch comes back into Pip’s life, the gig is up and everything turns to chaos. Pip loses every connection to the world of gentleman, but in the end he is relieved. He realizes that family is what’s real, and what’s important. Whichever ending you go by, it is safe to say that Pip continues to leave a pretty lonely life.