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Monday, April 19, 2010
Novel as Commentary
As we discussed, Great Expectations is, in part, a social commentary. Using a topic we did NOT discuss in class, explain what you think Dickens is trying to tell his society.
Dickens novel has absolutely had a reflection of society at the time he was writing the book. Most of his characters play a certain role int he way he saw society at the time. I believe another one, that we haven't discussed in class is the challenge Pip has to be happy in the society, meaning that he is telling the readers how harsh and challenging society truly is. Even as Pip gets schooled, and gets enough money to continue to create a name for himself, he still cannot seem to be extremely happy. He has lost Joe, and Estella as well, but also gained an excellent education.
While Pip thought that an education would get him somewhat happiness, he has discovered that he still very much so misses both Joe and Estella. He thought he would win Estella over in the beginning of the novel if he got educated, but this has not changed her feelings towards Pip. As well, the education and chance to a new life has deeply effected Pip and Joe's relationship.
Dickens is trying to tell us how difficult society is to "win" in, and it is extremely challenging to balance things; leaving us with making choices on what is important to us.
Great Expectations is, indeed, a social commentary in a few ways. He tries to tell his readers how poorly he thinks of his society. The way he talks about his society is social satire, which is using comedy to criticize humanity. Dickens uses this because he thinks that his society is not fair and unequal. As corny as this sounds, Dickens is trying to tell his society that you can be whoever you want. Being from the lower class, Dickens shows that you can be friends with and associate with the upper class, even if you are not apart of it. It is not fair that people from the lower class are not treated with respect, when in fact, they are just as good as the upper class. When Dickens shows that Pip goes from the lower class to associating with the upper class, he makes it seem like it is not big deal, when it clearly is.
Even though Great Expectations does not state exactly what Charles Dickens thinks about society, you can tell almost exactly what he is thinking throughout the story. Society is very confusing and I don't think anyone understands it fully. Dickens here is trying to explain how tough society can really be for everyone. Pip throughout this whole book is trying to find something to be happy about, but yet even when he is higher in society, he does not get the joy he thought he would. Pip has always loved Estella. He realizes that even if he tries to change himself, it will not change how she feels for him. I think Dickens is trying to say that changing yourself in society doesn't change who you have always been. You can become smarter, but your personality and who you are still remains the same. No matter how much you want to be someone you're not, it's just not possible. Eventually you have to realize that you can not have everything and sometimes what you already have is all you need. Moreover, I think Dickens is trying to tell his society that no matter what class you are a part of, life isn't going to be easy and you just have to deal with what you have and try to be happy with who you are.
I agree with Emily in that Dickens is portraying the idea that you can be whoever you want, but I do not believe that is the real reason for putting out that idea. In most of europe at the time the social ladder was an unclimbable thing. Each rung was totally independant from the others. This was the idea that built European society. I think Dickens is using Pip as a device to poke fun at society. He uses unrealistic circumstances to make Pip mingle among the rungs of the social ladder. Dickens is making his own sort of "when pigs fly" statement. Pigs, by nature, do not fly, as poor lower class boys do not get large sums of money from mysterious criminals. He is saying that unless these impossible things happen, no man will be able to climb the social ladder.
5 comments:
Dickens novel has absolutely had a reflection of society at the time he was writing the book. Most of his characters play a certain role int he way he saw society at the time. I believe another one, that we haven't discussed in class is the challenge Pip has to be happy in the society, meaning that he is telling the readers how harsh and challenging society truly is. Even as Pip gets schooled, and gets enough money to continue to create a name for himself, he still cannot seem to be extremely happy. He has lost Joe, and Estella as well, but also gained an excellent education.
While Pip thought that an education would get him somewhat happiness, he has discovered that he still very much so misses both Joe and Estella. He thought he would win Estella over in the beginning of the novel if he got educated, but this has not changed her feelings towards Pip. As well, the education and chance to a new life has deeply effected Pip and Joe's relationship.
Dickens is trying to tell us how difficult society is to "win" in, and it is extremely challenging to balance things; leaving us with making choices on what is important to us.
Great Expectations is, indeed, a social commentary in a few ways. He tries to tell his readers how poorly he thinks of his society. The way he talks about his society is social satire, which is using comedy to criticize humanity. Dickens uses this because he thinks that his society is not fair and unequal.
As corny as this sounds, Dickens is trying to tell his society that you can be whoever you want. Being from the lower class, Dickens shows that you can be friends with and associate with the upper class, even if you are not apart of it. It is not fair that people from the lower class are not treated with respect, when in fact, they are just as good as the upper class. When Dickens shows that Pip goes from the lower class to associating with the upper class, he makes it seem like it is not big deal, when it clearly is.
Even though Great Expectations does not state exactly what Charles Dickens thinks about society, you can tell almost exactly what he is thinking throughout the story. Society is very confusing and I don't think anyone understands it fully. Dickens here is trying to explain how tough society can really be for everyone. Pip throughout this whole book is trying to find something to be happy about, but yet even when he is higher in society, he does not get the joy he thought he would.
Pip has always loved Estella. He realizes that even if he tries to change himself, it will not change how she feels for him. I think Dickens is trying to say that changing yourself in society doesn't change who you have always been. You can become smarter, but your personality and who you are still remains the same. No matter how much you want to be someone you're not, it's just not possible. Eventually you have to realize that you can not have everything and sometimes what you already have is all you need. Moreover, I think Dickens is trying to tell his society that no matter what class you are a part of, life isn't going to be easy and you just have to deal with what you have and try to be happy with who you are.
I agree with Emily in that Dickens is portraying the idea that you can be whoever you want, but I do not believe that is the real reason for putting out that idea. In most of europe at the time the social ladder was an unclimbable thing. Each rung was totally independant from the others. This was the idea that built European society. I think Dickens is using Pip as a device to poke fun at society. He uses unrealistic circumstances to make Pip mingle among the rungs of the social ladder. Dickens is making his own sort of "when pigs fly" statement. Pigs, by nature, do not fly, as poor lower class boys do not get large sums of money from mysterious criminals. He is saying that unless these impossible things happen, no man will be able to climb the social ladder.
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