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The great expectation of Pip and Magwitch
We all know that chapter 39 is the
turning point of the whole
novel.
Pip
knows
that
his
sponsor
is
not
Miss
Havisham,
but
the
escaped
prisoner
Magwitch,
who
is
saved
by
Pip.
This
truth
makes
Pip
’
s great
expectation shattered. From the context, we can
see that
“
the
great
expectation”
is a kind
of ambition from
both Pip and Magwitch.
It is such an ambition that hold up the
life of both two people and bring a lot
of change to their
character. And the
ambition is also the indication of
one
’
s
life.
First,
let
’
s see
Pip
’
s ambition. Although the
text don
’
t
illustrate it clearly, we can infer
from several details. At
the beginning
of the text, Pip states that
“
I had a taste for
reading, and read regularly so many
hours a day.
”
This state
can fully demonstrate that Pip has a
strong eager to learn
knowledge,
which
means
that
he
wants
to
become
a
real
gentleman
in the upper
class. And when Pip is told that his benefactor
is
Magwitch,
rather
than
Miss
Havisham.
He
is
shocked,
disappointed as
well as heart-broken. He repeats
“
Estella,
Estella
”
,
which
tells
us
that
his
intention
to
become
a
gentleman was because of
Estella,
he wants
to
be
able
to
match
with
her.
From
the
above,
we
can
conclude
that
Pip
’
s
ambition
is to be a
gentleman and get access to Estella.
The great expectation describes not
only Pip
’
s ambition, but
also
other
people
’
s
ambition,
including
that
blacksmith
Joe
’
s,
Pip
’
s friend
Herbert and
his
benefactor <
/p>
Magwitch
’
s.
Let
’
s take
Magwitch
’
s ambition in the
text for example. I
think his is rather
complicated than Pip
’
s.
There are two
mainly ambitions:
one is
that
he
wants
to
repay
Pip
for
saving
his life, another is that he wants to
show his greatness for
making a little
boy into a gentleman in upper class, which is
also
a kind of
dissatisfaction to the society. Just as
he
mentioned in the text,
“
I tell it, fur you to know
as that
there hunted dunghill dog wot
you kept life in, got his head
so
high
that
he
could
make
a
gentleman
”
.
The
society
treat
him
as a nasty dog and he is
looked down upon those people in the
upper class. But he has an ability to
turn a village boy into
a gentleman,
and he thinks himself is nobler and greater than
those people. He uses his action to
satirize them.
The
ambition
in
people
’
s
heart
is
like
a
guiding
light
in
their
way.
As
one
’
s
ambition
changes,
people
’
s
behavior
may
change
accordingly
and
unconsciously.
Pip
studies
hard
in
order
to
get
access to Estella. But
at the same time, bad characters like
selfishness and mammonism arises from
him. In the front part
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