Great Expectations
In a well-written essay, analyze why Pip is vulnerable to Miss Havisham and how she works to achieve her objective on him. In the novel Great Expectations, Pip is the main character in the story. He is a young boy who lives with his sister and her husband. They all work very hard to live in suitable conditions. Therefore, when Miss Havisham, a queer old woman, asks for Pip to come to her house and play, Pip is sent immediately. Mrs. Joe, Pip^s sister and mr. Pumblechook see this as a perfect opportunity for Pip to earn more money for the family.
Miss Havisham is very wealthy and with her lives a young girl, named Estella. Estella is very pretty and intentionally rude to Pip. Pip^s purpose of being sent to Miss Havisham is not exactly to play but rather to see how much stronger Estella is in comparison to Pip and also to hurt Pip the way she was hurt by her loved one many years ago. Estella behaves this way because she learned it from her mother figure Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham used Estella to avenge wrongs done to her. At this point in the novel, Pip is the target of avenge. He is hurt by Estella^s brutality towards him. She makes nasty comments about his life style, his clothes, and his future. For example she calls him a common laboring-boy with coarse hands and thick boots. She thrives on these remarks and Pip^s reactions to them. But with each hurtful remark she throws at him, he begins to learn to bury the pain inside so she would not be able to see it.
Pip is a loyal boy to his sister and to Joe. He demeans himself and takes the insults thrown at him. He becomes vulnerable to Miss Havisham because he has no other choice. He becomes vulnerable to Miss Havisham because she is rich, uncommon, well-learned, and because Pip is hoping that she will pay for his education. Although he submits himself to discomfort, he gets nothing in return. He is still harassed by his sister and is scarred from the insults.
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