Dickens

Reading Schedule:
I'm a little behind on Great Expectation so I plant to read at least 30 pages a night to catch up.

AP Questions:
1. In the final chapter, Estella says to Pip: "Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching." (page 834) Discuss the theme of suffering in this book—specifically how it instructs Pip, Miss Havisham and Estella.

2. What do you think makes Pip change his opinion of his benefactor Magwitch from one of the initial repugnance to one of the deep and abiding respect and love?

3.If Pip had not received his "great expectations" and never left Joe's forge, how do you think his life would have been different? Are the lessons he learns during his physical and emotional journey necessary for him to arrive at the wisdom he displays as the middle-aged narrator of this tale? In what ways?


4. Why do you think Miss Havisham manipulates and misleads Pip into thinking she is his secret benefactor? What, if anything, does she derive from this action?

5. Given Dickens' portrayal of Estella, what do you think attracts Pip to her in the first place, and what, when he learns of her cold-blooded manipulation of men, keeps Pip devoted to her until the end, loving her, as he says, "against reason, against promise, against peace"? (page 594)