Miss Havisham’s Banquet
~Blog Post #2~
Topic E
April 24, 2015
by Henry Sledz
In Chapter 11, we get a very unsettling setting and a strange and depressing look into the world of Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham is a very decrepit and withered old woman, and when we see her “wedding banquet” on her birthday, it is reminiscent of her. The wedding room is frozen in time and stuck in the past just like Miss Havisham, and just like Miss Havisham, that doesn’t mean that time doesn’t take its toll on the wedding room. The room is teeming with pests and is a room that brings unsettling reminders of death, depression, and unfulfillment.
Not only is the room itself odd and saddening but the characters we meet there are just as pathetic. Sarah Pocket, Cousin Raymond, Georgina, and Camilla are the four guests who we meet in the wedding room. They float around Miss Havisham like vultures, waiting for her to die so they can inherit her money; having vultures brings more symbols that represent death into this scene. They are all her relatives and they should care for Miss Havisham the same way Joe and Pip care for each other, but instead, they are all cold and distant towards each other and could care less about each other’s well beings. This is where Pip wants to be one day, living some high society life, but we see a glimpse of what this life is really like, and it doesn’t bode well for Pip’s future.
Henry, I agree with what you say. Miss Havisham is very weak and is now living a life that is sad to see someone live. I like how you relate the four guests of the wedding room to vultures. It all seems to overshadow Pip's future as he has not had a good start to life. They are all her relatives and they should care for Miss Havisham the same way Joe and Pip care for each other, but instead they instead just regard her as a check they have to wait to cash in. Hopefully Pip goes on to be successful and looked at with love by family, and not for money.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Henry. As Pip looks into what could be his future and what he dreams about, he sees a reality that is not so nice after all. Miss Havisham may have money, but she doesn't have the support or love from anyone in her family who is at the event. They all have their own intentions and couldn't care less about her condition. The way in which Pip and Joe are able to comfort one another through even the most difficult of times, shows that family is really all a person has, especially in the worst parts of life.
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