Blog 5

Luke Leslie

Mrs. Coughlin

14/5/15

In Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, the connection between the title and the story is based of Pip’s life after his sudden rise to a lavish and successful life. Pip expects a lot of himself to become as successful as possible in the fame and luxury driven London while he also expects others that he is close to be successful and smart.

The expectations he has for others are really harsh considering the fact that he grew up in a poor area and was raised by his sister. His lifetime friend, Joe, who helped raise him and was always there for Pip with his love and compassion with open arms is forgotten by Pip and embarrasses him when he is seen around Joe due to his social status of little money and illiteracy. As for the expectations others have for Pip change the more and more that Pip changes because of his constant upsurge in wealth. Joe wants the same Pip that he had when he was a child but unfortunately he won’t get that again. Miss Havisham, Biddy and Estella look at Pip as a potential partner only for both of them to break Pip’s heart for someone else. Finally, Pip’s expectations for himself, which are set high and help him to stay motivated. Pip has to major goals that he hopes to achieve in life which are to learn who the wealthy and successful benefactor was and marrying Estela. This is why Pip is disgusted and disappointed out of his mind when he found out that the benefactor was a criminal with a past he didn’t want to be convoluted with.

This novel was basically a lot of characters expecting a lot from wither others or themselves, which is why the title fits it so well. If I had written this book, I would’ve named it London Dreams.