Great Expectations Essay Research Paper Overall Summary

Great Expectations Essay, Research Paper

Overall Summary 6

Dolge Orlick { The day-laborer in Joe’s forge, Orlick is a slouching, oa

embodiment of evil{he is malicious and shrewd, hurting people simply be-

cause he enjoys it. He is responsible for the attack on Pip’s sister, and he

will later almost succeed in his attempt to murder Pip.

Mrs. Joe { Pip’s sister and Joe’s wife, known only as “Mrs. Joe” throughout

the novel. Mrs. Joe is a stern and overbearing gure to both Pip and Joe{

she keeps a spotless household, and frequently menaces her husband and

her brother with her cane, which she calls “Tickler.” She also forces them

to drink a foul-tasting concoction called tar-water. Mrs. Joe is petty and

ambitious; her fondest wish is to be something more than the wife of the

village blacksmith.

Uncle Pumblechook { Pip’s pompous, arrogant uncle. He is actually Joe’s

uncle, and therefore Pip’s “uncle-in-law,” but Pip and his sister both call him

“Uncle Pumblechook.” A merchant obsessed with money, Pumblechook is re-

sponsible for arranging Pip’s rst meeting with Miss Havisham. Throughout

the rest of the novel, he will shamelessly take credit for Pip’s rise, even though

he has nothing to do with it.

Compeyson { A criminal, and the former partner of Magwitch. Compeyson

is responsible for Magwitch’s capture at the end of the novel.

Overall Summary

Pip, a young orphan living with his sister and her husband in the marshes

of Kent, sits in a cemetery one evening looking at his parents’ tombstones.

Suddenly, an escaped convict springs up from behind a tombstone, grabs Pip,

and orders him to bring him food and a le for his leg irons. Pip obeys, but

the fearsome convict is soon captured. The convict protects Pip by claiming

to have stolen the items himself.

One day Pip is taken to play at Satis House, the home of the wealthy

dowager Miss Havisham, who was left at the altar on her wedding day and

now wears an old wedding dress everywhere she goes. During his visit, he

meets a beautiful young girl named Estella, who treats him coldly and con-

temptuously. Nevertheless, he falls in love with her and dreams of becoming

a wealthy gentleman so that he might be worthy of her.

Pip is apprenticed to his brother-in-law Joe Gargery, the village black-

smith. One day a lawyer named Jaggers appears with strange news: a secret