Vivid Images of Character and Place in the Opening Chapter To Dickens

Vivid Images of Character and Place in the Opening Chapter To Dickens' Great Expectations The opening chapter to Great Expectations introduces Pip who is the main protagonist in the story. He is an orphan and lives with his sister Mrs Joe Gargery and her husband who is a blacksmith. The story is set in the graveyard in the time of the Industrial Revolution. In the opening chapter we also see Pip being introduced to a convict who is very poor but very rude to the child. The convict threatens Pip and warns him that if he does not get any food for him, he will be in serious trouble. In the opening chapter we see Charles Dickens (the author) use a range of different language techniques that builds the readers minds about the character and the setting of the story. He uses metaphors and describing words as well as the 1st person view from Pip. The first paragraph tells the readers that the main protagonist tells the story. Pip talks about his images of the family and his views when he sees them in their tombstones. Charles Dickens make the readers feel sorry for Pip through his view on them. ' My first fancies regarding what they were like were unreasonably derived from their tombstones.' This quote shows that Pip can only remember his family through death and his childhood life was very sad. Dickens also uses an important metaphor in the same paragraph that also reflects on the sad childhood that Pip had. 'To five little stone lozenges each about one and a half foot long'. This quote causes the readers to feel more sympathised for Pip. This quote also links to the graveyard where the story is set. Before Pip meets ... ...e aware that he is violent as well as an aggressive man. The adjectives that Dickens uses on the convict also makes the readers believe that the character is well suited to being horrible. In the opening chapter Dickens has used a variety of different language devices in order to make this compelling novel. One good example is the use of the extended metaphor in the second paragraph which relates to us feeling sorry for Pip. Colour is another factor to how it is a compelling novel because it is referring to the setting as well as the convict. The exaggeration speech and repetition that the convict uses on pip to show control is also showing the different types of language that has been used. The examples of the different types of language being used has clearly shown that Dickens has made the story enthralling.