Portrayal of the Blacksmith in Great Expectations by...

In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens places great emphasis on the ideas and attitudes of work. He gives examples of various kinds of work through each different character. On one extreme the idea of gentlemanly work is depicted through the character of the lawyer, Jaggers. On the opposite end of the spectrum there is Joe Gargery in his role as the village blacksmith, the non-gentlemanly depiction of work. In a novel that is built around the main character longing to become a gentleman, Dickens uses the theme or motif of work in order to display the ambivalence of the social attitudes to the idea of work in the nineteenth century. The village blacksmith is not ideally the job one would want to posses, while the†¦show more content†¦Dickens thoroughly believed that a man working in an honest, respectable trade is more impressive than the upper-class gentlemen who idly waste their time by not making a contribution to society. One way Great Expectations shows his vi ew of the upper class is through the character of Bentley Drummle. One of Pips descriptions of Drummle suggests this: He was idle, proud, niggardly, reserved and suspicious. He came of rich people down in Somersetshire who has nursed this combination of qualities until they made the discovery that it was just of age and a blockhead (196; ch. 25). The fact that Drummle was considered a gentleman and idle is important because once Pip receives his fortune he does not work and contribute to society, but becomes idle as well. In the novel, the blacksmith is still an important figure in the community but is on the brink of extinction because of the turn towards industrialism. But the role of the blacksmith within the community has been dated back as far as three thousand years. It wasnt until the ninth century that the blacksmith began horseshoeing and became a prominent figure in the town or village, a position that lasted until the invention of the automobile. An important man, he was not only a smith and farrier, but at times a wheelwright, carpenter, veterinarian, and dentist, among other things. But for all his skill and talents, the blacksmith wasShow MoreRelatedGreat Expectations: Analyzed Through A Marxist Criticism1113 Words   |  5 Pagesin Western societies. Marxism applies to the novel Great Expectations in many ways. Dickens uses Pip’s complex and altering relationships with Estella, Joe, and Magwitch to show the subjugation of the working-class from the privileged. Estella is raised in a prosperous household and is judgmental of Pip because he is from the working class. She insults his appearance when she says, But he is a common laboring boy. And look at his boots! (Dickens 45) because he is not of the upper class. She alsoRead MoreSocial criticism in The Great Gatsby and Great Expectations2248 Words   |  9 Pagesvalues. Two strong examples of social criticism through literature are Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In both novels the writers project their social criticisms to the reader through the use of characterization and setting. Great Expectations was written and set in mid-Victorian England, having been first published as a serial in All The Year Round a weekly English periodical. Dickens used this form of publication to incrementally dose his readers withRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1574 Words   |  7 Pagesclass life. This boy was Charles Dickens, one of the most we ll known writers of all time. Throughout his life, he experienced both the middle and working class, therefore, most of his pieces of literature include characters from both of those social classes and how they view Victorian England society. His haunting childhood experience also allowed him to incorporate the themes of alienation and betrayal in Great Expectations (Cody). Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens explores the specific socialRead More The Life of Charles Dickens Reflected in Great Expectations Essay example2661 Words   |  11 PagesThe Life of Charles Dickens Reflected in Great Expectations      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I must entreat you to pause for an instant, and go back to what you know of my childish days, and to ask yourself whether it is natural that something of the character formed in me then - Charles Dickens    Charles Dickens is well known for his distinctive writing style. Few authors before or since are as adept at bringing a character to life for the reader as he was. His novels are populated with characters whoRead MoreGreat Expectations for All Essay1835 Words   |  8 Pagesexperience the awkward phase of the teen years, as they leave behind childhood for adulthood. In these times of transformations, one often finds themselves marred by the wicked ways of naà ¯ve love and the humiliation many experience. In Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, one is able to watch an innocent boy’s transformation into a mature gentleman who is still a child at heart. Pip is plagued with the daunting responsibilities of adulthood and deciding where his loyalties lay. Torn between the alluringRead MoreSummary Of Great Expectations Notes 1905 Words   |  8 PagesJoseph Slovick Mr. Alsedek 535-02 1 February 2016 Great Expectations Notes Chapters 1-3: The narrator introduces himself as Philip Pirrip, or ‘Pip’ for short; the man in question effectively gave himself this name when he could not pronounce his real name as an infant, managing only Pip. Pip portrays himself as an impressionable child by telling the story of his encounter with an escaped convict as a young boy. The shackled convict makes demands of young Pip then lets him go, leaving Pip the option