Student Question
What are key statements made by Biddy, Mr. Wopsle, Uncle Pumblechook, and Molly in Great Expectations?
Quick answer:
Biddy advises Pip against aspiring to be a gentleman, suggesting he might be happier as he is, reflecting Dickens's view on social class. Uncle Pumblechook, a snob, tells Pip to be grateful to his guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Joe, who raised him harshly. Mr. Wopsle alerts Pip about Compeyson's presence behind him at the theater, prompting Pip to warn Magwitch. Molly reveals her connection to Estella through her expressive body language rather than words.
When Pip tells Biddy he wants to be a gentleman, she answers: "Oh, I wouldn't, if I was you! . . . don't you think you are happier as you are?" Dickens seems to agree with this statement since Biddy is one of the best characters in the novel as well as one of the lowest in social class.
Uncle Pumblechook, a class-obsessed snob, advises Pip to "be grateful, boy, to them which brought you up by hand." By "them," he means Mr. and Mrs. Joe, who took him in when he is orphaned. Mrs. Joe, Pip's sister, does indeed bring Pip up "by hand," but by beating him rather than caring for him.
Later, when Pip is older and living in London, he sees Mr. Wopsle after the theater, who gives him the crucial information that "one of those prisoners sat behind you to-night." The prisoner is Compeyson, and his presence compells Pip to send word to Magwitch.
As for Molly, she does not speak but rather communicates through body language. It is the movements of her hands and the expression of her "attentive eyes" that tell Pip she is Estella's mother.
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