31 July 2011
Title
While I was reading Great Expectations, I couldn't get over the title itself. I kept thinking about how the characters referred to "coming into money" as having 'great expectations' and how to current readers, "great expectations" could mean just about anything. As I continued to read I noticed that Pip's expectations of what his life was going to be like didn't match up with what I expected to happen. Namely, that everything he was hoping for would end up in the pooper.
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I too tried to figure out just what the expectations that Pip gained were. At first I tried to predict what they would be and was partially right with the part of "coming into money" but maybe the whole point of the title by calling it expectations is because not only is Pip expecting things in his future, but Dickens sets the book up in a way that the reader is expecting certain things to happen within the plot of the book. In places the book is unpredictable while in others it wouldn't be hard to predict just what would happen next. Perhaps Dickens titled the book in a way to outline his book.
I saw a depressive quality in the title. They described coming into money as having "great expectations" but never really defined what they were expecting. It was reasonably assumed that a life with higher social stature would be achieved, but beyond that no real expectations were made of Pip, in an occupation or otherwise. As the money was pressed upon him, he was expected to rise to a better life, without really allowing him much choice. In Pips case, he embraced the sudden rise, but it could easily have been involuntary and forceful to suddenly have this lifestyle thrust upon an individual.
I think Dickens used this title to suggest a common assumption during that time. Throughout the book, Pip constantly struggles towards improving himself within society and becoming more than his initial social standing. When Pip gains his fortune, he assumes that everything will work out for him- he will become a well-known gentleman, win over Estella, and be extremely happy from his wealth. However, none of that really works out for him. He does not win Estella, becomes heavily in debt, loses a good friend, Magwitch, and almost loses his life. Dickens uses Great Expectations as his title to show that even though people assume life is much more enjoyable with wealth, that is not the case at all. Pip's struggles throughout the novel emphasize that point.
As I read the novel, the title became more of almost an excuse for Pip. When people reiterated to him of his great expectations, he became less gulity of the fact that he completely abandonded his family, job, and up-bringing. By the time he was already in London, Pip was convicted of the distress he brought upon his family by leaving. The idea of these "great expectations" helped Pip to cope with the fact that he abandonded the people who cared for him most, and the life he was destined to live.
I think the title of this book represents the hopes of most everyone for their life. Especially today it seems everyone has big derams and "Great Expectations" for what their life will become. People tend to hope for a better life than they have and many spend a good portion of their life chasing after those "Great Expectations" just as Pip did.
When I first saw the title of the novel, I really had no clue what it meant. Initially, I thought that the novel might be about a boy that grows up with expectations that he either wants to live up to or must live up to. This was not exactly right though. Great Expectations as I see is what Pip expected to become of his life. Pip grew up always dreaming of coming into money as any kid would and when he did, he expected a life of luxury. He did acquire this, but he also received many other unwanted things. Some of these things were pressure to live up to wealthy standards and also distance from his family. Great Expectations, while meaning things expected, also is seen to mean things unexpected too. Pip realized that life was full of expected and unexpected surprises, but these twists and turns of life are what shaped him from a child to a man.
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