Great Expectations

Great Expectations, was written by Charles Dickens in the years 1860-1861. Dickens wrote the book serially over an entire year in a magazine titled, All the Year Round. Serially is defined as in a series or sequence, meaning Dickens published one chapter each week in the magazine. Because of this, most of the chapters end on cliff hangers to keep the readers engaged. This book is considered a novel: a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism.

Dickens was one of the most well-known English authors, and one of the most popular writers of his time. He wrote essays, short stories, and novels. He was born in 1812, in England. He lived in poverty for most of his life, until he became an admired author. Most of his books have humor and drama in them, as well as usually a quite eccentric character. His books also usually display abuse of labor issues, as he was scarred from working at the factories as a child. In 1865, he was caught in a very tragic train accident, and he never truly recovered from that, which resulted in his death of a stroke, at the age of 58, in the year 1870.

Great Expectations, follows the story of a boy named Pip. It is set in the late 1700's, during the Industrial Revolution. Pip starts off as a poor boy in a village, dreaming of a better life. He then receives a large sum of money from an unknown source, and is asked to move to London to become a city gentlemen. He ends up blowing all of his money, and starts to drown in debt. In the end, he learns to become more content with his money, when he discovers who granted him the fortune.

Two of the major themes are as follows:

1. Social Class - "Whatever I acquired, I tried to impart to Joe. This statement sounds so well, that I can't in my conscience let it pass unexplained. I wanted to make Joe less ignorant and common, that he might be worthier of my society..." (Dickens 121).

2. Love - "I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be" (Dickens 257).